Quote:
Originally Posted by Jorje
some questions:
1.Does anyone have something to share about this model?
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Sure. Happy to. My friend Fred brought his with him when he visited me up here in the Anchorage area a few weeks back, so I got a good chance to play it and also to listen to it in his hands,
I also spoke to Gibson product specialist Don Ruffato at the Gibson Montana facility a couple of days ago, and he gave me some further insights into the J-35 during that conversation.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jorje
2.I guess the body model is slop/round shoulder dreadnought, but the J at the model name mean its a jumbo? can anyone explain, what are the characteristics of this guitar?
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That's one of Gibson's longstanding pretenses, that their round-shouldered dreadnoughts are not actually dreadnoughts but are jumbos. This goes back to the 1930's, when Gibson introduced these models to compete with Martin's new-at-the-time dreadnoughts.
If you look at Gibson's website now, they don't make any bones about this, but the model names live on with the nomenclature that was established back then.
For what it's worth, there have been periods when Gibson made various J-35 models before this. An early J-35 was the great blind flatpicker Doc Watson's first decent guitar.
As for the guitar itself, it's made in the same body mold as the J-45, and has the same short 24.75" scale length.
Bohemian compared it to the WM-45, which was another natural finish J-45 that Gibson made for a few years before discontinuing it. It's an apt comparison, and the WM-45, J-35 and J-45 are all closely related.
The main differences between the WM-45 and the J-35 is that the WM-45 had its fingerboard and bridge made of morado, not Indian rosewood; the back of all the WM Series guitars I saw were stained walnut, whereas the J-35 is all natural with no stain.
The last important difference is that the WM-45 had the same bracing underneath the top as the J-45, but the J-35 has the advanced scalloped bracing of the Gibson Advanced Jumbo adapted for the shorter 24.75" scale.
So it's a somewhat different guitar in terms of its tonal response from either the J-45 or the WM-45. Having owned a WM-45 and played a great many J-45's, I would say that the J-35 I got a chance to play was a somewhat livelier instrument.
One thing many of us who have played J-35's had noticed is that it feels lighter than the J-45. I asked Don Ruffato about this, and he denied that there were any major differences in the construction or glues used between the J-35 and J-45. "It probably feels a bit lighter because the bridge on the J-35 is a little bit smaller, and the tuning gears have plastic buttons, which take off a little bit of weight."
But these new J-35's are not made with hide glue, he told me, which was one rumor that was going around. I checked specifically on that, and they're made on the same assembly line with the same materials and adhesives as the J-45.
My guess is that the livelier feel of the top with the advanced bracing and the ever-so-slightly lighter weight of the J-35's bridge and tuners all contribute to an impression that it's lighter than it actually is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jorje
3.today i own 214ce and breadlove d/mme which all laminate back and sides t, bought just at last 6 months, can anyone believe me that i look at them so differently now. what to do now??
Tnx. J
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Well, welcome to the big, brawling world of
Guitar
Acquisition
Syndrome, referred to in brief on this and other online guitar forums as
GAS.
It's a chronic infection, like athlete's foot: you can try to treat it with ointments and medication, and might succeed in suppressing it for a while, but sooner or later it will pop right back up!
Sardonic humor aside, my suggestion is that you keep one of the guitars you now own and sell the other, keeping the better of the two, naturally. Then save up if you need to and get a J-35.
Even after you acquire a J-35, hang onto the older guitar as a backup. It's a law of nature that if you don't have a backup, you'll need one.
Hope this helps.
Wade Hampton Miller