Gibson’s SJ-200 acoustic guitar first appeared in the 1930s. Around this time, Gibson and Epiphone were going head to head in a size war – each trying to outdo the other under the premise ‘bigger is better’ while equating instrument dimensions with power, projection and, ultimately, status. This spirit of competition led to several developments, notably Gibson’s 18-inch-wide Super 400 and Epiphone’s 18½-inch-wide Emperor. These supersize archtops were deemed flagship models, and both sat at the
