Description

Gibson’s twenty year run with the LG-2 acoustic came to a close in 1962, at which point a new premium, small bodied flat top entered the arena. The guitar which picked up the baton is the B-25 you see above. It had big shoes to fill (metaphorically speaking - it’s still small bodied!) and fill them it certainly did.

This is a seriously warm-sounding guitar dressed in a cherry-warm sunburst suit. I mean, really - with all the warmth going on, you could gently toast a sandwich on this thing. The X braced spruce top has aged wonderfully over the last 40 years and simply oozes character, and even though it appears modest in size you’ll be very impressed by just how well it projects its voice.

And what a voice it has - it’s well balanced and has an across-the-range clarity you’d expect from its larger cousins, all thanks to its X bracing. It has a slightly smaller body width than the LG-2 before it (but what’s 1/8” between friends?) and has been worn in nicely which adds to the speed and playability. As well as a dot inlay rosewood fingerboard, it also has a rosewood bridge with height adjustable rosewood saddle.

This B-25 is so versatile in both feel and sound that you’ll keep coming back to it no matter what style/genre you’re going for. In particular you’ll find it lends itself well to any manner of funky blues, as you can get some serious bend going on with the lead notes and effortlessly slip back into full-bodied chords. We’ve set it up with light gauge D’Addario strings, which play like a charm.

Vintage character is given away by the uniform and heavy lacquer checking especially noticeable on the sides of the body and to a lesser degree back of the neck. There is some light player wear (scuffing) near the top of the sound hole. You’ll see from the pictures that there was a crack running down the top from the neck bind to the sound hole just above the fretboard; this has been properly repaired and is now stable. Fortunately, it has not affected the tone or volume of the instrument. The top E tuning post has lost a piece off the end. The only non-original item is the hardcase.

With so much on offer from such a compact package, playing this B-25 may be the most fun you can have with your clothes on. Heck, there’s no reason why you can’t play it with your clothes off for that matter, although your band mates might object.*

* On reflection that sounded a bit weird. For the record nobody here has tried playing this guitar whilst naked.

Gibson B-25 features

• 14¼” small bodied flat top acoustic in faded cherry sunburst
• Bound spruce top with mahogany back and sides
• Mahogany neck without volute
• 24¾” scale length
• Rosewood fingerboard with pearloid dot inlay
• 20 frets with body joint at 14th
• Kluson Deluxe ‘three on the plate’ tuners
• Gibson decal logo on headstock
• Rosewood bridge
• Height adjustable rosewood saddle
• Tortoiseshell pickguard
• Non-original hardcase

Gibson B25 tags

B-25, B25, LG, LG-2, X-braced Gibson, vintage flat top, Gibson acoustic, small bodied acoustic