Gibson has unveiled a new signature acoustic guitar and it is a beauty. Designed for country star Margo Price, it's a J-45 inspired by her mid ‘60s model, but with a difference.
Price’s J-45 has a shallower body depth. It also presents a showpony side to the Gibson workhorse. The J-45 is one of Gibson’s more blue-collar acoustic designs, ruggedly handsome; there are not many as easy on the eye as this.
Here it is dressed in in some of the Hummingbird’s livery, courtesy of that Heritage Cherry Sunburst nitro finish, and applying an exquisite decorative touch with a double pickguard.
There's no question that the Margo Price J-45 is a looker with a ‘50s-style double pickguard, a tortoiseshell design replete with red-tailed hawk graphics.
Why red-tailed hawks? Well, because they are a muse to Price.
Red-tailed hawks have always been symbolistic to me... to me, they are otherworldly
“Red-tailed hawks have always been symbolic to me,” she says. “I see them everywhere, and I always have, as they are common all over the United States, but to me, they are otherworldly, and they always come to me in my time of need with messages of strength and perseverance.
“Red, as a colour, relates to love, passion, and even anger, matters that we typically would associate with the heart, but if you look closely, the ends of the feathers are dipped in white, and the bird itself has a spiritual nature to them.
“When I’m on long road trips, I look out the window and count them alongside the highway. They pass over me at the most kismet times, reminding me to find strength in my vulnerability and to open up and connect to those around me. I hope this guitar will remind those who play it these lessons as well.”
Price’s J-45 has a solid red spruce top, with traditional hand-scalloped advanced X-bracing under the hood, solid mahogany on the back and sides; multi-ply binding on the top and single-ply on the bottom add a nice aesthetic grace note.
The fingerboard is more utilitarian – a 12” radius piece of rosewood inlaid with MOP dots, seating 20 standard frets, and matching the belly-up bridge.
The nut is bone, measuring 43.8mm, and the scale length is your typical J-45 24.75”. The saddles are bone, too. You’ll find a nice retro touch on the headstock with those Grover cream button strap tuners.
This J-45 will definitely play comfortably for chord work, thanks to a round profile mahogany neck, which joins the body in the time-honoured compound dovetail joint, set with hot hide glue.
Finishing things off, we’ve got an LR Baggs VTC acoustic guitar pickup and preamp system, with controls nested in the soundhole. The 1/4” output jack is integrated into the end-pin design.
Priced at £3,399/$3,999, the Margo Price J-45 is available now. That price includes a hard-shell guitar case. See Gibson's websitefor more details.
