Shop Keyboard Deals, Financing, and More

Sorry, all demos of this item have been sold.

Since demo items are such a great deal, they often sell within hours of showing up on our web site. Order a new one below, or browse every currently available demo item here.

Gibson Acoustic 50s J-45 Original - Ebony

6-string Acoustic-electric Guitar, with Mahogany Back/Sides, Sitka Spruce Top, Mahogany Neck, Rosewood Fretboard, and LR Baggs VTC Electronics - Ebony
Building your custom Guitar Gallery
$3,199.00

Earn $160 back in Bonus Bucks OR pay $134/month with 24 month financing*

Find it used on Sweetwater's Gear Exchange
listed for
$2499.99
In Stock!

(Hurry, limited quantity available)

Add to Cart
Notify me about deals

Ask An Expert

Our expertly trained Sales Engineers are ready to help!

What is a Sales Engineer?

Most Popular Accessories & Related Items

Gibson Acoustic 50s J-45 Original - Ebony
In Stock!
$3,199.00
Add to Cart
Add to list
Back to navigation

This article was Written By

Our Product Research Team

Get to know them!

Gibson's Acoustic Workhorse

Gibson's J-45 is one of the best-known acoustic guitars out there. Dubbed "The Workhorse," this round-shoulder dreadnought gives your music full, balanced expression, warm bass, and excellent projection. The '50s J-45 Original features all that rich tone, thanks to its solid Sitka spruce top and a solid mahogany body. And, for a vintage correct look, the multi-ply top and single-ply back binding are slightly antiqued to create a well-seasoned appearance. Whether you're a singer/songwriter or an onstage acoustic rocker, the Gibson Acoustic '50s J-45 Original is for you.

Choice tonewoods for incredible tone

Known as "The Workhorse," the Gibson J-45 body style is among Gibson's most beloved. This particular workhorse features a superb blend of tonewoods, giving you rich, strong sound with well-balanced tonality. The '50s J-45 Original features a solid Sitka spruce top for presence, while premium mahogany adorns its back and sides. Other touches include traditional hand-scalloped X-bracing, a compound dovetail neck joint, and multi-ply top and single-ply back body binding.

Eminently playable neck and fretboard

The Gibson '50s J-45 Original's fretboard comprises high-grade rosewood, which is personally inspected and qualified by Gibson experts before it enters the Gibson factories. It's a resilient and durable wood, making way for a balanced and stable fretboard, and giving each chord and note enhanced clarity and bite. The dot inlays on the J-45 are made of genuine mother-of-pearl and are added to the fretboard using a special Gibson process that eliminates gaps and doesn't require fillers. What's more, the '50s J-45 Original's fretboard boasts a rolled edge that's lightly beveled, which enhances the instrument's smooth playability.

Amazing sound onstage

The Gibson Acoustic '50s J-45 Original comes with LR Baggs's popular VTC acoustic pickup system, a popular choice among acoustic guitarists at Sweetwater. This system features a low-profile under-saddle transducer that enhances the coupling between the pickup and the guitar for a robust, lively, and natural acoustic sound with excellent dynamics and delicate high end. Combined with an onboard preamplifier with unobtrusive and removable volume control, mounted just inside the soundhole, the VTC gives your '50s J-45 Original the amplification you need, with zero compromises for tone or convenience.

Gibson Acoustic '50s J-45 Original Acoustic-electric Guitar Features:

  • The classic acoustic workhorse, primed for live performance
  • Solid Sitka spruce top offers great projection and tone
  • Solid mahogany back and sides offer warm, round sound
  • LR Baggs VTC electronics transfer every nuance of your tone to your PA or amp
  • Softened fingerboard edge adds increased playing comfort

Why Buy Your Guitar from Sweetwater?

See how Sweetwater goes to great lengths to give you the very best online guitar buying experience. From our online Guitar Gallery that allows you to see and select the exact instrument you want to our 55-point Inspection process and our in-house guitar techs, we take the guesswork out of buying your next guitar online.

Additional Media

Warranty Info

Sweetwater's FREE 2-Year Total Confidence Coverage Warranty

Extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

  • Save money with FREE parts and labor
  • Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time
  • Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department
Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage

Free 2-year Warranty

Sweetwater's 2-year Total Confidence Coverage™ Warranty gives you extra peace of mind at no extra cost.

Learn More about Total Confidence Coverage
Tools Icon

Save money with free parts & labor!

Fast Icon

Get back to making music with the industry's fastest turnaround time.

Award Icon

Fix it the first time with our award-winning, factory-certified Service Department.

Back to navigation

Tech Specs

  • String Type: Steel
  • Number of Strings: 6
  • Left-/Right-handed: Right-handed
  • Body Shape: Round Shoulder Dreadnought
  • Back & Sides Wood: Mahogany
  • Top Wood: Sitka Spruce
  • Finish: Gloss Nitrocellulose Lacquer
  • Color: Ebony
  • Body Bracing: Scalloped X-bracing
  • Binding: Multi-ply top/back
  • Neck Wood: Mahogany
  • Neck Shape: Rounded
  • Radius: 12"
  • Fingerboard Material: Rosewood
  • Fingerboard Inlay: Mother-of-Pearl Dots
  • Number of Frets: 20, Standard
  • Scale Length: 24.75"
  • Nut Width: 1.725"
  • Nut/Saddle Material: Bone/Bone
  • Bridge Material: Rosewood
  • Tuning Machines: Grover Strap with Cream buttons
  • Electronics: LR Baggs VTC Under Saddle Pickup
  • Strings: Gibson, .012-.053
  • Case Included: Hardshell Case
  • Manufacturer Part Number: OCRS4550EB

What Makes Our Sales Engineers Great?

Sweetwater Sales Engineers are a world-class team of experts dedicated to you. Hand selected from across the globe, each brings a wealth of experience and expertise in the world of music gear to provide you with unparalleled service completely free of charge. Friendly relationships, real trust, and the right gear are only a call or a click away!

Back to navigation

Customer Reviews

Write your review
Rated 5/5

Outstanding guitar. I've got THE ONE

I've purchased this guitar two months ago and it has since become my main acoustic. Went for ebony finish/color as I already owned another acoustic in sunburst. A big THANK YOU to Adam Szmurlo for making my shopping experience at Sweetwater so enjoyable not only for this one, but for everything I've bought from Sweetwater over the years.

There is a lot of talk on the web about J-45s sounding all over the spectrum. Mine, however, is "the one". It has a very mellow and sweet tone, with rounded beautiful overtones (just the right amount) especially on the high register. The bass is tighter than Martin's but it *growls* if you dig in. Soft and sweet when finger picked, gorgeous punchy "overdriven" sound and growl when strummed hard (somehow reminding me of a nicely overdriven Les Paul). Never muddy.

Now, you really have to love thick neck profiles (the 50's style) as this one has a full D-shape with quite wide shoulders. Even though I have a thick 50s neck on my Les Paul, it still took a bit of getting used to it.

Initially I was concerned that the neck will become sticky while playing considering it was touching my entire palm and the finish is nitrocellulose (I had bad experiences with this combination in the past). Happily to report that that was NOT the case with this guitar. If anything, when my fretting palm sweated, it made the neck even slicker. So big kudos to Gibson for that, well done !

This model comes with bone nut and bone saddle (hooray !!!). Personally, I can't stand having those made out of plastic, especially on a $2,000+ guitar. The bridge pins however, are made out of tusq. It's certainly a personal preference, but I prefer bone instead of tusq. While tusq adds slightly more overtones (which I don't think this guitar needs anyway), it does so at the expense of suppressing its "growl" and diminishing its "punch" and sustain. So I've replaced mine.

The frets seems to have been plek-ed nicely :-) and there were no protruding frets at the edge (very smooth edges). The action was sky high though, and I believe that to be intentional so that the future owner can lower it to his/her satisfaction. For me, the factory setup was close to unplayable therefore I made a new bone saddle and lowered the nut slots to get the action to where I liked it. Every new guitar should have a setup done to match the owner's playing style, so that kind of work was expected.

I mostly play this guitar unplugged but the few occasions I plugged it in, it sounded good to me.

In conclusion, I am thrilled to own this acoustic legend with a phenomenal tone true to its name, and looking forward to many years of joy playing it.
Music background: Been playing for awhile
Rated 5/5

Surprised

I have played Taylor Guitars exclusively for over 20 years, and loved them.
My friend plays an older J45, and I was impressed with the big sound from this guitar.
I purchase one from Sean at Sweetwater thinking I would return it I was unhappy.
It's a keeper. The sound from this guitar was clean and Big!
It will be my go to acoustic now.
Sadley, I have to thin out my other guitars now.
Music background: 55 years on guitar.
Rated 5/5

Best Sound and Playability

Since I purchased this guitar I have not been able to put it down. I was a bit worried the neck would be too thick, however it sits just right in my hand, and the radius makes it very easy to play. The sound is bright with depth, very reactive to how I touch the strings. The ebony color is amazing up close, it will wear in beautifully over time. The tuning machines are solid and look great in person giving it the vintage look, I expect the white knobs to turn over time to a more aged look, and I plan to keep this guitar until that happens. I did my own setup after purchase, sanded down the bridge a bit to lower the action and straighten out the neck. Otherwise great job Gibson and thank you Sweetwater for getting this baby to me safely.
Rated 5/5

First Gibson

This guitar is my first Gibson and I am impressed. I have multiple Martin (standard series, both 18 and 28 style) along with other acoustics. But this guitar with its fat neck and short scale make it a joy to play. The electronics are pretty decent and it sounds great unplugged. Craftsmanship isn't Martin or Taylor, but I think that is done on purpose. It seems like a rugged guitar. I cant wait for it to age and look and sound better ;)
Rated 4/5

Vintage vs. Modern

Negatives/Disappointments first:
Intonation was not great (pretty bad in fact). The original saddle is not compensated and portly shaped. I know they're going for vintage specs, but an updated compensated bone saddle made ALL the difference! Intonation vastly improved with no loss of tone.

Easy enough of a fix, but annoying and disappointing.

Slight finish imperfections, but that's minor for me.

Positives/Expectations:
It sounds just like you'd expect except it's a little better. I LOVE it! Gibson J45's just have a sound and this one has IT. I really like the vintage spec's neck as well (seems fatter).
Music background: Church Pro
Close Close $2,000 Pick Your PRS Giveaway -- input your email address below to enter or click here to learn more.

See giveaway details & rules or check out our past winners!

Success!

Your email, has been entered to win this giveaway. Good Luck!