Front and center stage, belting it out in the arms of the artists who write the songs: that’s the heritage Gibson has forged with generations of great flat-top acoustic guitars, and that’s where we still expect to see the sterling work of the Bozeman, Montana, craftsmen today. While Gibson continues to make better versions than ever before of classics from the golden age of acoustic guitars, such as
the SJ-200,
J-45, and
Southern Jumbo from the vaunted True Vintage series, the Modern Classics range offers versatile, well crafted, no-hold-barred designs suited to the needs of the contemporary player. None fits this description quite so thoroughly as
the Songwriter Deluxe, a smaller bodied square-shouldered dreadnought that shoots straight to the heart of the modern acoustic movement.
Available in three formats—
the Songwriter Deluxe,
Songwriter Deluxe Cutaway, and
Songwriter Deluxe 12-String—this model packages together the features essential to today’s performing singer/songwriter, while retaining all the full, rich acoustic character at the heart of any Gibson flat-top. The Songwriter Deluxe has the look of a big square-shouldered dreadnought, the kind of guitar that has launched a thousand classics, from folk, to country, to rock, to bluegrass, but has been built to more compact proportions, making it an easier instrument to wield strapped-up on-stage. Its under-saddle pickup and active electronics (with unobtrusive soundhole-mounted volume control; rim controls and onboard tuner on Cutaway model) mean that taking the stage is an easy plug-and-play proposition.
But even miked up for recording, or played purely acoustically in an intimate coffeehouse setting, the Songwriter Deluxe still delivers the full measure of Gibson flat-top tone. Its solid, premium Sitka spruce top is supported with light hand-scalloped braces that help maximize both strength and motion, while its hand-fitted, dovetailed neck joint offers superlative transference of toneful resonance between neck and body. Don’t let the reduced dreadnought dimensions fool you, either: the thin, slightly radiused top belts it out with a muscular projection that belies this guitar’s size, while the genuine bone nut and Tusq saddle help to maintain sparkle, clarity, and great string-to-string definition. Round it all off with a back and sides of solid Indian rosewood for warmth and dimension, and you’ve got an acoustic performance that’s hard to beat.
As much of a pure Gibson as the Songwriter Deluxe appears, it was born some 10 years ago out of an effort by the luthiers in Bozemen, Montana, to bring a new model to the fold that would suit the needs of a few customers who might not be catered to by other guitars in Gibson’s acoustic lineup. Master Luthier Ren Ferguson, the craftsman behind the design, tells us: “I compared the air volume and acoustic energy of other, larger square-shouldered dreadnoughts and concluded that if I lowered the waist and softened the shoulders a little bit we would be able to produce the same power and projection in a different body shape. The Songwriter Deluxe’s more comfortable, compact size is just a happy byproduct of those sonic goals.” Ferguson adds that the guitar’s bracing configuration is similar to a pre-War X-brace design, with a wider X closer to the soundhole, somewhat similar to a modified Advanced Jumbo, a classic of the Gibson line.
The Songwriter Deluxe’s elegant lines sport many classic Gibson touches, from the flared custom tortoise pickguard to the split-parallelogram mother of pearl position markers, and a thin nitrocellulose finish in Antique Natural that helps to keep the whole package both looking great and singing freely.
Other noteworthy specs and features of the Songwriter Deluxe include:
- 25 1/2” scale length
- 1.725” nut width
- Mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard and with rounded profile and comfortable radiused fingerboard with rolled edges
- Abalone rosette
- Checkerboard marquetry
- Six-ply top binding, single-ply back binding
- Traditional ebony bridge
- Gold Grover tuners
- Fitted hardshell case (included)