1947 Gibson Super 400 #A1190

Unlike many instruments whose development borrowed from a diversity of builders and tinkerers, the archtop guitar is unique because its inspiration can be traced directly to one man: Orville Gibson. Although Gibson’s early 1890s designs differ greatly from the modern archtop guitar, he set in motion nearly 50 years of innovation that provided generations of players with the right instrument and sound to push their music where it wants to go. In 1934, Gibson introduced its most impressive and highly-appointed archtop yet: the 18″-wide Super 400. Largely because of the change from X-bracing to traditional parallel top bracing, the 1939 specifications of the Super 400 embody the pinnacle of the archtop guitar: massive 18″-wide body constructed of a carved Spruce top and gorgeous carved Curly Maple back and sides, extravagant enlarged headstock, 25-1/2″ scale length, Grover Imperial tuners, and high-end, deluxe appointments all around. Although these specifications represent the culminatio