Gibson and Emmylou Harris Introduce Travel/Performance Guitar
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| L-200 and J-200 |
January 11, 2002
Emmylou Harris and Gibson have had a longstanding mutual admiration, and the artist and guitar company have now formally joined forces to create the Gibson L-200 Emmylou Harris model. Produced by Gibson Montana, the company's Acoustics division, the L-200 presents the big sound and classy look of Gibson's SJ-200 -- the model Emmylou has been so closely identified with throughout her career -- in a smaller package designed to meet an artist's performance and travel demands.
"I love the size of this guitar," Emmylou said of her new model. "It's a great guitar to have in your bedroom or down in your music room. It's great to grab when you have an idea and want to work something out."
"Emmylou Harris is one of the most important artists of our time," said Henry Juszkiewicz, chairman and CEO of Gibson Guitar Corp. "We're proud of the role Gibsons have played in her music, and we're excited to be her partner as she continues to make great music in the years to come."
Emmylou's association with Gibson dates back to her duets in the early 1970s with country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons, whose 1960s J-200 she still owns. Her black J-200 with a red rose custom-inlaid in the top graced the cover of her 1979 album Blue Kentucky Girl and her custom-painted pink J-200 captured the essence of her 1985 album The Ballad of Sally Rose.
The Gibson L-200 Emmylou Harris model features a newly designed body that is smaller and thinner than the SJ-200 but braced to produce a powerful natural sound and equipped with a Schertler Bluestick transducer pickup system for concert performances. Classic features from the SJ-200 include flamed maple back and sides, mother-of-pearl "crest" fingerboard inlays, pearl-inlaid Moustache bridge and engraved pickguard.
Gibson's SJ-200's distinctive body shape and styling has made it an icon for artists who make a strong statement visually as well as musically -- from Pete Townshend and Ron Wood to Bob Dylan and the Backstreet Boys. Introduced as the Super Jumbo in 1937, it was originally a favorite of cowboy movie stars, such as Gene Autry and Tex Ritter. Its widespread popularity today has earned it the nickname "The King of the Flat Tops."
For more information, visit their web site at montana.gibson.com. | 
