Gibson love welcome in here

[drive-south]

Originally Posted by AndrewG

The only Gibson I would give house room to is the AJ, a truly great guitar. Personally I dislike short scale, and I'm not a fan of Gibson's mahogany or maple guitars. I honestly think there are so many Gibsons which would benefit hugely from a long scale-especially the J45. I've tried so hard to find something to love about them...a rosewood J185 with a 25.5" scale, for example, could be a wonderful thing. I'd jump on one in a heartbeat.

Gibson made some rosewood J185s but they were short scale. Collings SJ in rw would fill that niche.

[Pickcity]

I am a Gibson man through and through. Always have been, always will be. To me Gibsons in general have "the sound" I love, and the craftsmanship behind them only adds luster to the reputation they enjoy.

I would like to post pics but this site is very user unfriendly in that regard. Yes, I have my pics uploaded in photobucket and still the links won't work. I'm tired of trying. My L-130 and my J-15 are both beautiful examples. Take my word for it. LOL

[zombywoof]

I have loved me some Gibsons. I got my first Gibson, an L-00, in the 1960s and have never looked back. Today I still own a 1935 Capital archtop (made by Gibson for Jenkins Music), a 1942 J-50, and a 1957 CF-100E while my wife quickly claimed ownership of my 1960 J-200.

People here on this forum who have been into guitars a long time seem less likely to be married to a brand and I see that as a mature viewpoint. Then there are those who will say something like 'only a [insert brand here] for me.' I'm not saying this about the OP, he or she is simply saying they love Gibson, not that they only love Gibson.

I'm thankful I have remained open minded because I didn't always like Gibson acoustic guitars. I thought they sounded too chunky and thumpy and often dull and usually with action set a mile high. Then I bought a book from Stew-Mac and learned how to do my own setups, which I'm very good at now. Now I can buy a Gibson because if there's problems, I can fix them, and there have been problems. My first Gibson was a Songwriter and I had to pound down a fret and completely re-do the nut because three of the slots were cut too low. With new strings and proper action that guitar sounded amazing. Oh, and the pick guard peeled off, so I took it all the way off.

Gibson Pleks most of their stuff now (maybe all of them now) and you don't see these problems so much now. I'm so thankful they have done this because half the Gibson guitars I have bought have had badly cut nuts or other issues. All of which a good setup cures. And this is from a guy who loves Gibson guitars. I've tried, bought and sold other brands but I hold on to Gibsons. I'm not saying I only want to own Gibson. I plan to buy a Lowden soon too, perhaps next year.

[jpd]

Originally Posted by Pickcity

I am a Gibson man through and through. Always have been, always will be. To me Gibsons in general have "the sound" I love, and the craftsmanship behind them only adds luster to the reputation they enjoy.

I would like to post pics but this site is very user unfriendly in that regard. Yes, I have my pics uploaded in photobucket and still the links won't work. I'm tired of trying. My L-130 and my J-15 are both beautiful examples. Take my word for it. LOL

I believe ya! The L-130 I had was way above it's price point. Truly a fine Gibson

[Humbuster]

I have always had a Gibson in the stable.

Happy with my R4 Oxblood and J185. Superb satisfaction for my Gibson jones.

[Rev Roy]

Bozeman has been consistently producing some fine acoustics in recent years. So I went on a real Gibson kick for a while and at one point owned three - J-15, J-45, Songwriter Deluxe Studio. Loved the tone and craftmanship was nice on each...but I finally had to admit I need a 1 3/4" nut. So they are now all gone as I've switched back to Martin dreads which have been recently redesigned with the wider nuts (see sig).

Gotta admit, though, that the only guitar I even slightly miss of the dozen or so I've sold/traded over the years is that 45.

[mickthemiller]

J15 that has a really special tone and a Hummingbird that is growing on me each time I play it. Yes there's Gibson love here too.

[N+1]

I first played a range of Martins, Gibsons and Taylors in about 1998, and the Martins were the only ones that chose me. The others seemed nowhere close. I played a DM for years after that. I started branching out a few years ago, and acquired some Taylors but still couldn't find a Gibson I wanted to play for more than 2 minutes. And the story would end there except:

A few weeks ago, after trying and rejecting several Gibsons, I played (expecting to hate it) a Bob Dylan special SJ200, and I'd swear its neck was designed to fit my left hand perfectly. Much more comfortable to play than any of my guitars, and with a sound that I felt I could easily grow to love. All of which tells me that the time is ripe for me to try a 'normal' SJ200, and see if I could fall in love with it as easily.

[blue4now]

Originally Posted by Dominus Mortem

People here on this forum who have been into guitars a long time seem less likely to be married to a brand and I see that as a mature viewpoint. Then there are those who will say something like 'only a [insert brand here] for me.' I'm not saying this about the OP, he or she is simply saying they love Gibson, not that they only love Gibson.

I'm thankful I have remained open minded because I didn't always like Gibson acoustic guitars. I thought they sounded too chunky and thumpy and often dull and usually with action set a mile high. Then I bought a book from Stew-Mac and learned how to do my own setups, which I'm very good at now. Now I can buy a Gibson because if there's problems, I can fix them, and there have been problems. My first Gibson was a Songwriter and I had to pound down a fret and completely re-do the nut because three of the slots were cut too low. With new strings and proper action that guitar sounded amazing. Oh, and the pick guard peeled off, so I took it all the way off.

Gibson Pleks most of their stuff now (maybe all of them now) and you don't see these problems so much now. I'm so thankful they have done this because half the Gibson guitars I have bought have had badly cut nuts or other issues. All of which a good setup cures. And this is from a guy who loves Gibson guitars. I've tried, bought and sold other brands but I hold on to Gibsons. I'm not saying I only want to own Gibson. I plan to buy a Lowden soon too, perhaps next year.

I have owned a number of Gibson acoustics over the years and have found the newer ones are pretty spot on in terms of quality and factory set up. The pick-guards yeh that's another issue. I changed them on mine, much better now.

[Wade Hampton]

Originally Posted by cmd612

Gibson love? You bet!

I adore my WM-180. Sounds beautiful (strummed, fingerpicked, flatpicked), feels great, and has understated, plain appointments with a gorgeous piece of silky sitka for the top. I feel lucky to have it.

You ARE lucky to have it: those WM-180's are very rare birds. I've never even seen one in real life, much less played or owned one.

I did own a WM-45 for a few years; it was the first Gibson guitar I ever bought, in fact. But I'd love to get my hands on a WM-180.

Gibson WM-180

Does your have maple back and sides or mahogany? I've been seeing both in my image search.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Wade Hampton]

AndrewG in the Mother Country wrote:

Originally Posted by AndrewG

The only Gibson I would give house room to is the AJ, a truly great guitar. Personally I dislike short scale, and I'm not a fan of Gibson's mahogany or maple guitars. I honestly think there are so many Gibsons which would benefit hugely from a long scale-especially the J45. I've tried so hard to find something to love about them...a rosewood J185 with a 25.5" scale, for example, could be a wonderful thing. I'd jump on one in a heartbeat.

It's my understanding that there have been several production years when Gibson has made the J-45 with a long scale, including during the 1990's and early 2000's. They finally switched back to the short scale for good at some point, but unless I'm completely misinformed there are some relatively recent long scale J-45's floating around out there.

I'll consult with my personal Gibson expert, hidden away in his secret underground laboratory where James Bond can't find him, and perhaps he can either confirm those long scale J-45 rumors and add additional detail, or else rebuke me for spreading misinformation.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Goat Mick]

Yup I'm a lifetime Gibson guy. Although I do own Martin, Taylor, Ibanez and Recording King too, it's the Gibson sound that really gets my blood moving. This is the one that started it all. Been in the family since 1959.

[Rumblefish]

I showed up at the house of a guy I worked for in NYC, one morning in the early eighties. He hadn't paid me in three weeks and I was getting.... impatient let's call it. He had no cash but gave me a Gibson LG-1 with no bridge that had the finish sanded off. I put a bridge on it and play the ever living crap out of it on tour for 10 years. Wore holes in it, wore out the frets and and generally abused it until an ex girlfriend smashed it into a tree. I taped it up and kept playing it but eventually retired it. I still play it every so often.

Now I have a brand new L-OO Vintage. It looks scared

[cmd612]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

Does your have maple back and sides or mahogany? I've been seeing both in my image search.
Wade Hampton Miller

Hi, Wade,

It's maple but stained such a dark brown that you'd never know what it was without looking at the inside. Actually, I did have one guy I know mistake it for mahogany when I first got it (until I suggested he glance in the soundhole).

I've read that some were made with mahogany, but I've wondered whether that was true or just a rumor that arose due to the dark stain. I would love to run across a mahogany one if they exist!

Chuck