Gibson.com: Gibson J-165 EC Rosewood

Gibson Logo

The Gibson name has graced the most innovative and revolutionary acoustic guitars of our time—the Super Jumbos, the J-45, the Hummingbird, the Dove. There is no mistaking the classic, mother-of-pearl logo, pressed onto the face of the headstock. It represents more than a century of originality and excellence. There is simply no equal.

Gold Grover Mini Rotomatic Tuners

Grover’s original Rotomatic tuners are an engineering marvel with abundant style and performance exactly suited for the J-165 EC Rosewood. With a gear ratio of 14:1, the mini Rotomatics deliver precision tuning in a durable housing that provides maximum protection for the gear and string post. All moving parts are cut for exact meshing, eliminating the possibility of slippage. A countersunk tension screw lets players regulate the tuning tension to any degree. A special lubricant inside the gear box provides smooth and accurate tuning stability.

Rosewood Fingerboard with Rolled Edges and Split Parallelogram Inlays

The fingerboard of Gibson’s J-165 EC Rosewood is constructed from rosewood. The resilience of this durable wood makes the fingerboard extremely balanced and stable, giving each single note and chord unparalleled bite and clarity. J-165 EC’s split parallelogram inlays are made of genuine mother-of-pearl and are placed into the fingerboard using a process that eliminates gaps and doesn’t require the use of fillers. The fingerboard also features a beveled edge for an extremely smooth and comfortable feel, enhancing the playability of the J-165 EC Rosewood.

Tapered Dovetail Neck Joint

The dovetail neck joint is one of the oldest—and best—ways of securely joining the neck to the body of a guitar. It is also a complex and expensive neck joint to build, but the result is a tight, locking connection that supports the neck at the proper neck-pitch angle, allowing the body and neck to become one solid piece of resonating wood with no metal to impede vibration. This process, done entirely by hand, requires patience and skill.

Body Tonewoods (back, sides and top)

The top of the J-165 EC Rosewood Modern Classic is made from Sitka spruce, while the back and sides are constructed from rosewood, giving the J-165 EC Rosewood Modern Classic a deep, robust tone with all the brilliance and projection of the larger Jumbos. Selecting the right wood, and the formula to dry it out, are two of the most central procedures to Gibson’s guitar-building process. Beginning with its first catalog in 1903, Gibson has assured its customers that every guitar would be built using woods with “the most durable, elastic, and sonorous qualities,” and today’s guitars from Gibson Acoustic are no different.

Bracing

Every acoustic guitar made by Gibson features hand-scalloped, radiused top bracing inside the body, a feature normally found only in limited run, hand-made guitars. By scalloping each brace by hand, the natural sound of the acoustic is focused more toward the center of the body, enhancing the instrument’s sound projection. The bracing pattern inside the J-165 EC Rosewood Modern Classic is a smaller version of the design used for Gibson’s legendary Super Jumbo acoustics—a distinctive “X” pattern that allows the top to vibrate with less restraint, thus projecting the J-165’s powerful and balanced sound. This exceptionally balanced tone, combined with the warm, rich sound of rosewood, delivers the ultimate parlor size acoustic.

Rosette

A rosette is the beautiful, hand-crafted circle around the soundhole, and can be one of the most ornamental elements of any acoustic guitar. It is also one of the most subtle and complicated woodworking decorations on any acoustic guitar. The rosette on the J-165 EC Rosewood Modern Classic is one of Gibson’s finest. It is a double-ring rosette with an abalone-filled middle. The main ring consists of seven-ply binding, and the second ring is three-ply binding, adding a stylish, understated elegance to the J-165 EC Rosewood Modern Classic.

Radius Top

The top of many “flat-top” guitars are under a lot of stress from the pull of the strings, which can eventually compromise the top. So, while most acoustic guitars are true “flat-top” guitars, all of the acoustics produced by Gibson in Bozeman, Montana have a radiused, or “tuned” top. Instead of being perfectly flat, a radiused or “tuned” top is raised slightly, and a special instrument is used to shape the top braces to the radius of the top. This process adds tension and strengthens the top, creating a less stressful joint where the top meets the sides and reducing the stresses of string pull. It also results in a “speaker cone” effect that maximizes sound projection, adding a significant boost to mid-range levels for a more balanced acoustic tone.

Nitrocellulose Finish

Applying a nitrocellulose finish to any Gibson acoustic guitar — including the J-165 EC Rosewood — is one of the most labor-intensive elements of the guitar-making process. Unlike the polyurethane finishes used by many guitar manufacturers, a nitrocellulose lacquer finish is porous when cured, allowing the wood to naturally “breathe” and mature. Microscopically thin, the finish on a Gibson acoustic guitar first requires seven main coats of nitrocellulose lacquer. After drying overnight, the initial seven coats are then level sanded and given two additional coats. Left to dry for five additional days, the finish is then wet sanded and buffed to its final glass-like sheen. The time-consuming nature of applying a nitro finish has been employed ever since the first Gibson guitar was swathed with lacquer back in 1894. Why? For starters, a nitro finish means there is less interference with the natural vibration of the instrument, allowing for a purer tone. It’s also a softer finish, making it easily repairable. You can touch up a scratch or ding on a nitro finish, but you can’t do the same on a poly finish.

Body Binding

In general, a guitar’s binding serves as a cosmetic feature, adding a subtle elegance to any Gibson acoustic while hiding the joints between the top, back, and sides, and helping to protect the guitar’s body from any nicks or dings. But to see the process of putting the binding on a Gibson acoustic is to really appreciate the effort and attention put into each instrument. After the body has been glued together, the excess from the top and back are trimmed off and a groove is cut for the binding. The binding is then glued on and held on to the body using tape, and hung to dry. When the tape comes off, any excess glue is removed and the body is moved into the next phase of production. It has been done the same way for over 100 years, and is a fundamental part of Gibson Acoustic’s rich guitar-making history.

Pickguard

The tortoise pickguard for the J-165 EC Rosewood Modern Classic is Gibson’s standard jumbo-style shape, and can be applied to the acoustic guitar at the owner’s discretion by simply peeling the back off the pickguard and applying it to the body. As with all of Gibson Acoustic’s pickguards, the coloring, inlay, and binding are all done by hand.

Fishman Aura Pro Acoustic Pickup System

Gibson’s J-165 EC Rosewood comes equipped with a built-in Fishman Aura Pro, featuring Fishman’s popular Aura Acoustic Imaging Technology. This groundbreaking pickup system reproduces the natural sound of the J-165 EC Rosewood as mic’ed in a professional studio, or onstage, thus eliminating the complicated setups of expensive microphones. Aura Pro uses digital algorithms to create images of various microphones’ captured sounds. Players can then blend these images with an acoustic guitar’s pickup to produce an immediate and dramatic improvement in amplified sound. The Fishman Aura Pro’s preamp includes a tuner and is mounted on the bass-side rim of the upper bout.

Crown Peghead Logo

Gibson put the first crown peghead logo on an ES-300 back in 1940, and it has graced the headstocks of many legendary Gibson guitars ever since, including today’s J-165 EC Rosewood.

J-165 EC Rosewood

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