Calling all Gibson Fans - Need your expert Help - Page 3

IM4Nats · #31 08-30-2014, 05:58 PM

Why not an A J or an S J on your radar. They are more consistently fine than other Gibsons. I don't notice the scale difference on the A J, but I do appreciate the more focused bottom end and the sustain of the rosewood.
The A J are just fine rosewood guitars at a fair price.

bobster7 · #32 08-31-2014, 05:40 AM

Thanks to all the people that have contributed to this thread i really appreciate the time you took to reply to my post. I now have a new guitar

It was simultaneously a frustrating and rewarding experience with a bitter sweet finish and ultimately i'm please with my purchase although still feel a little peeved. Cryptic enough?

WordMan · #33 08-31-2014, 06:21 AM

....aaand you're not telling us.....why?

Congrats - would love to hear more.

Knollhaven · #34 08-31-2014, 06:30 AM

Let's hope he is working on some NGD pics!!!

Charmed Life Picks · #35 08-31-2014, 07:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobster7

Hello everyone, got me some bad mojo Gibson gas, Looking at trying out/then purchasing one of the following Gibsons in the next week or so, any thoughts/ruminations on these specific models? I want a reasonable nut width and a decent sized neck hence my tentative selections. Any other gibson models with the above criteria I should try out?

J-35
J-35 Limited Edition
J-45 TV
J-45 1965 Donovan
j-45 42 banner
Stage Deluxe (love this but another 12 fretter makes this the least likely option plus my H&D is rather smeck like)
1934 original jumbo

Many thanks to anyone who can help

I was in a GC store yesterday and they had the J-35 on sale for $1439.00, just for the weekend.

bobster7 · #36 08-31-2014, 07:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WordMan

....aaand you're not telling us.....why?

Congrats - would love to hear more.

Humour me, I'm getting to it

Well in 3 hours of solid testing I tried the following. these are just some brief thoughts I jotted down when I went for lunch after sampling these guitars before returning to purchase the Gibson ...

2 J-45' TV'S - These are both excellent sounding guitars in great condition, one a little brighter than the other but very similar tonally (one clearly had older strings). Warm, woody and soft. I love the sound but the necks are a bit too skinny and the nut width a bit narrow for my tastes, but maybe I could be persuaded?

J-45 all mahogany - Nice neck but still a tad skinny although better than the TV'S. The sound was really fantastic but I just wanted something more traditional. This was a real surprise however, warm, clean and smooth! Maybe I should buy it as its rather unique?

J-45 standard - Very nice guitar for a decent price, brighter than the TV's and had a more modern sound to my ears. I like this but the neck is way too skinny.

J-45 Banner (1942 reissue) - HUGE neck. The guitar was grubby with some finish flaws. The tuners were grubby and scratched and they told me they will not budge on the price. This guitar is also missing its orange label and had been returned to the store although they won't admit it! It sounds really great however and has both the warmth of the TV with the slightly brighter attack of the original jumbo. Love the subdued sunburst and aged feel. Maybe I could get used to the neck as it feelt better after playing it for a bit...

J-45 Donovan - man this is a quiet guitar with a woody and percussive sound. An excellent instrument but maybe a little smooth for what I want at this point in time. Impressive though, love the burst in person, hmm...

1934 Original Jumbo - This is one amazing guitar. Beautiful looking and sounding, it has a very powerful and direct sound possibly in part due to the smaller sound hole. Loud, loud, loud! Fit and finish is superb, fantastic neck. very expensive though I could almost but a vintage model for this price and that might irritate me in time...

AJ - Sounds great but a really skinny neck on this one. More powerful than the TV’s although still has some Gibson warmth. Longer scale is not really what I want but the price is reasonable. Love the looks.

bobster7 · #37 08-31-2014, 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charmedlife417

I was in a GC store yesterday and they had the J-35 on sale for $1439.00, just for the weekend.

Thankyou for tip but the cash has already been spent

Phelonious Ponk · #38 08-31-2014, 12:20 PM

This is the online gas equivalent of a strip tease.

P

bobster7 · #39 09-01-2014, 10:37 AM

ha ha i like that. A few pics up on the NGD thread. Unable to edit thread title to tell others as such?

Aaron Smith · #40 09-01-2014, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobster7

J-45 all mahogany - Nice neck but still a tad skinny although better than the TV'S. The sound was really fantastic but I just wanted something more traditional. This was a real surprise however, warm, clean and smooth! Maybe I should buy it as its rather unique?

Tell me more about this one! I have an original banner from 43 with a mahogany top, and I've played a few more from that year. They were all amazing. I didn't know that Gibson was turning out any new ones with mahogany tops.

bobster7 · #41 09-02-2014, 02:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aaron Smith

Tell me more about this one! I have an original banner from 43 with a mahogany top, and I've played a few more from that year. They were all amazing. I didn't know that Gibson was turning out any new ones with mahogany tops.

Hi there this new model can be seen in the link below: Its limited to 75 copies.

http://guitarvillage.uk.com/product/...e-and-COA.aspx

I only played this guitar for 10 mins or so but it was fantastic just a little to warm and polite this time round and not quite what i was looking for in terms of sound, feel or appearance. The neck felt a little fuller than the TV's (although still fairly skinny) but as you can see from the link the overall look is far closer to the standard models than any great banner era guitar. Hard to describe the tone but the words, warm, woody, mellow and clean come to mind. It lacks the bass and bark of the 1942 reissue and the 1934 OJ and reminded me tonally more of the J-45 Donovan model although better overall.

If your looking for a modern day banner inspired guitar you will be sadly dissapointed. If your looking for a great sounding all mahogany Gibson you will be pleasantly surprised. It would be a great guitar for some Nick Drake type stuff i would have thought.