Two J-45s, the Southern Jumbo 40s and a returning Country Western 60s all get the dual-sensor system Gibson developed with Baggs.
The J-45, which Gibson calls the most recorded acoustic guitar ever, now comes with a pickup system made just for Gibson. Two new J-45 models join a Southern Jumbo and the returning Country Western in the Original Collection, all fitted with Baggs’ HiFi DNA.
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Gibson developed the HiFi DNA system with Baggs and introduced it in September. Two lightweight sensors mount to the bridge plate, and each one runs through its own preamp before the signals are blended. It’s designed to amplify the guitar’s natural voice without changing its unplugged sound, with feedback resistance on par with an under-saddle pickup. “Less mass and stiffness means more life, more breath, more truth from the guitar,” says Baggs founder Lloyd R. Baggs. The volume and tone controls are mounted just inside the soundhole, out of sight but easy to reach.
Lloyd Baggs started out building acoustic guitars in Los Angeles in the 1970s – Ry Cooder played the first one he finished – before moving into pickups with the LB-6 and setting up L.R. Baggs. Gibson has been fitting its pickups since 1987, the company’s longest-running partnership with a guitar maker, and has HiFi DNA to itself for three years. The company has also recently dropped the “L.R.” and now goes by Baggs.
The J-45 Original keeps the round-shoulder dreadnought shape and the mahogany back and sides under a solid Sitka spruce top that have defined the model since the start. It comes in Autumn Burst or Vintage Sunburst.
The J-45 60s Original, Fixed Bridge takes its cues from the ’60s version of the guitar Gibson nicknames “The Workhorse”. It has a Round profile mahogany neck with a 24.75-inch scale, set into the body with a dovetail joint and hot hide glue. Mother-of-pearl dots on a rosewood fingerboard, a bone nut and white-buttoned Grover tuners round it out. It comes in Vintage Sunburst or Vintage Cherry Sunburst.
Gibson’s Southern Jumbo first appeared in 1942, and the Southern Jumbo 40s Original refers back to that era, with a belly-down bridge, a teardrop pickguard and a Vintage Sunburst finish.
The Country Western 60s Original is back in the core lineup. Its mahogany back and sides are finished in Antique Natural, and its rosewood fingerboard has split parallelogram inlays.
All four are built at Gibson’s acoustic factory in Bozeman, Montana, and come with a hard case.
The Gibson Original Collection is available via Australis
