Gibson Pre-War SJ-200 Rosewood Review

Absolutely Fantastic guitar that needs a better case

These guitars are very hard to find as almost nobody has these in stock. As soon as they do come up for sale they are gone and for good reason, they are superb! Not sure how many more are going to be made so if you like rosewood tone woods, a big loud jumbo velvet sound with vintage gorgeous looks this is the one. I have two other very nice jumbo guitars made from solid figured… read more maple and spruce tops but they don't come close to this Gibson in sound, playability or looks. This jumbo plays beautifully, looks fantastic and has an angelic voice. My Pre-War SJ200 Rosewood guitar produces a very rich, soulful, full sound. Very few guitars will ever surpass the sound of this big Gibson. Yes, it is that good. The setup was perfect from the factory. It plays easy and cleanly up and down the neck. I can't find a single flaw in its construction. The quality is amazing. The factory strings were good but I like it best with 11-52 gauge Elixer Nanowebs. This guitar is everything you would expect in a custom guitar from Bozeman Montana with one exception, the case. The Pre-War comes with a non-traditional black unmarked case that they call "period specific". The problem with the case is that unlike the standard Gibson jumbo case, the period specific case is flat on the bottom and I don't feel it supports the bottom of the guitar properly. I felt this could possibly put unneeded strain on the neck. I solved that problem by purchasing the standard Gibson SJ200 case that has the bottom cushion riser in the bottom. This cost me an additional $217 but I felt it was absolutely mandatory to get a "perfect" fitting case for the perfect King of Guitars. You can see the differences between the period specific and standard SJ200 Gibson case from the pictures. The purple and black period specific is flat as a pancake in the bottom. The standard SJ200 Gibson case is brown and black and has the cushion buffer in the bottom. This is a huge difference between the two cases. The pre-war case is Black on the outside and unmarked. The standard Gibson SJ200 case is a nice brown with gold Gibson logo markings and overall is just a much nicer and better supporting case for this very expensive instrument. Is this guitar expensive? Yes. Is it also one of the very best guitars you could ever own? That's an even bigger YES! If you decide to buy this guitar you will not have any buyers remorse. Anyone lucky enough to own one of these musical master pieces will be vary happy. Just be sure you can live with the case, I couldn't.

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