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    GIBSON ‘DREADNOUGHT’ JUMBOS

    Sep 18, 2020 3 minutes
    [RB]

    Gibson’s dreadnought designs have been a mainstay of the flat-top world ever since its debut, the Jumbo, was released in 1934. The concept was developed in 1916 when Martin made the mahogany-bodied ‘Extra Grand’-sized 111 and 222 models for music retailers Ditson, while the Dreadnought name was introduced to the Martin line in 1931 with the mahogany D-1 and rosewood D-2 (later renamed the D-18 and D-28).

    Taking inspiration from the name of a battleship, Martin applied the Dreadnought/‘D’ designation to its/8-inch wide, square-shouldered 12-fret-neck flat-tops, and when 14-fret necks became standard in 1934 the Dreadnought design finally settled into what many consider to be the archetypal all-American acoustic guitar. Indeed, the Dreadnought’s popularity was so widespread that the brand name eventually became a generic reference for similar-shaped flat-tops made by other builders, including Gibson.

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