Sweetwater's Custom-spec Spin on the Time-honored J-185
Available only at Sweetwater, the Gibson Acoustic J-185 EC drapes the brand’s historic mini-jumbo powerhouse with a vibrant Viper Blue finish. This vintage-meets-modern acoustic-electric wears the J-185’s traditional tonewood complement of a Sitka spruce top and maple back and sides. Wrapped up in a mini-jumbo form factor and supported by responsive scalloped X-bracing, this recipe delivers a crisp and fundamental-focused voice. It's a sound that’s long been championed by multitudes of mini-Jumbo fanatics as the most versatile in the Gibson lineup, tackling delicate fingerstyle pieces, boisterous country strumming, and everything in between with a graceful sonic balance. A deep cutaway even allows you to take the J-185 into lead territory by offering unfettered access to the 2-piece maple SlimTaper neck’s bound rosewood fingerboard. Gold hardware, an abalone rosette, and mother-of-pearl crown inlays only enhance the showpiece status of this 6-string. Finished off with LR Baggs Hi-Fi electronics, the Gibson Acoustic J-185 is ready to hit the stage and steal the show with a signature Sweetwater-spec’d flair.
Related Videos: J-185 EC Acoustic-electric Guitar - Viper Blue, Sweetwater Exclusive
Quality tonewoods for timeless tone
In handcrafting the J-185 EC, Gibson’s elite luthiers used only premium solid tonewoods. A top tonewood, Sitka spruce offers a combination of strength and elasticity that delivers a broad dynamic range with crisp articulation that’s ideal for a wide range of playing styles, from delicate fingerpicking to aggressive flatpicked strumming. Maple, known for its assertive brightness, was used for the sides and back. These esteemed tonewoods’ acoustic properties coalesce into a powerful sonic elixir that delivers a full, rich tone with robust volume and projection.
Versatile mini jumbo body
Not quite a jumbo, the J-185 EC boasts a smaller and more comfortable mini jumbo body shape — a profile first introduced to the Gibson lineup with the original J-185 in the early 1950s. While many jumbo-sized guitars can prove to be quite a handful to play, the J-185’s slim waist and reduced lower bout offer a less cumbersome playing experience that’s more akin to a 000. Furthermore, the J-185 still firmly sits within traditional jumbo tonal territory, offering a slightly downsized twist on the big-body jumbo’s superior projection and immaculate string-to-string balance.
American craftsmanship at its finest
While the Gibson Acoustic factory in Bozeman embraces modern construction technologies where necessary, guitars such as this J-185 EC remain largely handcrafted by a seasoned team of skilled craftspeople. Gibson is rightly celebrated for the sound, style, and performance of its iconic “flat-top” guitars, though the term is something of a misnomer. From the company’s very beginnings, Gibson non-archtop acoustics have featured subtly radiused tops and backs, not truly flat surfaces. To honor that legacy, today’s Gibson acoustics continue the tradition with 28-foot-radius tops and 12-foot-radius backs shaped by carefully curving the hand-scalloped bracing. Why go to such lengths when a true flat-top would be easier to produce? That curvature adds stiffness to the back and sides, marking an integral element of the classic Gibson steel-string sound and contributing to its clarity, resonance, and signature note-to-note definition.
From binding installation and fingerboard fretting to neck setting and the painstaking finishing process, the Bozeman team’s expertise guides every step. They even bend the sides using traditional presses, a technique used for generations. Across every detail, Gibson Acoustic guitars represent the spirit of a traditionally crafted American instrument, built using time-honored methods that forged Gibson’s legendary reputation throughout the 20th century.
Built in Bozeman in the handcrafted Kalamazoo tradition
For more than eight decades, Gibson’s acoustic instruments were crafted in the historic Parsons Street Factory in Kalamazoo, Michigan — only a few hours’ drive from Sweetwater’s Fort Wayne, Indiana, campus. Gibson’s acoustic and electric guitars were built side-by-side there for much of the company’s history. Subsequently, production was relocated to Nashville, Tennessee, over the course of several years between the late 1970s and the early 1980s. Although this change of scenery worked brilliantly for Gibson’s electric lineup, it was quickly discovered that the hot and humid climate of the American South was perhaps not the ideal setting for acoustic guitar building.
Gibson’s acoustic division ultimately packed up its side presses and chisels and journeyed off to the picturesque city of Bozeman in 1989. The move was preceded by Gibson’s purchase of the Flatiron company in 1987; the latter’s immaculate mandolins demonstrated that The Treasure State’s semi-arid climate was the perfect setting to craft Gibson’s historic acoustic instruments. More than three decades down the line, the Bozeman factory comprises a well-seasoned workforce of master craftspeople — many of whom are multi-decade Gibson veterans — and produces what many musicians consider to be among the company’s finest creations.
Gibson Acoustic J-185 EC Features:
- A custom-spec J-185 EC that you can only get at Sweetwater, featuring our exclusive Viper Blue finish
- Sitka spruce top with scalloped X-bracing performs with a rich, vibrant, and responsive sound
- Maple back and sides ensure impeccable balance and a crisp character
- Mini-jumbo-sized body provides genre-defying versatility, whether flatpicked, strummed, or fingerpicked
- Deep cutaway grants you effortless access to the upper frets
- 2-piece maple neck in Gibson’s speedy SlimTaper profile
- Rosewood fingerboard loaded with MOP parallelogram inlays and binding that wraps all the way up to the headstock
- LR Baggs Hi-Fi electronics offer acoustic-authentic plugged-in tones with convenient soundhole controls
- Gleaming gold Grover Rotomatic tuners ensure pitch-perfect stability
- Crafted in the time-tested Gibson tradition with a dovetail neck joint sealed with hot hide glue
- Nitro lacquer finish will beautifully break in over time
