Some of the marquetry on the back zipper has fallen off but the rest has been secured. The only improper repair on this guitar are the four tiny brads helping the moustache bridge down. A jack hole was added to the side rim for a pickup at one time. The other crack is on the treble bout of the back and has been professionally glued.
This crack has been professionally glued and is hidden beneath the pickguard. The pickguard has shrunk and caused the typical crack next to the fretboard. The current plate may be a bit thicker than what would have come in the guitar originally but was professionally installed. The bridge plate has also been replaced with one of similar size to the original.
Two back braces and one top brace have been replaced with quality made replica braces built from a J-200 style template. Repairs include a neck reset, bridge reglue, some braces reglued, pickguard reglue and two crack repairs. The tone of this guitar is loud and crisp with a strong low end and sparkly highs thanks to that hard and dense figured Maple that reflects the tone out of the soundhole.
It has suffered no major breaks or sloppy repairs to draw the eye away from its aesthetic beauty. The Cremona Brown colored sunburst so typical of Gibson in the late 1940s is vibrant and pleasing. This 1948 Gibson SJ-200 has survived the test of time in very good condition with standard wear and patina for a guitar of this age. Current research states that this Gibson SJ-200, serial number A 2090, left the factory between July and December of 1948. Production numbers for Gibson for the late 1940s are still a bit hazy for the low to mid range instruments but since the SJ-200 has an individual serial number we can track how many were produced. Gibson increased the bracing mass with a double X pattern in the 1952 model year. The bracing on the 1942-1951 SJ-200s is a very light, single X pattern very reminiscent of that found on a similar era J-45. We have very little information about Gibson production numbers from 1942 until the end of the war in 1946 but we do know that the model was reintroduced sometime in 1947. Gibson changed the name of the model to “SJ-200″ after the war and also discontinued the use of Rosewood for the back and sides in favor of highly figured Maple. The Super Jumbo 200 featured Rosewood back and sides until Gibson stopped accepting orders for it in 1942. Instead of the typical Factory Order designation that Gibson used for low to mid level instruments, Gibson used an individual serial number for each Super Jumbo 200 and subsequent model name changes. At $200, it was the most expensive flat-top guitar in the Gibson line up.
The Gibson Super Jumbo 200 was introduced to the public in 1938 after a short run of three guitars for singing cowboy Ray Whitley.
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