Gibson Dove vs. Hummingbird

[CarolinaGetaway]

Any thoughts as to Gibson Dove vs. Hummingbird vs. J-200 rosewood?

[Shortfinger]

Buy one of each!

[ol4t]

Had a 66 Dove with the stupid Tune-0-matic. It had a brightness to it that was very maple influenced. Of the three listed, I want the Hummingbird.

[Peter Z]

They might look more or less the same (from a distance) but are completely different guitars.

Hummingbird vs. Dove:
Short vs. long scale (24,75” vs. 25,5”)
Mahogany vs. maple back and sides
Short vs. long sustain
Mellow vs. bright
Quieter vs. louder
Playability is a little better on the Hummingbird due to the shorter scale length.
But: the case is the same!!!

I have both and prefer the Dove by far, but you might prefer the Hummingbird.

[rule18]

I owned a '74 Dove Custom for many years, it was a great sounding guitar. As someone else mentioned, the Dove is a "brighter" sounding guitar due in large part to the Maple b & s.

[semolinapilcher]

IMO the J-200 is an ideal maple guitar. Of course rosewood could also be great.

Also I do prefer the Hummingbird to the Dove, albeit almost totally subjectively.

[flatfinger]

This video comparing the Hummingbird and Dove was posted on another forum recently. The Dove sounds bigger, more expansive and articulate to me. I like them both though.

[Boomstick]

My favorite Gibson is almost always a maple SJ-200. I find that most of them sound fantastic. Hummingbirds tend to be a little hit or miss, but I really like the good ones. The rosewood ones are good too, I'm not sure where they fit in my Gibson spectrum, behind the maple but not too far down the ladder.

I've played maybe 7 Doves in my life. One of them was absolutely fantastic, maybe gave the SJ-200 a run for the money. If there was any way I could have afforded it at the time, I would have bought it. But I was not impressed with the others I played. Four of the others I played were in the same store at the same day and they all sounded dead - however one was a '69 or '70 if memory serves me right, played great but the strings were very, very dead so that one gets a pass.

I would say the SJ-200 (maple or even rosewood) and Dove are better for playing leads and maybe more versatile overall. Hummingbirds have a pretty mellow sound and are best for playing chords but not as much for any sort of leads, but they're just so good for playing rhythm.

For what it's worth, I am partial to maple guitars.

[Peter Z]

Also to my ears, the SJ-200 has the most ‘beautiful’ sound of all my guitars. This doesn’t always mean, ‘best’ sounding. The SJ -200 is not very loud but has a very deep bass and shimmering highs. Strummed with a pick it always reminds me on a recorded an mixed acoustic with EQ and compressor. For fingerpicking it lacks a little power in the mids.

Didn’t play it for some weeks, after reading this thread I will take it out of the case this evening.

[EZYPIKINS]

I think I should get my J-200 out and string it.

I have noticed that it's not really loud. Not that that matters much to me. I can hear it.

It currently has 12's on it. I originally set it up to run with 11's. Maybe I'll go there.

Have played Hummingbird's that were good ones, and bad ones.

Never got my hands on a Dove. I like my maple Gibby's, so I would choose the Dove.

[rstaight]

I have 2 maple guitars, Takamine GJ72CE in 6 and 12 string versions. The 12 string sounds, well, like a 12 string. The 6 string is brighter than my mahogany and walnut back and side guitars.

The Dove is my holy grail. I don't have one yet, but I will. It will be my retirement gift to myself.

[rokdog49]

Originally Posted by flatfinger

This video comparing the Hummingbird and Dove was posted on another forum recently. The Dove sounds bigger, more expansive and articulate to me. I like them both though.

I liked the Dove…very smooth.

[Lwilliams]

If I were choosing between those there, and could only get one of them, the Hummingbird would my choice. The Mahogany would be more versatile than the maple bodied Dove.

I have owned 3 SJ-200 and sold them all after a couple years. They are beautiful guitars, but are very quiet.

[CarolinaGetaway]

Originally Posted by rstaight

I have 2 maple guitars, Takamine GJ72CE in 6 and 12 string versions. The 12 string sounds, well, like a 12 string. The 6 string is brighter than my mahogany and walnut back and side guitars.

The Dove is my holy grail. I don't have one yet, but I will. It will be my retirement gift to myself.

Retire quick.

[Groberts]

I had a chance today to play: Gibson Dove Original Sitka/Maple, Hummingbird Original Mahogany/Sitka, SJ-200, Maple/Sitka, Southern Jumbo Original and J-45 Original. All side-by-side.

The most impressive guitar which surprised me was the Gibson Dove. It was loud, harmonically present, good bass. It was generally excellent. I may go back and revisit this.

The two Hummingbirds were a bit anemic in the high strings. Granted, the Hummingbird is a short scale guitar so I would expect less punch versus the long scale Dove. Both Hummingbirds sounded rather stringy and were thinner sounding.

The SJ-200 Original was kinda disappointing. It was not as loud as expected. I quickly dismissed it so I won't waste time here.

The Southern Jumbo has a great voice. It was classic. I can say the Dove also sounded classic as well. The Southern Jumbo sounded more like a good J-45 (ish). Overall the Dove was punchier as expected from its longer scale. The J-45 original was very good. More woody and organic, as expected. It sounds more like a niche guitar.

Fun day comparing Gibsons. I may revisit the Dove again and maybe check out the black/Ebony Elvis guitar which is essentially a Dove with less bling.