Gibson J60. Please help identify

[Rztowns]

Originally Posted by upsidedown

I searched "J-60 abalone."

This was the first hit.

Only 6 made. Hopefully you paid a fair price to your neighbor!

Woah that's crazy! However there is no signature

On a side note, I'm the lead engineer at Jodyjazz Inc

[Wade Hampton]

The Gibson J-60 model was an attempt by Gibson to compete with Martin’s dreadnoughts, particularly for the bluegrass market. They were made with three different back and sides woods that I’m aware of: Indian rosewood, maple and black walnut. The walnut ones seem to be the most common.

What they are is Gibson’s original 14 fret dreadnought body, used first for the Hummingbird, Dove and Gospel models, with the forward shifted scalloped bracing from the Advanced Jumbo.

So they’re big guitars, wider and deeper than Martin dreadnoughts and larger still than the Gibson Songwriter series guitars.

I owned a black walnut J-60 for a few years. It was a nice guitar, but someone else REALLY wanted it so I sold it to him.

Anyway, the J-60’s are well regarded instruments. One way you can tell at a glance if they come from the Bonecrusher I or II series is by what tuners they have on them: the first series had sealed gear tuners while the second had open gear Grover Sta-Tites.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Larry Mal]

Is that right? I thought that the J-60s were typically rosewood in the most common iteration.

Maybe I think that because that's what I have, though, but when I was looking that seemed to be the predominance out there.

[Wade Hampton]

Could be: the truth is that I haven’t had enough hands-on experience with J-60’s to know either way. I’ve owned one and played two others: two walnut examples and one maple example, all total.

Now the original “bonecrusher,” the Advanced Jumbo, is definitely a rosewood guitar. But not most of the J-60’s that I’ve seen listed or pictured online.

It might have depended on which run they were built in. There was a 1990’s run of J-60’s and another in the early 2000’s.

Anyway, we will probably need to talk to a genuine Gibson expert (which I most definitely am NOT) to know for certain.

In any event, Gibson definitely made a bunch of walnut J-60’s during that early 2000’s run.


whm

[Larry Mal]

I bet the walnut backed ones were great, this thread inspired me to pull out my J-60 yesterday night.

I had the idea when I got it that I could get in the ballpark of a Martin D-28 at a price I could afford and I already knew that I really liked Gibson acoustics, and I no longer feel much need to buy a Martin D-28 at any price, really.

Stunning guitars, the J-60. Congrats to the OP and get some pictures up as you can, I'm pretty intrigued .

[zombywoof]

Originally Posted by upsidedown

I searched "J-60 abalone."

This was the first hit.

Only 6 made. Hopefully you paid a fair price to your neighbor!

The OP dates his guitar to 1993. But the Jam '08 Bonecrusher IIT would be easy to identify based on the signed label and the French Heel neck. Not sure if this is he same issue or not but there was also a Jam 08 Iron Mountain J60 of which six were issued with a natural top and six with a burst.

[upsidedown]

Originally Posted by zombywoof

The OP dates his guitar to 1993. But the Jam '08 Bonecrusher IIT would be easy to identify based on the signed label and the French Heel neck. Not sure if this is he same issue or not but there was also a Jam 08 Iron Mountain J60 of which six were issued with a natural top and six with a burst.

Didn't read the fine print, so missed the "Summer Jam '08 Certificate of Authenticity" part. Dead giveaway. Not the same guitar. Thanks. The mystery remains unsolved...

My J60 (rosewood b/s) is one of the few I regret letting go. And so CHEAP!

[Rztowns]

Originally Posted by Larry Mal

I bet the walnut backed ones were great, this thread inspired me to pull out my J-60 yesterday night.

I had the idea when I got it that I could get in the ballpark of a Martin D-28 at a price I could afford and I already knew that I really liked Gibson acoustics, and I no longer feel much need to buy a Martin D-28 at any price, really.

Stunning guitars, the J-60. Congrats to the OP and get some pictures up as you can, I'm pretty intrigued .

They're is a picture of it that Sax Player Guy helped me upload up above. I can't figure out how to do it yet. Lol

[zombywoof]

As far as I have been able to figure out, the first runs of J60s came with an ebony board with no inlays. So if the guitar is a '93, assuming the inlays were not aftermarket, the guitar would have to have been either a custom order or a limited CS run.

The thing about the J60 is they were initially not a commercial success. Bluegrass players did not take to them as Gibson had hoped while Gibson "purists" also showed little interest in the model.

[Triumph1050]

So I'm still a bit confused... there's only one photo in this thread. Is that the OPs guitar in the pink fur case pic?

[Rztowns]

When I talked to the guy at the Montana factory, I gave him the serial number and description. He told me that sometimes dealers would request a special run(like an abalone inlay). He also said that they didn't keep records of these "special" orders which sucks. I really just hope someone out there sees this thread and can provide a picture of the same looking fretboard. I cannot find a picture of a J-60 with an abalone fretboard anywhere.

[Rztowns]

Originally Posted by Triumph1050

So I'm still a bit confused... there's only one photo in this thread. Is that the OPs guitar in the pink fur case pic?

yes that is my guitar

[Triumph1050]

Originally Posted by Rztowns

When I talked to the guy at the Montana factory, I gave him the serial number and description. He told me that sometimes dealers would request a special run(like an abalone inlay). He also said that they didn't keep records of these "special" orders which sucks. I really just hope someone out there sees this thread and can provide a picture of the same looking fretboard. I cannot find a picture of a J-60 with an abalone fretboard anywhere.

Typical Gibson... check your PMs I may be able to help you with this.