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#1
09-11-2021, 04:12 PM
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NGD - 1942 J-35...
I've gotten several guitars in the last few years. Two good d28 style Martins,
a Madrose Kopp AJ and a couple of tired old Gibsons. Mmmm. Gibsons. The Martins are gone. I'm unsure about the Kopp's future at my house. As I have saved towards the ability to get a J-35 I began talking (or trying to talk) to people who had them for sale. None local that I ever ran into, so I had to talk on the innernet. I'm used to my friendly local shop, some people might think this is silly, but I wanted and expected my on-line J-35 purchase to net me a good guitar and also be a fun experience. I mean, those guys over at Acoustic Music Works where I got the Kopp were fun to deal with. Anywho... some places with J-35s flat out ignored my inquiries, one place was kind of rude, and then... Picker's Supply in Virginia  a pleasant place to do business.The guitar I got from them has had a ton of work done to the top. I was kind of worried it might explode...  It plays and sounds GREAT, though. There's a buzz when I capo at the 4th and when I play a "Todd Rundgren Amaj7" chord at the 5th...  (all?) the work to the top was done in 1996 by John Boulding of North Carolina...  The guitar appears to have really new frets, unless John Boulding put them on there 25 years ago and nobody has played the guitar since. I'm almost certain a slight bit of dressing of the first fret or so will cure the buzz. The buzz comes from the low E string between the capo and the nut, or between the 5th fretted low E and the nut on the Todd chord. When Mike Weems, the luthier, can fit me in he'll know. The Picker's Supply guys say this J-35 has been a shop favorite while they've had it, so I'm pretty sure this guitar hasn't sat around unplayed with new frets for 25 years. It has a wider and thicker neck than my 57 Country Western. I love the neck. And not just the carve, the neck is in really good shape for an old guitar.  It has an original ebony nut...  Here's one place on the top where it looks like there's a whole new strip of wood...  As you can imagine, there's numerous cleats in there...  The owner of my friendly local shop, The Acoustic Cellar in Clarksville Georgia, has some pretty good personal guitars at home. I called him up last night and his wife brought his personal J-35 to the shop today, he once told me it was his favorite Gibson. I brought mine in and we all sat around and played both of them. I still like mine a whole lot! I'm jealous that his doesn't look like it might explode though...  The fellow on the left is Luke, he works there. The other fellow, Jay I think (my wife thinks "Jake"), can play and sing up a storm! While I was there, a fellow brought in a 1938 D-28. The guys in the picture above melted (in a good way)... I got to play it too. Here luke has picked a 64 d-18 off the wall to play along with the 38 d-28...  The d-28 had these unusual (to me) tuners, I didn't take a picture of them, but I think these are them...  Today has been a pretty fun day ...-Mike Last edited by hubcapsc; 09-11-2021 at 04:23 PM. 
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#3
09-11-2021, 04:36 PM
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Man, that’s awesome. Vintage guitars really are a treat. Bone dry tone with tons of Mojo!
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| 1968 Martin D-28 | 1949 Gibson J-45 | 1955 Gibson LG-2 | Santa Cruz 000 Cocobolo / Italian Spruce | Martin D-18 1939 Authentic Aged | Martin Gruhn Guitars Custom D-21 Adi/Madi | Gibson J-45 | Fender American Elite Telecaster | Fender American Standard Stratocaster | Gibson Les Paul Standard | Gibson Les Paul Studio | PRS Custom 24 10-Top | Gibson Les Paul 1960 Reissue (R0) |
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#7
09-11-2021, 11:21 PM
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Cool old guitar, Mike! Great story! Congratulations, too!
- Glenn
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My You Tube Channel
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#8
09-11-2021, 11:27 PM
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Well, it certainly has lived. And I LIKE guitars that have lived; they have stories to tell. I hope you'll keep it in your family. A guitar like that, I would never sell. But that's just me.
Enjoy! Scott Memmer
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#9
09-12-2021, 02:14 AM
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A war time Gibson! I wonder where it has been? It seems to have certainly had quite a life!
The guitar deserves you to keep its story going. I'd be heading out to the pub and other local clubs with that little workhouse. What a wonderful find. Enjoy!
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I'm learning to flatpick and fingerpick guitar to accompany songs. I've played and studied traditional noter/drone mountain dulcimer for many years. And I used to play dobro in a bluegrass band.
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#11
09-12-2021, 07:32 AM
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..you dog!!!….if I had a holy grail it would be a vintage J-35…great NGD write up…congrats on snagging a nice one…
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...Grasshopper...high is high...low is low....but the middle...lies in between...Master Po
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#12
09-12-2021, 08:52 AM
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Very cool. If there is a "Holy Grail" Gibson for me it would be a '35 Trojan or a J35. But as I have played a 1942 J50 for decades I have had my sights set on an earlier guitar with the non-scalloped tone bars preferably one with the three tone bars. But this is what I find confusing. A 1942 J35 would have had scalloped bracing as Gibson adopted that scheme sometime in 1941. So the scrawl inside the guitar about converting it to such is confusing. Possibly yours was a leftover J35 body built with two un-scalloped tone bars onto which Gibson slapped a newer style neck with the rounded heel. Given it is a Gibson not without the realm of possibility.
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"You start off playing guitars to get girls & end up talking with middle-aged men about your fingernails" - Ed Gerhard
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#13
09-12-2021, 09:48 AM
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So the scrawl inside the guitar about converting it to such is confusing.
John Boulding is a second generation luthier and I found that he is still going strong ... I sent him the bridgeplate composite image in an email..."I've worked on too many to remember them all haha. I'm glad you are loving it!" There's no (visible) FON or serial number on the neck block. I don't know what to think or how anyone knows it is a 1942. I know about ebony nuts on being on some 1940s, 1941s and 1942s, but what I know fits in a thimble. This is a good site: http://www.j-35.com/index.php/j-35-registry/ I don't know if John Boulding "converted" anything. The history of why all that stuff had to be done to the top is lost, I guess. I guessed that all that drastic work included having to make some new braces and he wrote down that he scalloped them because that's how they were supposed to be? I'll take more better inside pictures when I change the strings. The Picker's Supply guys put on a new set before they shipped it. I usually change one string at a time, but I'll take them all off and be able to more precisely place my camera around in there - without stressing the fragile looking wood inside the rosette. I'm going to be asking the luthier I bring it to about the buzz and about making it as stable as it can be. As it is I'd be afraid to even put one of those inside-the-sound-hole tuners in there. I've been using my old Snark on it, but I hate rooting around in my case for it every time I tune... -Mike
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#14
09-12-2021, 10:22 AM
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Quote:
The luthier I used when I lived in Kansas was Keith George who was also second generation. He is the guy who restored my '42 J50. The bracing though really comes into play whether there are two or three tone bars, whether they are scalloped or not, the angle of the X brace, how close it is to the soundhole, and such. But you would have to know a whole lot more about J35s than I do. We are talking a Willi Henkes type of knowledge here. And dealing with a guitar which may or may not have all of its its original bracing would take one heck of an experienced eye to sort out.
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"You start off playing guitars to get girls & end up talking with middle-aged men about your fingernails" - Ed Gerhard Last edited by zombywoof; 09-12-2021 at 10:31 AM.
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#15
09-12-2021, 10:46 AM
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As I said, the easiest way I know to ID a '42 would be the neck heel.
Mine has what the j-35 registry page calls a French heel...  The j-35 registry page shows these on 1940 through 1942... You mentioned Trojans... I played this pristine Trojan about a month ago...  No wonder some of these bursts get so checked, that thing had a real thick coat of (beautiful) lacquer on it. And a really pronounced V neck. Sure was nice though. I'd have to get used to that neck. And monthly payments  ...-Mike
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