Gibson’s Southern Jumbo 40s Original leads four acoustics with HiFi DNA
The new Original Collection quartet brings Baggs bridge-plate sensors and soundhole controls to J-45, Southern Jumbo and Country Western designs.
Credit: Gibson (via source)
Gibson has added four acoustic-electric models to its Original Collection, led by the Southern Jumbo 40s Original with HiFi DNA. The group also includes the J-45 Original, J-45 60s Original Fixed Bridge and Country Western 60s Original, giving the company's new Baggs HiFi DNA system a broad debut across familiar round-shoulder and square-shoulder designs.
All four use solid Sitka-spruce tops, rosewood fingerboards and bridges, bone nuts and saddles, and ship in hardshell cases. The J-45 Original and fixed-bridge 60s version have mahogany backs and sides; the Southern Jumbo uses rosewood back and sides with a SlimTaper mahogany neck, 20 frets and split-parallelogram inlays. Gibson's product page also specifies a 24.75-inch scale, Grover open-back tuners and a rosewood belly-down bridge for the Southern Jumbo.
The electronics are the shared change. HiFi DNA places two lightweight sensors on the internal bridge plate, with a separate Class-A preamp for each sensor. Soundhole-mounted volume and tone controls keep the system visually discreet, while Gibson says the design is intended to capture more of the top's vibration and retain feedback resistance comparable with an undersaddle pickup.
This rollout matters because Gibson is not treating HiFi DNA as a single showcase option. By installing it across four core-style acoustics at once, the company is making the new bridge-plate system part of its mainstream amplified-acoustic offer. Players comparing these models therefore get a consistent electronics platform while choosing between mahogany and rosewood bodies, different neck profiles and distinct vintage references.
Why it matters
Putting HiFi DNA into four Original Collection models at once turns Gibson’s new sensor system into a broad platform choice rather than a one-model experiment.
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