Epiphone IGC 1942 Banner J-45 Reissue - Vintage Sunburst

The Gibson J-45 earned the name "The Workhorse" honestly — not through marketing, but through decades of appearing on more stages, in more studios, and in more hands than any other Gibson acoustic model ever made. It was introduced in 1942, and the guitars from that first year of production are among the most prized vintage acoustic instruments in the world: pre-war construction sensibilities carried into the earliest wartime years, before material shortages and production pressures began to reshape what was possible. The Epiphone 1942 Banner J-45 Reissue, developed in partnership with Gibson Custom, is a faithful recreation of that foundational instrument — and in Vintage Sunburst it carries exactly the right visual weight for the history it represents. The teardrop tortoise pickguard is the earliest J-45 shape, the three-on-a-plate open-back tuners with cream buttons replicate what you'll find on the originals, the Gibson Open Book headstock wears the Epiphone banner in gold silkscreen, and the Inspired by Gibson Custom double diamond logo etched on the back of the headstock marks this as the higher tier of Epiphone's Gibson partnership. The result is an instrument that looks the part from every angle.

The construction honors the period as faithfully as the aesthetics do. A thermally aged solid spruce top — acoustically opened up at the cellular level to behave like a top that has been playing and aging for decades — sits over solid mahogany back and sides, braced with scalloped X-bracing for the rich, balanced tonal character that made the J-45 a studio standard. The one-piece mahogany neck in a V-shaped profile is period-correct to 1942 and comfortable to players who know what a pre-war neck feels like in the hand, and 19 standard frets on an Indian rosewood fingerboard with mother-of-pearl dot inlays complete the vintage specification. Bone nut, bone saddle, bone bridge pins — the materials that define acoustic tone at the contact points, done right. The LR Baggs Element Bronze VTC under-saddle pickup and preamp system bring the whole instrument into the modern world without compromising a single vintage detail, and the Red Line-inspired hardshell case with Inspired by Gibson Custom exterior logo sends it out protected in style.

Model: J-45 1942 Banner IGC
Body Top: Solid Thermally Aged Spruce
Body Back: Solid Mahogany
Body Finish: Gloss 
Body Binding: Multi-Ply Ivory colored Top and Back
Neck: Mahogany
Fingerboard: Indian Rosewood
Fingerboard Inlay: MOP Dots
Nut: Bone 1.73" 
Neck Profile: "V"
Headstock: Gibson Open Book 
Frets: 19 Standard
Truss Rod: Fully Adjustable
Radius: 12"
Fingerboard Binding: None
Scale Length: 24.75"
Neck Finish: Gloss 
Tuners: Open Back Three on a Plate / Cream Button 
Hardware Color: Nickel 
Bridge Style: Rosewood Rectangle, Closed Slot 
Pickguard: J-45 Teardrop: Tortoise
Pickup: LR Baggs Element Bronze VTC 
Controls: Volume, Tone 
Series: IGC
Case: Red Lined Hardshell Case