In every issue of The Fretboard Journal, we feature some of the most beautiful fretted instruments known to humanity. Sadly, most of the time they belong to someone else and they aren’t for sale. Over the last few weeks we have scoured the web looking for world-class instruments that you can actually buy for yourself. Starting this week we are going to change things up a little bit and start listing an instrument a day rather than five instruments at one time. So welcome to the gritty reboot of Catch of the Week, which is now reimagined as the Catch of the Day…

1952 Gibson J-45
In issue 30, we have a great interview with The Milk Carton Kids in which the folk duo talk extensively about their guitars. Joey Ryan tells the story of how he acquired his early 1950s Gibson J-45, a guitar that looks pretty much like the one featured here. Ryan was looking for a Gibson from this era because an early 1950s J-45 “can’t get rich enough and warm enough and sort of woody enough for me.” This particular example has been well cared for during it’s life and shows only a little bit of play wear. The bridge has been replaced but it still retains that clear, woody tone that Ryan found in his guitar. If you’d like to learn how the good these J-45s can sound for yourself, just send $4300 to Intermountain Guitar and Banjo and they would be happy to further your education.