Gibson J-45 Special Wine Red
Everything about the Gibson J-45 Special
The J-45 in Gibson history
The Gibson J-45 was first introduced in 1942 and remains one of Gibson's most important acoustic models. It earned the name “The Workhorse” because of its wide acceptance, its no‑nonsense simplicity and its unobtrusive elegance. It is one of the most‑played acoustic guitars in history and Gibson's best‑selling acoustic model of all time. The new Gibson J-45 Special is handcrafted in Bozeman, Montana, by Gibson's experienced luthiers and offers guitarists a US‑built Gibson acoustic at a very attractive price.
Tonewoods and construction of the J-45 Special
The J-45 Special has a round‑shoulder body. The back and sides are made from genuine solid mahogany. The guitar features a solid Sitka spruce top. Gibson's traditional scalloped X‑bracing provides a balanced tone with an excellent dynamic range. This combination of tonewoods delivers a warm, balanced sound with superb dynamics suitable for any genre. The "Concert Depth" body is slightly shallower than the J-45 Standard, giving the J-45 Special a more focused and tighter bass response. It also makes the guitar easier to hold and play.
Neck construction and fretboard
The Utile neck is joined to the body with a dovetail joint and, as with all Gibson acoustic guitars, is glued with hide glue. It is shaped in a comfortable, fast‑playing Slim Taper profile. The rosewood fretboard has a 12" radius and is fitted with simple mother‑of‑pearl dot inlays and 20 standard frets.
Hardware and design details
The traditional Belly‑Up rosewood bridge is fitted with a TUSQ saddle. The nut and bridge pins are also made from TUSQ. High‑quality Grover Rotomatic tuners ensure rock‑solid tuning stability. The J-45 Special is finished in satin nitrocellulose lacquer in Vintage Sunburst or Wine Red. It is equipped with an active L.R. Baggs Element Bronze piezo pickup under the saddle and an active preamp with an easily accessible volume control in the soundhole.
Matte nitrocellulose lacquer finish in Wine Red
Belly‑Up rosewood bridge with TUSQ saddle and bridge pins
Cream‑coloured binding for a true retro Gibson feel
- Back / Sides: Mahogany
- Binding: Cream
- Body Shape: Dreadnought
- Body Shape: Round Shoulder
- Body finish: Satin
- Bridge: Rosewood
- Bridge-Pins: Tusq
- Color/ Finish: wine red
- Colour: Red
- Construction / Acoustic: Solid
- Controls: Volume
- Country of Origin: USA
- Cutaway: no
- Finish: Satin
- Finish: Matt
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Fretboard Inlays: Pearloid Dots
- Fretboard radius: 12"
- Frets: 20
- Fret size: Standard
- Includes: Gigbag
- Neck: Mahogany
- Neck Mount: Dovetail
- Neck Profile: SlimTaper
- Neck finish: Satin
- Nut Width: 43,8 mm
- Pickguard: Tortoise
- Pickup Details: L.R. Baggs Element Bronze
- Pre-amp system: L.R. Baggs Element Bronze
- Saddle/Cross piece inlay: Tusq
- Scale Length: 24,75" (629 mm)
- Strings: 6 string
- Strings thickness ex factory: .012 - .053
- Top: Sitka Spruce
- Top Bracing: Traditional Hand Scalloped X-bracing
- Tuning Machines: Grover rotomatic
The L.R. Baggs Element Bronze pickup system for amplified sound
All Gibson Special models are fitted with an active L.R. Baggs Element Bronze piezo pickup under the saddle and an active preamp with an easily accessible volume control in the soundhole. This makes the guitar stage‑ and studio‑ready right away. A Gibson Premium softshell case is included.
Unlike typical bridge pickups for acoustic guitars, which usually develop their sound mostly from string compression, the L.R. Baggs Element system is designed to capture the actual movement of the guitar top.
The heart of the pickup is a flexible sensor film only two‑thousandths of an inch thick that captures even the subtlest nuances of the guitar.
About the Gibson Special acoustic guitars
The Special models make the famous Gibson tone accessible to guitarists who, despite a smaller budget, don't want to forgo the distinctive Gibson logo and the "made in USA" designation. With the new models Hummingbird Special, J-45 Special and L-00 Special, Gibson presents reinterpretations of three classic models that are inseparably linked with Gibson's history. These guitars are priced below the Standard series but above the visually simplified Studio models.
About Gibson
The American Gibson Guitar Corporation, founded in 1902 by Orville Gibson in Kalamazoo, Michigan, first became known for the production of mandolins and banjos. Today the company’s headquarters are in Nashville, Tennessee, and Gibson is one of the world’s most renowned and respected manufacturers of electric guitars.
The model Les Paul, named after its creator Lester William Polsfuss, is one of the most famous and best‑selling electric guitar shapes of all time and established the single‑cut guitar form, which has been copied, adopted and reinterpreted by numerous other manufacturers. The Les Paul is mainly prized for its sound, characterised as warm and full. The humbucker pickup largely responsible for that sound, in its now common design, was developed by Seth Lover at Gibson.
In the early 1960s the Gibson SG appeared as another solid‑body electric from Gibson. Originally intended as the successor to the Les Paul, it became — helped by Angus Young of AC/DC — another rock‑history icon and is the basis for the double‑cutaway guitar type.
With the Flying V and the Explorer Gibson is responsible for two body shapes that, although they were far ahead of their time when introduced in the late 1950s, have over the years also achieved legendary status. They still serve as the foundation for a host of heavy guitars today, for example from makers such as Jackson or ESP.
The Gibson Custom Shop produces custom orders, high‑quality one‑offs and precise replicas of famous models and legendary instrument years. These are often subjected to an artificial ageing process called relicing.
Almost as long as the company has existed, acoustic guitars have also been produced. The J‑45, the Hummingbird, the L‑00 and the SJ‑200 are among the world’s most beloved steel‑string acoustics and were the instruments of choice for Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley and John Lennon.
Besides the instruments already mentioned, you can of course also buy picks, bags and cases or merchandise from Gibson with us.
We are particularly proud to host a Gibson Flagship Store in our Frankfurt branch. There you’ll find not only a large selection and exclusive models to try out in person, but you’ll also benefit from the expertise of our Gibson‑trained and certified staff when choosing the perfect guitar.
