From its inaugural appearance in 1937, Gibson’s J-200 set a standard others have been trying to match ever since. Today years later the legacy of Gibson’s “King of the Flat-tops” lives on in the new J-200 Standard. Upon its introduction in the late 1930s, the J-200 immediately filled a need for a deeper, more balanced and powerful sound. It gave purveyors of the new American music scene of the 1930s a reliable, well-built instrument, capable of projecting the sound of the guitar well beyond that of any other acoustic on the market — a fact that still holds true today. It is simply the world’s most famous acoustic guitar, and certainly one of most popular, as evidenced by the list of players that have made it their primary acoustic instrument, among them Ray Whitley, Emmylou Harris, Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, Gram Parsons, and Pete Townshend.
This is how Billy came to own his J-200. “This guitar of mine comes originally from an event in April 2007 at the Empire State building in New York for Mike Peters’ Cancer Charity ‘Love, Hope & Strength’. Mike, Dave Wakling (The Beat), Slim Jim Phantom (The Stray Cats) and I did a hike up the 1,600 steps to the top of the Empire State Building and then played a little gig there. Gibson sponsored the event and let us keep the guitars we’d played on the roof which in my case was a fabulous Gibson J-200.
Acoustic guitars are very peculiar. They can vary tremendously, each individual guitar. One made on a Tuesday might not feel the same as one made on Wednesday. It all depends on the wood, the craftsmanship of the maker, the temperature when it was made, the moisture in the wood… there’s a thousand things that go into making an acoustic guitar sound good. Some play well but don’t sound so good, some don’t look good but play well but this one is very much a great acoustic, a really nice sounding guitar and I love it.”
Billy Duffy – January 2013
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Gibson J-200 Standard Acoustic-Electric Guitar Antique Natural