Gibson J-185 EC Modern Walnut - AN

Though eclipsed by Gibson's glitzier J-200 and the Everly Brothers-endorsed J-180 at the time of its release, the underdog J-185 has gained quite a following among acoustic players in the know — not only due to its comfortably scaled-down Gibson Jumbo body and clean, robust studio voicing, but also thanks to a little help from high-profile artists like Alan Parsons and Chris Carrabba.

The spirit of the original J-185 lives on in Gibson's J-185 EC Modern Walnut — part of the Modern Acoustic line of guitars. The J-185 EC sees contemporized player comforts in the form of a lead-friendly Venetian cutaway and an Advanced Response neck profile. The body itself is hand built from dynamic Sitka spruce (top) and deeply figured walnut (back and sides).

This pairing delivers a unique twist on the timeless J-185 tonal cocktail, with all with the room-filling projection these early Jumbos are hailed for. Though this classic is better known for its easy recordability in the studio, the Modern Acoustic J-185 EC Modern Walnut shines onstage thanks to its onboard LR Baggs Element electronics.