Quote:
Originally Posted by aklafter
I bought a nw Gibson J30 in 1991, manufatured in Montana. Can anyone tell me the following:
1) What is this guitar's reputation?
2) Is the J30 made anymore?
3) Is the gibson J45 the offspring of the J30?
4) Do or did any of you own a J30? What has your experience with it been?
I want so expand my collection, but I still love this guitar. I have been playing a bunch of Taylors and Breedloves, and I am not being wowed compared to my Gibson. Maybe something is wrong with my hearing.
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I think I can shed some light on some of your questions, even thuogh I have never played a J-30.
Reputation - It's a Montana Gibson. In my opinion, that makes it part of a family of very special guitars ... Gibson has a wider variety of sounds and styles than any manufacturer. The J-30 is a square shoulder dreadnought, so it is actually related more closely to the Hummingbird than the J-35 or J-45, but I believe it is a touch smaller than the Hummingbird.
Is it made any more? - No, it was discontinued in 1997.
Is the J-45 the offspring of the J-30? - Nope --- in fact, as I said above, it is really not related to the J-45 (except for a few years ... late 60's early 70s, I believe) when the J-45 was built with square shoulders, just to confuse us all. ... The J-30 was first built in 1985. In 1994, the Gibson centennial, it was renamed the J-30 Montana, and it was discontinued in 1997. The J-45 was first built in 1942, and replaced the J-35. They are (were) both round shoulder, short scale dreads, as was the original Gibson dread, the Jumbo Flattop. Their first long scale was the Advanced Jumbo, also a slope shoulder model, which came along a year or so after the Jumbo Flattop.