Overview
Brand name:
Product:
- acoustic guitars
Series name:
Dates of manufacture:
Gibson introduced the B-45-12 model in 1961. This 12-string was both the first B-45 model guitar available and the first B series model. The Gibson B-45-12 had a mahogany body and neck, spruce top, rosewood fingerboard, and a cherry sunburst finish (or natural finish from 1963 onwards), and was made with "round" shoulders for the 1961 – 1962 model year and "square" shoulders until it was discontinued in 1979. Famous B-45-12 players include Gordon Lightfoot and Leo Kottke.
The 1961 Gibson catalog describes the B-45-12 as follows:
"B-45-12 TWELVE STRING Twelve strings with their special tuning and reinforced tone provide a unique guitar sound favored by folk singers, effective in combos and solo. The first three double strings are tuned in unison: the last three in octaves. A traditional jumbo size instrument with fine resonance and response . . traditional Gibson tone, quality, and beautiful cherry sunburst finish.
Features: Selected spruce top. Honduras mahogany back and rim with attractive ivoroid binding and purfling. Twelve-string, fast, low-action neck, one-piece mahogany with adjustable truss rod. Rosewood fingerboard with pearl dot inlays. Special adjustable twelve-string bridge. Tortoiseshell finger rest. Nickel-plated enclosed machine heads. Attractive jumbo size and shape peghead. 16.25" wide. 21.25" long. 4.9" deep 24.75" scale. 20 frets. B-45-12 Cherry sunburst finish $239"
Gibson reissued the B-45-12 from 1991 to 1992 with rosewood sides and back.
Specifications (22)
Body
Body back material | mahogany body back |
Body sides material | mahogany body sides |
Body style | dreadnought-size body |
Body top material | spruce body top |
Pickguard material | tortoiseshell pickguard |
Pickguard shape | pickguard |
Soundhole | round soundhole |
Neck
Body fret | Neck joins body at 14th fret |
Neck joint | set neck |
Number of frets | 20 fret |
Peghead (headstock) | black face headstock |
Tuner layout | six-per-side tuners |
Hardware
Bridge | rectangular bridge, reverse belly bridge, rosewood bridge, strings-through bridge |
Tailpiece | trapeze tailpiece |
Fretboard
Fingerboard inlay material | pearl fingerboard inlay material |
Fingerboard material | rosewood fingerboard |
Fingerboard position markers | dot fingerboard position markers |
General
Finish colors | natural finish, red finish, tobacco finish |
Finish effects | sunburst finish |
Made in | USA |
Number of strings | 12 strings |
Scale length | 24.75 inches scale-length |
Prices (3)
Date | Price | Condition | Name | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
1961 | $239 | new | guitar-list | catalog list price |
1974 | $295 | good | Jack Ver Merris | This 1973 Gibson model B45-12 had been dropped to the floor, in June of '74 it was still on display, it had a tiny crack at the back of the neck mount to body, sounded a little "buzzy", and was for sale at discount at the "Honolulu Conservatory of Music" store, on South Division Ave, Grand Rapids, Michigan. I improved the sound with the lightest action strings i could find, and many years later in the mid 90's I had the neck damage repaired in Holland Michigan by Del's Music Center. btw- That very oddly named and misplaced, tiny little "Hawaiian" store was located just north of the railroad over-pass near the "south beltline" (28th Street), but was a popular guitar sales dealer for the nearby Kalamazoo Gibson Guitar manufacture location; i knew of it because my brother had taken guitar lessons there many years before, (He never did continue to play his lessons, and i was self-taught). |
2017 | $1000 | good | Deb | The guard has guitar strokes in it. |