Exc(-) condition. Some player wear on top - thumbpick marks on bass side of soundhole, some pick and fingernail marks on treble side below pickguard. There are some minor touch-marks and dings, but it is very nice overall.

     Long scale guitar. Where most people think of slope-shouldered guitars with 'short-scale' length in mind, there were actually quite a few times when Gibson built long scale models, like the famous "Advanced Jumbo" guitars of the 1930's. Gibson Custom Shop under the direction of John Walker also handbuilt quite a few long scale "AJ 35's"... meaning it was a Mahogany Advanced Jumbo, or a long scale J-35. At any rate, this particular guitar makes good use of the long scale.

     Mahogany back, sides and neck. Select Sitka Spruce top. Sunburst finish. Nickel pre-war style open-back tuners. Antiqued ivoroid bindings on top, back, fingerboard and peghead. Brazilian Rosewood fingerboard, bridge and peghead overlay. Kopp logo in peghead is antique gold decal that looks just like the old c1940 Gibson silkscreen logos. Small dot inlays of MOP in fingerboard. Old style fire-stripe pickguard.

     Ok... here it is... this guitar is a HONKER! It is "wide-open" and big, with everything about the tone in the "plus" column. Set-up is good and it has no problems.

     * If you wait too long on this one I am liable to keep it for my own...

    

     Newest creation from Kevin Kopp. Built as a prototype 12-fret version of his popular K-35 guitars, this guitar captures the essence of the old "Roy Smeck" models of the 1930's. Mahogany back, sides and neck. Adirondack Red Spruce top. Sunburst finish on top.

     1 3/4" width at nut. 24 3/4" scale length. 12-fret neck joint. At the time of this writing Kevin Kopp is on vacation, so I can't answer specific questions about bracing and tone bars. Built using hide glue.

     Ebony peghead overlay with white decal that looks like the old silk-screened logos of the 1930's. Honduran Rosewood fingerboard and bridge. Dot inlays in fingerboard. Top and back of body are bound with ivoroid. Pre-war style Waverly open-back tuners with ivoroid buttons. Bone saddle and nut and bridge pins. Traditional fire-striped pickguard.

     This is a very fine sounding guitar... and it is a prototype, with label reading "Model - Prototype".

     Another great guitar design from Kevin Kopp.  Similar to a J-185 body design, with Mahogany back, sides and neck and select Spruce top.  Rounded cutaway, with 12-fret neck joint. 24 3/4" scale length.  1 3/4" width of fingerboard at nut.

     The 12-fret neck joint causes the bridge to be moved about 1 5/16" farther away from soundhole. This enables the bridge and bridge plate to act differently with the braces and the top, causing a very pleasing pronounced attack and a good timbre to the tone.

     Very good balanced sound, with strong bass to complement the treble.  Easy to play from the 1st position to the last fret.

Sound Clip 1, Sound Clip 2, Sound Clip 3.

     Sunburst Super Jumbo cutaway. Mahogany back, sides and neck. Lutz Spruce top.

     * 'Lutz' Spruce is a hybrid species that comes from crossing Sitka Spruce, White Spruce and sometimes Englemann Spruce. These hybrids show wonderful stiffness that many builders say rival Red Spruce, but with maybe a little different character to the tone. We have had several guitars with Lutz Spruce tops by Kevin Kopp and they all were great. They all had fast abrupt attack, like Red Spruce, but also more 'growl' right away, like German Spruce or Englemann.

     Back to the guitar... This is just a wonderful sounding instrument. I don't know if I can remember ever having a Gibson J-200 that sounded as balanced, or had as great of a bounce to the bass.