Gibson Super 400
$400 was a lot of money in 1934 but it also bought a lot of guitar.
If you were chopping out rhythm while surrounded by 18 - 20 horn players you needed all the help you could muster. As far as volume was concerned the Super 400 was just what the doctor ordered. The body of these guitars are huge . . . to the point of discomfort. The Super 400 approached the ergonomic limits of guitar design, at least if the person playing the guitar was of average stature.Besides advances in size and volume, the Super 400 was even more ornate than the L-5. Owning a Super 400 was a source of bragging rights to its owner. Owners of 18.5" Epiphone Emperors might have been inclined to disagree.
Five years later both the Super 400 and the L-5 underwent revisions that
modernized them as well as added a cutaway. These were known as
the Premiere models and they took guitar ornamentation to new heights.
For my tastes the Super 400 P is the ultimate Gibson acoustic archtop.
There was nothing else to add, this was about as far as Gibson was going
to take the acoustic archtop. Some builders were exceeding 18"
guitars but these instruments were the exception and not the rule.
For the average man playing an 18" guitar strains the limits of comfort.
Guitars with 19" or 20" lower bouts tend to look very wide and somewhat
disproportionate. Had the electric guitar not been developed it's
possible that some new designs would have been developed but as it is
the acoustic archtop came to its apex at a point where it was very
pleasing both in sonic character and aesthetics. Even though the Super 400 represented a high point in Gibson's acoustic lineup that is not to say there were no other developments on that front. The larger the company, the less likely they are to risk their reputation and goodwill with a model that truly pushes the boundaries. A smaller operation, such as an individual luthier, may be more willing to experiment and as a result develop a product that exceeds the capabilities of even the Gibson company.
