Gibson Super 400
Gibson Super 400 CES, year 1981
- No pickup (up to 1951)
- 2 x P -90 Single Coil (up to 1951-1957 )
- 2 x Humbucker (since 1957)
- 2 × volume
- 2 x tone
- 1 × 3- pick-up selection
The Gibson Super 400, also abbreviated to Super 4 is a manufactured since 1934 acoustic 18-inch full resonance archtop guitar model of the U.S. musical instrument manufacturer Gibson Guitar Corporation. It is made according to traditional rules of craftsmanship from solid wood by hand, is due to their high manufacturing costs and quality for decades to the highest quality instruments in the product range of the company.
Construction and equipment
The Super 400 was developed in the 1930s as an acoustic instrument. Because of their body size ( almost 46 cm bottom width and 11 cm body depth ) and the resulting full, loud sound usurped for himself as a solo instrument as an accompanying instrument alike, so for example in Swing and other styles of jazz, but also in the country music. The curved bottom and 8.5 cm wide sides of the instrument are made of solid maple. The hand-carved vaulted ceiling is made of feinstjährigem Sitka spruce. The neck consists of dreistreifig glued, strong geriegeltem maple and walnut wood zweistreifigem. The fingerboard is ebony and has performed in rectangular, diagonal split (split - block ) deposits made of genuine mother of pearl. Coating the body with transparent nitro lacquer guarantees an unobstructed swing of the sound. The metal parts ( tuners, tailpiece and bridge ) are gold plated. For this instrument only the finest tone woods are built, which is reflected in their very high price. In the metal elements and embellishments to the design language of Art Deco is back today.
Originally designed as a purely acoustic instrument, the Super 400 is offered since 1951 with two pickups. First were the two single-coil models ( single coil ) of the type P-90, from 1954 two Alnico -V Einzelspuler, and 1957 appeared for the first time offered to the present version with two double coil pickups ( humbucker ) of the type PAF ( " Patent Applied For " ). In 1939, Gibson introduced the first version of the Super 400 with body incision ( cutaway ); initially with a rounded body horn, from 1960 to 1969 with a pointed ( " Florentine " ) Cutaway afterwards. rounded in shape
Models
- Super 400 - the acoustic basic form of the instrument without cutaway, first built for the guitarist Muzzy Marcellino in 1934
- Super 400 C - a variant with a cutaway, but without pickup; from 1939
- Super 400 CES ( Cutaway Electric Spanish) - shown the model produced since 1951 with body incision and with two pickups as in the information box
Common body sprays are the Super 400 Sunburst and Natural ( a colorless clearcoat, also called Blonde; since 1937 ), rarely are Wine Red ( burgundy ), and Ebony (black).
Availability
The Super 400 is built since its introduction in 1934 almost continuously in small series. The production of " war effort " goods demanded during the Second World War, a cessation of production from the year 1941. Production was resumed in 1947. The world market takes on average 20 to 50 instruments per year. The waiting time for a new instrument is now about a year. Vintage instruments of this model are highly sought among professional musicians as among collectors and fetch high prices.
Famous musicians with Super 400
Among the most famous musicians, 400 for a time used the Gibson Super as their main instrument, including the Country guitarist and singer Merle Travis (whose purpose-built model in 1952 as " the most expensive instrument that Gibson has ever made " was called ), the rock-' n' -roll musicians Scotty Moore and Bill Haley and the jazz guitarist George Benson, Kenny Burrell and Louis Stuart.