Dakota Dave Hull

For the past few years, Dakota Dave Hull has been searching for someone to build a copy of his 1935 Gibson Jumbo to take on tour, specifically outside the United States where traveling with a guitar with Brazilian rosewood is becoming increasingly difficult. In January 2009 Dave and his Gibson took a trip from his hometown of Minneapolis to visit my shop in South Windsor, CT. After a couple of days spent poring over the old guitar and playing and chatting, Dave decided to place an order, taking the opportunity of a blank slate to customize the new guitar to his specifications.

Introduced in 1934, the Gibson Jumbo was the first iteration of the round- shouldered, wide-waisted body style that would become increasingly desirable among players and collectors into the 21st century. At 16" across the lower bout, it replaced the L-series guitar as the largest in the catalog. Coincidentally or not, the Jumbo came out the same year the guitar maker across the tracks introduced their own acoustic cannon, the Martin Dreadnought.

Features specific to the Jumbo, but not continued with the following model, the J-35 (a somewhat simpler version available for $35 in 1936), were its nearly consistent depth from the neck to the tail blocks and its distinctive sunburst pattern on its Mahogany back and sides.

In building Dakota Dave Hull's guitar, I took great care to replicate the elements that contribute to the old guitar's astounding tone and volume, from the dimensions of the bracing and top thickness to the thinness of the original lacquer finish and dovetail neck joint. The result exceeded my expectations and sounds better than anything I had built in that vein before.

Dakota Dave Hull has been lauded by legends such as Dave van Ronk and Norman Blake as one of the best blues and Americana fingerpickers in the world (and a delightful dinner companion!) and I am honored to have him as an endorser of Fairbanks Guitars. Check out his website at www.dakotadavehull.com.

"This is my new Fairbanks Jumbo guitar, a structural copy of my 1935 Gibson Jumbo. It's one of the nicest new guitars I've ever played. It can handle anything I throw at it, and seems to have plenty to spare. I think my old guitar must have sounded like this when it was new. It's simply wonderful."

—Dakota Dave Hull