Serial Number 95947 - Sometime in 1992, I got a call from a friend who said he knew someone that had a "big old guitar with those weird holes" in their attic. So, I hopped in the car and went over to take a look. Imagine my delight and despair when it turned out to be a completely beat 1939 Gibson Super 400.

This poor guitar had seen it all. The top and the back were no longer attached to the sides, except at the neck joint. The back was split open. The sides had splintered out. The entire instrument had been held together by duct and black tape. Fortunately, none of the damage was caused by trauma, rather from leaving the guitar sitting in an unheated attic for years, and then trying to tape it back together. At some point, someone had tried to "slim" the neck by sanding the bass and trebles sides (this presented the biggest restoration challenge). But still, it was a 1939 Super 400!

I made arrangements to buy the guitar, and set out to find someone to repair and restore it. Mike Lennon, of the Apprentice Shop in Nashville, came highly recommended by friends in both NYC and Texas. I shipped a completely beat up guitar to Mike, and two years later got back a guitar I couldn't believe.

I had figured worst case, I'd get my money back out of it. But what I got was the single best sounding Super 400 I'd ever heard. An amazing instrument! It's tough to find the words to describe what a great job Mike did in restoring it. THANKS MIKE.

The bridge for this instrument is new, and the pickguard is a repro (that seems to have done just what the originals did). Tuning heads are original to the guitar. The hinged tailpiece is also a bit anachronistic, but is original. I believe that this guitar MAY have been ordered from the factory as a left-handed instrument. At one point, it most certainly was one. The slots in the tailpiece indicate it may have come from the factory that way.

This 1939 example is one of only seven pre-war blonde non-cutaway Super 400s. We call them the "Magnificent Seven." It MAY be the only one that is X-braced (most were parallel), and I really think that is what makes it sound so good. Whomever ordered it knew what they were doing.

One thing you'll notice is that it's a dead ringer for one of the other Magnificent Seven - Jerry Garcia's 1939 Super 400. Photos indicate that the back of this guitar and the back of his are probably cut from the same hunk of wood. The quilt is just about identical. Even David Grisman was amazed when he saw it.

Epilogue: In 2010 or thereabouts, John Bernunzio sold this Super 400 to David Grisman for me on consignment!