My guitar collection - G&L
The vast majority of the about 190 John Jorgenson Signatures in existence have a rosewood fingerboard. These include the John Jorgenson Signature w/clear guard as well as the John Jorgenson Signature w/laminate guard of the previous page. Only few were build with an at times figured, gloss finished, hard-rock maple Bi-Cut neck with a matching maple fingerboard. On his ggjaguar.com website, Greg Gagliano claims he has seen 4 of them and estimates the total to be around 10. I have also seen 4: the one Guitars by Leo (GbL) webmaster Craig Dewey traded back to John Jorgenson himself, the maple fingerboard JJ Sig on Greg’s site, one residing in Japan, and this particular guitar. And so far, 9 are listed in the GbL Registry. This rare version of the JJ Sig otherwise has the swamp ash body with the Silver Flake finish applied by Marty Bell, chromed Saddle-Lock bridge 2 Jumbo Magnetic Field Design (MFD) pickups, standard ASAT wiring harness, and in this particular case the laminate pickguard. Still unfortunate the pickups are not according to the specs John provided. Which in turn led to G&L being forced to halt production and hence its Rarebird status.
John Jorgenson Signature Model (laminate) w/Maple Fingerboard
The story behind this guitar
Year:
Serial number:
Neck date:
Body date:
Strings:
This particular guitar is associated with trying times forcing me to commute back and forth between the Pacific NW and The Netherlands. My wife and I spent a lot of time being guests of our in-laws who live close to the town of Amersfoort. And that town happens to be home to a delightful guitar shop owned and run by Kees Dee for more than 3 decades. The inventory of his store is eclectic with usually several rarities among all guitars, most prominently a gorgeous Burns LJ24 prototype at the time I visited in late-2019. And lo and behold, also this John Jorgenson Signature with maple fingerboard. Esthetically, I prefer this look much more over one with a rosewood fingerboard. After having played the guitar and thoroughly enjoying the chunky neck, it was picked up on my next trip to NL. And no wonder I enjoyed it. The neck turns out to be a #3 with a 12” fingerboard and 1¾” wide nut. What a thrill to finally own one after searching for more than 9 years. And quite the welcome solace too. I was grinning ear to ear, much to the delight of all around me. Hence, hereafter this beauty will be known as ‘Jommie’, in honor of my dear and lovely wife and soulmate, who battled, endured, and (for now, knock on wood) came out victorious. As per usual, an ASAT (Special) has attitude. And is it the sparkle that makes a JJ Sig show even more?Snarl, bark, mellow, even, it is all there. And then there is that gorgeous neck which quite literally is something to be held/behold.
The story behind this guitar
1995
G042742
APR 17 1995, marked ‘JJ’, ‘ASAT’, ‘#3’, ‘shiny’
MAR 10 1995
