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NAGD - Gibby J45


Teh

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After playing and (according to my wife) hoarding Taylor acoustics almost exclusively for the past 20 years or so I've been slowly selling off the herd, keeping only the guitars that get played regularly.  Lately my ear has been hankerin' for a different sound, so this weekend I got rid of a couple more and decided to go shopping.

Ended up with a new Gibson J45 Standard.  It seems to check all the boxes -- Simple appointments, comfortable neck, easy playing, and a voice that has some muscle to it -- Nice mids push, solid low end and highs that are clear but not too sparkly.  Takes a pick and fingers equally well. Definitely has that classic Gibson acoustic bark. Baggs Element pickup sounds good for a piezo UST.

While construction appears to be solid, the expected lack of attention to detail from Gibson was visible.  Had to scrape a little glue away (could be polishing compound) from a couple frets and the top of the soundhole at the fretboard extension.  Also has a touch of Hameritis on the side of the neck at the 4th fret.  It otherwise seems like a solidly built guitar and I love the sound, so I used these issues as negotiating points to knock a couple hundred off the asking price.

Quick phone pic attached...

IMG_5100.JPG

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A buddy who techs at my local GC picked up one of those and his is one sweet little ride. Good purchase!

He's also told me that while Gibson's acoustics have been pretty good in recent years, virtually every one that comes in needs some sort of TLC before they display it, ranging from better set-ups that fit the guitar's asking prices to little WTFs like you cited. Yours is apparently the norm and not the exception :)

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Thanks guys.  The more I play it, the more I like it.  Funny thing is, I'm not a dreadnought guy at all -- They always seem too big.  Something about the slope shoulder and the short scale of the J45 makes it seem more manageable.

Re: Taylor: I haven't moved completely away -- Just reigned it in a bit... :rolleyes:    They play great, stay in tune and sound good. The finish is thin and takes a beating!  One of the guitars I sold this weekend was my trusty T5.  I'd played the snot out of that guitar for the past 12 years and, other than a couple dimples on the top and a few well worn frets, that thing looked like new.  It's just not getting much play time these days (I'm only doing a couple acoustic gigs a month nowadays), so it was time to move it along.  The other was a 416ce, and it's being replaced by the Gibby.

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Nice get, Teh, and congratulations. I love Gibson slopers. They aren't as nuanced as higher-end Martins and other boutiques, but they are solidly built and can take a beating.

My J160E is a beast. It's a 2000 "Custom" RI, but has a solid top, bone saddle and X-bracing. Not an exact RI by any means and that's okay. I'm not into plywood tops, ladder bracing or ceramic saddles with thumbscrew adjustment.

This guitar, like yours, needed a little love. Gibson paid for the PLEK under warranty, plays like a champ.

J160e2.jpg

 

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Beautiful Guitar!!

When I was acoustic shopping I was thinking Taylor, Martin, Larivee etc., Not Gibson

IMG_2151_1.jpgI came home with this, it needed a better setup and could still use some tweaking but it is a really well rounded nice sounding acoustic

IMG_2156.jpg

ArnieZ

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Nice guitar, Arnie!!!  Love the tiger stripe pickguard!

Played mine out for the first time this morning at the monthly farmers market gig.  Definitely needs a setup and new (read: Better) tuners.  Week old strings, well stretched and should have been stable, but had to tune after every song for the first 45 minutes or so.  It finally settled in after a while.  Sounded good (Baggs element pickup output is HOT!) and, other than the tuning issues, played fine.  Will eventually get new bone nut, saddle & bridge pins along with Gotoh tuning machines...

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Love those J-45s!  If I was a fan of rosewood backs, I'd want an Advanced Jumbo too, along with a J-45! 

I had tried to buy a new J-160E from Mandolin Bros. back in the mid '90's, so I hope Gibson Montana's gotten better in the 'attention to detail department' since then...first one I got, I tried adjusting the pole pieces on the pickup, and they couldn't be raised; instead they sank into the pickup bobbin as the pole pieces were turned...and it didn't matter which direction I turned them, they only went down into the bobbin, not up.  :blink::wacko:  And no, I hadn't put any pressure on the pole pieces while doing this, either.  Sent the first guitar back, and got another one.  This time, not only was I shaking a crapload of wood shavings out of the body, but I found the body assembly checklist stuck inside the body...the list was jammed up into the bass side of the guitar, so when I initially looked inside (down into the body, on the treble side, as you do), it couldn't be seen.  But after shaking out the wood shavings (and moving the guitar around in the process), I found it.  I was NOT impressed, and I sent THAT one back too.  :huh:  Moral: sometimes you get a good one, and sometimes you get one that got completed on a Friday afternoon just before a Holiday.  <_<

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I'm certainly no Gibson expert, but from what I've read, things improved pretty dramatically in the acoustic division when Ren Ferguson took it over several years ago.  He's long gone now, but his legacy appears to live on at least to some extent.  The body construction on my guitar is top notch -- Binding is clean, no glue squeeze out or slop in the box, on the kerfing or braces; Fretwork looks good.  The only failure I can see is in final finish work with the polishing compound residue on the fretboard (how that got there is beyond me...) and the soundhole/fretboard extension joint, and the semi-circle of finish lift at the 4th fret on the edge of the fretboard (see pic below).  The compound was easy enough to clean up, the Hameritis doesn't affect the tone or playability of the guitar, and I was able to get a discount to compensate for the finish flaws so I'm a happy camper.

 

 

IMG_5145.JPG

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I actually didn't have a specific gripe about the workmanship on those J-160Es, other than the pickup pole piece business on one, and the wood shavings/assembly checklist in the other (so much for prepping the guitar for shipping...after the guitar had gone through both the manufacturer AND the dealer!  Jeez.)...but the guitars didn't stick around long enough for me to really find out otherwise.  After two let-downs I was in no mood to drop that amount of money (IIRC, $1600...and that was after the 30% discount off the list price that Mandolin Bros. routinely gave) for a new one, in 1995-era U.S. Dollars.

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