J-45 Mahogany

[Mr. Paul]

Originally Posted by sid45

do you mean M top ? the body is allways M

Gibson also makes J45 models with Rosewood sides (Custom), Koa sides, Walnut sides, and Walnut sides and top.

[Vinnie Boombatz]

Many are surprised when they see an all-mahogany J45, but Gibson actually was making them a long, long time ago as well. I played an all-mahogany J45 from the 40's.

[Rmz76]

Originally Posted by Willie Voltaire

This guy seems to be enjoying his!

That's a dirty spruce top on that J-50.

[Mking]

Originally Posted by eljay

Wildwood has 4 on their website; here is link to one of 'em . . .

https://wildwoodguitars.com/product/...-2/?cat_id=368

I am convinced that Greg Koch is in the top 10 best guitar players on the planet!!

[Wade Hampton]

After I wrote that J-45’s are not especially projective guitars but have a more immersive, enveloping sort of presentation, Mr. Paul wrote:

Originally Posted by Mr. Paul

Never heard that before and would be surprised to hear it again.

It’s obvious that I didn’t explain what I was trying to convey very clearly. Some guitar designs are more projective than others, meaning that they project their sound more efficiently across a room. Other guitar designs, like the Martin D-35 and the Gibson J-45, have a more enveloping presentation, where more of the sound is heard by the player rather than projected in front of the instrument.

Many players confuse projection with loudness, and think they’re the same thing, but while they’re related they’re not the same properties. You can play a thunderously loud D-35 that’s so loud that it’s hard to sing over, but if there are other instruments being played at the same time the D-35 won’t be as clear to someone standing fifteen feet away as you might guess.

You can test what I’m talking about by going to a well-stocked music store, ideally a Gibson dealer with a good inventory, with a guitarist friend. The best possible comparison in this case would be to compare a J-45 directly to a J-35, because they’re both the same size and are made of the same woods, yet present quite differently because of their different bracing patterns. The J-35 has forward shifted scalloped braces, while the J-45 does not.

If you can’t find a Gibson dealer nearby, you can run the same comparison by playing a Martin D-35 against a Martin D-18, but the difference between the two won’t be as dramatic.

In either case, you should play both guitars side by side, first you, then your buddy, moving back away as he or she plays. An ideal way to test for this is if there’s an alcove or extension of the room where you can turn a corner and be out of the direct eye line of the guitars as they’re being played. Get fifteen or twenty feet away from them, around a corner, if possible.

The J-45 to J-35 comparison is about the most dramatic enveloping presentation versus projective presentation comparisons that I can think of. Of course, if you want a REALLY projective guitar pick up an old archtop Gibson L-5: the sound that the player hears is very little compared to what gets pumped out to the audience. Ovation bowlback guitars tend to be much the same way. (Ever notice an Ovation player who’s got the guitar tipped slightly upwards as they’re playing? That’s so they can hear the guitar more clearly.)

Anyway, for most modern players the projective qualities of a guitar aren’t something they even think of, because most non-bluegrass musicians simply put a pickup on the guitar and plug into an amp or PA when they need to be louder. For most folks, it’s moot.

But different guitar designs have different characteristics in this regard. For me, the projective qualities are fairly important.

So my apologies if you thought my earlier post was some sort of put down of the J-45, some casual insult tossed off by some thoughtless jerk, but I was referring to a very specific quality when I wrote that.

I might be a jerk, but I try to avoid being a thoughtless one...

Hope that makes more sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

[The Kid!]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

After I wrote that J-45’s are not especially projective guitars but have a more immersive, enveloping sort of presentation, Mr. Paul wrote:



It’s obvious that I didn’t explain what I was trying to convey very clearly. Some guitar designs are more projective than others, meaning that they project their sound more efficiently across a room. Other guitar designs, like the Martin D-35 and the Gibson J-45, have a more enveloping presentation, where more of the sound is heard by the player rather than projected in front of the instrument.

Many players confuse projection with loudness, and think they’re the same thing, but while they’re related they’re not the same properties. You can play a thunderously loud D-35 that’s so loud that it’s hard to sing over, but if there are other instruments being played at the same time the D-35 won’t be as clear to someone standing fifteen feet away as you might guess.

You can test what I’m talking about by going to a well-stocked music store, ideally a Gibson dealer with a good inventory, with a guitarist friend. The best possible comparison in this case would be to compare a J-45 directly to a J-35, because they’re both the same size and are made of the same woods, yet present quite differently because of their different bracing patterns. The J-35 has forward shifted scalloped braces, while the J-45 does not.

If you can’t find a Gibson dealer nearby, you can run the same comparison by playing a Martin D-35 against a Martin D-18, but the difference between the two won’t be as dramatic.

In either case, you should play both guitars side by side, first you, then your buddy, moving back away as he or she plays. An ideal way to test for this is if there’s an alcove or extension of the room where you can turn a corner and be out of the direct eye line of the guitars as they’re being played. Get fifteen or twenty feet away from them, around a corner, if possible.

The J-45 to J-35 comparison is about the most dramatic enveloping presentation versus projective presentation comparisons that I can think of. Of course, if you want a REALLY projective guitar pick up an old archtop Gibson L-5: the sound that the player hears is very little compared to what gets pumped out to the audience. Ovation bowlback guitars tend to be much the same way. (Ever notice an Ovation player who’s got the guitar tipped slightly upwards as they’re playing? That’s so they can hear the guitar more clearly.)

Anyway, for most modern players the projective qualities of a guitar aren’t something they even think of, because most non-bluegrass musicians simply put a pickup on the guitar and plug into an amp or PA when they need to be louder. For most folks, it’s moot.

But different guitar designs have different characteristics in this regard. For me, the projective qualities are fairly important.

So my apologies if you thought my earlier post was some sort of put down of the J-45, some casual insult tossed off by some thoughtless jerk, but I was referring to a very specific quality when I wrote that.

I might be a jerk, but I try to avoid being a thoughtless one...

Hope that makes more sense.


Wade Hampton Miller

Haha! Wade, you are neither thoughtless or a jerk. I enjoyed this post immensely. I'm gonna try all that out sometime!

[sid45]

Originally Posted by Mr. Paul

Gibson also makes J45 models with Rosewood sides (Custom), Koa sides, Walnut sides, and Walnut sides and top.

those would be called j 45 rosewood etc,to be specific a j 45 is mahogany and spruce, IMO there are too many variations with the same name

[Mr. Paul]

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

After I wrote that J-45’s are not especially projective guitars but have a more immersive, enveloping sort of presentation, Mr. Paul wrote:

Thanks for the thoughtful response, Wade. It wasn't your discussion of the projective qualities of the J45 that I was addressing, it was your conclusion below. While I think one can make this claim about guitars with sound ports, the J45 has helped entertain millions of people while in the hands of countless performers. In addition, the J45 loves a microphone.

Originally Posted by Wade Hampton

k

J-45's have an enveloping sound, a SurroundSound sort of enveloping presentation that's more for the player than it is for anyone in front of the guitar.