First introduced in 1942, the Gibson J-45™ has remained a mainstay Gibson acoustic model. It has earned its name as “The Workhorse” due to its wide acceptance, no-nonsense simplicity, and understated elegance. It’s one of the most recorded acoustic guitars in history and Gibson’s best-selling acoustic model of all time. Handcrafted with care in Bozeman, Montana, by Gibson’s expert acoustic luthiers, the new Gibson J-45 Special offers players a USA-built Gibson acoustic guitar at a very attractive price. The J-45 Special has a round shoulder body constructed using genuine solid mahogany for the back and sides and a solid Sitka spruce top. The top is reinforced with our traditional scalloped X-bracing. This combination of tonewoods delivers a warm, balanced tone with excellent dynamic range that is great for any musical genre. The “concert depth” body is slightly thinner than on a J-45 Standard, giving the J-45 Special a leaner and tighter bass response that sits perfectly in the mix and also makes it easier to hold. The utile neck is attached to the body with a compound dovetail neck-to-body joint, and like all Gibson acoustic guitars, it is affixed with hot hide glue. The neck has a comfortable and fast-playing SlimTaper™ profile, and the rosewood fretboard has a 12” radius and is adorned with simple mother-of-pearl dot inlays and is fitted with 20 standard frets. The traditional belly-up rosewood bridge is equipped with a TUSQ® saddle, and the nut and bridge pins are also TUSQ. High-quality Grover® Rotomatic® tuners ensure solid tuning stability. The J-45 Special is finished in satin nitrocellulose lacquer. It comes with an L.R. Baggs Element Bronze under-saddle piezo pickup with active electronics and an easily accessible soundhole-mounted volume control pre-installed for studio-quality plug-and-play anywhere. The J-45 Special also comes with a premium soft shell case.