By Acoustic guitars don’t often get the respect of their solid body relatives. Les Pauls, SGs and other electric big dogs seem to get all the glory, thanks to their extreme rock-ability. But acoustics are also part of the rock firmament, often holding down the rhythm in classic tunes or barking out the occasional lead six-string break.
Case in point: the Gibson J-200 acoustic guitar. When the model was introduced in 1938, it was the Gibson Company’s fanciest flat top. Initially it was called the Super Jumbo, due to its 16 7/8 inch body. Then the name was streamlined to the SJ-200 a year later. The model sported a double-braced spruce top, a rosewood back and sides, and a sunburst finish until 1947, when the back and sides were changed to maple. And in 1955, the guitar’s name was shorted a bit more to the J-200. Today, Epiphone also makes a budget version of this highly resonant marvel, the EJ-200.
What’s cooler than the J-200’s production history is its musical legacy, which gives the model the kind of rock ‘n’ roll cred that’s normally reserved for the Les Paul or the Flying V.
Here’s a tally of 10 of the greatest J-200 players — each one a reason why this big bodied beauty belongs in the roll call of classic Gibsons:
10. George Harrison: The “Quiet Beatle” employed a J-200 on some of the band’s greatest tracks, including his pop-song opus “While My Guitar Gentle Weeps” from the White Album. George’s J-200 also played a major role in the songwriting for his solo masterpiece, All Things Must Pass.
9. Pete Townshend: Although Townshend was revered for driving Les Pauls and SGs through towers of Hi-Watt and Marshall amps when the Who was making their bid for “World’s Greatest Rock Band” in the late 1960s and early ’70s, Pete — at least until the bicycle accident that broke his wrist — was proudest of his acoustic style. Listening to “Pinball Wizard” and “Behind Blues Eyes,” it’s obvious his right hand is stunning. The sheer textural drive of the former and the artful arpeggiations of the latter are among rock’s finest rhythm guitar performances.
8. Neil Young: Young plays other models, but his J-200 sound was immortalized on side one of his still-amazing 1979 LP Rust Never Sleeps. Young’s natural tone gives “My My, Hey Hey (Out of the Blue)” an ache that’s in perfect counterpoint to its electric counterpart “Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)” on the album’s second side. And “Pocahontas” and “Sail Away” are remarkably beautiful essays in the effectiveness of one voice and a really good guitar. Of course, having Crazy Horse for a backing band don’t hurt, neither.
7. Ron Wood: The Rolling Stones’ number two guitar man has used a J-200 for most of his acoustic tracks with the band, to the extent that Gibson honored him in 1997 with a signature model distinguished by gorgeous winged inlays and a wraparound pick guard, just like the ’50s model he owned when he first joined the Stones to cut Black and Blue in 1976.
6. Reverend Gary Davis: Okay, the Rev was not a rocker, but his playing style, a highly personalized variation on Piedmont blues, was a profound influence on Bob Dylan, Ry Cooder, Jerry Garcia and Jefferson Airplane’s Jorma Kaukonen, so he deserves to be in this list. And scores of bands have based performances of the gospel classics “Samson and Delilah” and “If I Had My Way” — a Blind Willie Johnson tune that Davis brought to the folk and rock world — on his arrangements. To get an earful of Rev. Gary’s extraordinary, highly filigreed picking style, listen to the reissue compilation Heroes of the Blues — The Very Best of Reverend Gary Davis, which boasts a cool R. Crumb cover illustration.
5. Bob Dylan: First, see the above for the background and you’ll understand some of Dylan’s fondness for the J-200. Then listen to Dylan’s elegant masterpieces Nashville Skyline and Self Portrait. For those albums, Dylan used a vintage J-200 that was given to him as a gift from friend and admirer George Harrison. The guitar has a bottom pick guard with the model’s trademark floral etching, and rings like an angel’s bell on “Girl From the North Country” and “Lay Lady Lay.”
4. Everly Brothers: During the late 1950s and early ’60s, Don and Phil Everly played customized Gibson J-200s on stellar hits like “Bye Bye Love” and “Wake Up Little Suzie.” In 1962, the Gibson Company based the Gibson Everly Brothers model on the J-200, shrinking the body by 7/8-inch, adding an adjustable saddle, and installing mother-of-pearl star inlays down the mahogany neck and extending the double sided pick guards to cover almost the entire width of the guitar.
3. The Edge: It’s hard to dissect the often densely layered textural tracks the Edge creates in the studio, but for a listen to his imaginative acoustic playing check out “ Love and Peace Or Else” from How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. The atmospheric lead guitar sound is his vintage J-200 with a slide and effects. No kidding!
2. Emmylou Harris: Harris’ first J-200 was a hand-me-down from her musical partner Gram Parsons, and until recently — when Gibson developed the smaller L-200 for her — she strummed J-200s on all her classic albums including Angel Band (where she’s got Parson’s J-200 in the album’s cover shot) and 1975’s haunting Elite Hotel.
1. Jimmy Page: From Led Zeppelin’s earliest days, Pagey employed a J-200 for most of his acoustic tracks, and it’s fascinating to hear his acoustic technique come to the fore of tunes like “Your Time Is Gonna Come” and “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” on 1969’s Led Zeppelin. While much is made of his debt to the influence of British acoustic folk pickers like Bert Jansch and Roy Harper, it’s clear that Page’s attack reflects a solid base in electric guitar. The hammer-ons and rippling arpeggios of “Babe I’m Gonna Leave You” in particular are signatures of his electric playing writ into crystalline acoustic lines.
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