Historical Gibson interest 'The Last Gibson Flat Top Guitar ...

Estimate

£10,000 - £15,000

Historical Gibson interest 'The Last Gibson Flat Top Guitar Made at the Kalamazoo Plant' -  1984 Gibson Custom Shop J-200 acoustic guitar, made in USA; Back and sides: highly figured natural maple; Top: natural spruce; Neck: highly figured maple; Fretboard: Brazilian rosewood with abalone position markers; Frets: good; Hardware: good; Case: original hard case; Overall condition: very good

*Sold with non-transferrable CITES A10 certificate (domestic use only)

*A unique and historically significant Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar. Made in June 1984 at Gibson's Parsons Street factory, Kalamazoo, USA, this guitar was the last flat top made at the original Gibson factory, crafted using the finest materials and highest appointments as a celebration and farewell to the original factory and headquarters

The Gibson company officially started life in 1902 in a small factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan, quickly outgrowing its premises, subsequently purchasing a plot of land on Parsons Street opening in 1917. This new factory would become Gibson's home and sole premises until 1975. The site was regularly expanded upon due to increasing production numbers under the stewardship of Ted McCarty and CMI and by 1965 the factory covered the entire city block. Eighty-two years later, the company headquarters and factory officially closed their doors on the 29th June 1984 and fully relocated to Nashville

This guitar, stamped on Friday the 15th June 1984, bears a unique title to the head face 'The Last Gibson Flat Top Guitar Made at the Kalamazoo Plant'. A fitting model was chosen being that the J-200 was Gibson's flagship model and is often regarded as the 'King of the Flat Tops'. The guitar has some unique high end appointments including highly figured quilted maple back and sides, Brazilian rosewood fretboard with special abalone inlay, Brazilian rosewood face plate bearing the commemorative plaque, Brazilian rosewood truss rod cover, a Brazilian rosewood pickguard and bridge