Gibson Super 400 ( 1934 - 1955 )Acoustic Archtop Guitar
One of the finest and most prestigious guitar gibson ever made was introduced in 1923 and was called the gibson L-5 ,
it was the earliest archtop guitar with f-holes and therefore considered the backbone of not only for their own line of archtop guitars but pretty much all archtop guitars you see on the market today .
It is fair to say that the l-5 is probably the worlds' most important guitar historically . It was a favorite amongst many professional musicians then , and a favorite ever since .
In 1934 gibson famoused the music world over with another extraordinary guitar which was thelargest and most expensive archtop guitar ever produced by any manufacturer or company.
This guitar was called the gibson super 400,its grand auditorium body shape shares the same characteristics like the Orville Gibson Style-O model of 1902 .
In 1934 the gibson super 400 had an 18" wide body , an adjustable bridge with triangular designs , it was assembled with figured maple wood back and sides , fitted with a Y shaped tailpiece , had triple bound f-holes , brown pearloid pickguards , ebony fingerboard with pointed ends ,
had double split-block fingerboard inlays , diamond peghead inlays , open back grover tuners , gold plated hardware, most of them had the model name engraved on the heel cap , and were made in brown sunburst finishes .
Important : The very first super 400 batches had " Super L-5 " engraved on the truss rod cover and " Deluxe L-5 model " written on the label . These guitars are extremely rare and are known today as the "super 400 intro models" or " Super L-5 Deluxe " .
In 1939 the gibson super 400 P ( premier ) originated , it had a single rounded cutaway , kluson tuners with amber tulip-shaped buttons , were made in sunburst finishes , natural finishes were also available and named ( Super 400 PN ) .
In 1940 gibson introduced the super 400 N which was a natural finish version of the original super 400 .
In 1941 production halted and was resumed after world war 2 in 1948 , the original super 400 and 400N stayed the same , but the 400p was renamed the gibson super 400 C ( C for cutaway ) .
In 1951 gibson introduced an electric version of the 400c and named it the super 400 CES , it was equipped with 2 p-90 pickups and were the first gibson electric guitars to feature the classic 2 pickup circuitry ( 2 volumes , 2 tones , and a 3 way switch for pickup combination ) , this was another turning point for gibson as electric guitar amplification evolved after world war 2 .
In 1952 a natural finish version of the 400 CES was available and named the 400 CESN ( N for natural )
In 1955 all super 400 non cutaway guitars were discontinued ( super 400 and 400N ) , the super 400 c and the super 400 CESN was discontinued in 1982 and the super 400 CES was discontinued in 1987 .
Some reissues and different versions were made later on through out the 90s as historic collection guitars or custom shop super 400 guitars .
Vintage Price Value For 2009 :
1934 - 1934 > $35 000 to $40 000 ( Super 400 Intro Model )
1934 - 1941 > $14 000 to $18 000 ( Super 400 )
1947 - 1955 > $9 000 to $13 000
1940 - 1941 > $14 000 to $15 000 ( 400N )
1948 - 1955 > $10 500 to $14 000
1939 - 1941 > $30 000 to $35 000 ( 400P )
1939 - 1941 > $45 000 to $47 000 ( 400PN - Natural )
1948 - 1957 > $12 000 to $15 000 ( 400C )
1958 - 1965 > $9 000 to $13 000
1966 - 1969 > $9 500 to $10 000
1970 - 1982 > $6 000 to $9 000
1951 - 1953 > $16 000 to $19 000 ( 400 CES - P 90 pickups )
1954 - 1956 > $16 000 to $20 000 ( alnico )
1957 - 1962 > $25 000 to $30 000 ( PAFs )
1963 - 1964 > $16 000 to $18 000 ( Pat# )
1965 - 1987 > $7 000 to $10 000
1952 - 1956 > $25 000 to $28 000 ( 400 CESN )
1957 - 1962 > $28 000 to $35 000 ( PAFs )
1963 - 1964 > $17 000 to $21 000 ( Pat# )
1965 - 1969 > $11 000 to $15 000
1970 - 1982 > $8 000 to $11 000
Avg Upward Trend Of 14% A Year Since 2000 ( for all )Prices are according to 4 different vintage guitar price guides and rounded off to the nearest dollar . ( picture courtesy of gruhn.com )
Buying Advice For Used & Vintage Gibson super 400 Guitars
If your lucky and you want to buy the super 400 , you can find gibson super 400 for sale on ebay from now and then , make sure you read the descriptions carefully before you bid .
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Gery
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Thomas
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Hello everybody, i'm from italy and i'm gonna buy a super 400 in next days. The only problem is the serial number with 7 digits instead 8. The guitar was built in 1986 but seems with a wrong number inside and the number stamed on peghead is hard to see because is covered by vsrnish. The guitar is really good but i can't understand why there is a 7 digit number . after 1977 should be 8 digits for serial. Any help?
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john N
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rkuzel
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Dennis Massengale
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My Dad got one of the 39 super cutaways in blonde when he was 18 right from their offices in New York. The also engraved his name on the truss rod cover but because it was Saturday they had no techs in. they sent him down to a little guitar maker not far from their office. The guy engraved his name and did a real nice job. That store was D'angelico.
wow , great over all review .. thank you , after reading your review ill definitly never sell my 400 ces.