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BT and the Gibson J15


MorrisrownSal

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What's the price point on this?

 

Sal, how do you compare it to the SJ you have or the LG 2 you played at Russo that now lives on LI? [biggrin]

 

How about the neck profile? I found the neck on the J35 a bit chunky for me. How do you think this one compares?

 

Rich

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Rich...

 

The J15 neck is chunky. It is priced at $1499, but they will do better. I like it, but you may not. I don't think it comes remotely close to the throaty, and yet dry, tone of my SJTV. The SJTV is much deeper sounding. I did find the J15 deeper and more complex than the J35 they have had there for a few months, despite the J15 being right out of the box and "tight". I think the J15 is superior to the J35, at least for me. It is less tinny.

 

Russo's also got an LG2 in to replace the one you bought. That LG2 is the one Gibby I am gasing for. It is absolutely perfect, and priced at $1799 asking price. I even asked Scott what it would cost, plus my used Masterbilt AJ500M he is working on, and the number made it very hard for me to walk out empty handed.

 

I did though! I am a God among mortal men...

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Watched this, and thought the guitar sounded pretty good. Like others, I was slightly taken aback when Big Thumb did his open tuning Celtic riff.

 

BT says the guitar uses walnut for board and bridge as well as back and sides. That set off alarm bells for me, depending on what walnut species is used.

 

The Janka scale is a standard, relative measure of wood hardness, which translates pretty well into wear resistance. The harder the wood (higher the Janka number) the greater the wear resistance. Here are some numbers to consider. As a caveat, these vary considerably from species to species even within a wood type. Not all ebonies, rosewoods, and walnuts are the same.

 

Ebony: 3200

Asian rosewood: 1800

American walnut: 1000

 

This may not matter in the short run, but think of all those old, rutted Gibson rosewood fretboards out there, then think about board wear on a walnut board of similar vintage and playing history.

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Watched this, and thought the guitar sounded pretty good. Like others, I was slightly taken aback when Big Thumb did his open tuning Celtic riff.

 

BT says the guitar uses walnut for board and bridge as well as back and sides. That set off alarm bells for me, depending on what walnut species is used.

 

The Janka scale is a standard, relative measure of wood hardness, which translates pretty well into wear resistance. The harder the wood (higher the Janka number) the greater the wear resistance. Here are some numbers to consider. As a caveat, these vary considerably from species to species even within a wood type. Not all ebonies, rosewoods, and walnuts are the same.

 

Ebony: 3200

Asian rosewood: 1800

American walnut: 1000

 

This may not matter in the short run, but think of all those old, rutted Gibson rosewood fretboards out there, then think about board wear on a walnut board of similar vintage and playing history.

 

The Gibson site says that all the wood used on the J15 is American. I imagine that one can grow English Walnut in the US and vice-versa, but I think I've read somewhere (either Gibson site or one of the US sellers) that the body wood is American Walnut, which I presume to mean species as well as origin. Assuming that my imaginings and presumptions are correct, and that the marketing boys are right, I suspect that the ballpark Janka figure you list will apply, Nick.

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The J15 neck is chunky.

I just received my J-15 yesterday from AMS. They're not all the same, because I definitely would not describe the neck on mine as chunky. This one has a somewhat shallow profile, and feels very fast. Fret work is excellent & without protrusions. The flamed maple neck is nicely bookmatched, and for some reason this particular guitar carries the Custom Shop logo at the headstock juncture. So far I've seen about seven or eight other examples of this model online (plus the one in the video), and none of them have had the CS logo, including one with the same serial number date as mine. Strange, but it looks nice on there.

 

To my ears, the tone is closer to maple, with a slight lean in the direction of rosewood. Very good for fingerpicking (which is pretty much all I do), and as mentioned above, a very clear high end without tinnyness. Bass is strong, giving a full and punchy tone across the board. For a guitar hitting town fresh off the factory bus, it's rather impressive.

 

Workmanship is very tight on this one, with only a bit of orange peel on the sides at the neck junction. Overall, a seriously strong value imho, and well worth a look for anyone interested in something slightly outside the tonewood box.

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How did the "Big Thumb" designation for Tony come about? I don,t get it? Does he have a 'huge' thumb? I have not noticed in several viewings. Sounds like any other finger-picker to me [confused]

 

Lots of players think he's "thumb heavy" with his finger picking....

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How did the "Big Thumb" designation for Tony come about? I don,t get it? Does he have a 'huge' thumb? I have not noticed in several viewings. Sounds like any other finger-picker to me [confused]

 

I actually think it was me who started that in here…. it's among my more subtle work some might say. msp_thumbup.gif

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Walnut fingerboard? Is that softer than Rosewood? I'm kind of a fretboard squeezer/crusher. I wonder if this might be prone to the infamous Dudley finger board divots we saw a couple years ago? Probably fretting over nothin, play on.

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