streamlights Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 It's a common guitar, I've called it everything but a j45 at both the GC and boutique in my town. No hyperbole here but literally no employee knows what I'm talking about without a picture or description. I just say something like "J-40 something!" now and smirk. So I'm curious now, what would you call it? Thanks all! Warmly, your laziest lurker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Why not take a page from the Epiphone book and slap an "IB" (Inspired By) on there. So you would have an AJ-IB, OJ-IB and instead of J-45TV an IB J45. Come to think of it, it does look a bit jumbled but it would be accurate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponty Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Is this it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
streamlights Posted July 27, 2014 Author Share Posted July 27, 2014 Why not take a page from the Epiphone book and slap an "IB" (Inspired By) on there. So you would have an AJ-IB, OJ-IB and instead of J-45TV an IB J45. Come to think of it, it does look a bit jumbled but it would be accurate. Is this it? Ya know I never considered just calling it an AJ when asked, but that OJ looks way more delicious. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpbiii Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Ya know I never considered just calling it an AJ when asked, but that OJ looks way more delicious. Thanks! We play mostly bluegrass and in bluegrass-like sessions. This is not the natural habitat for Gibson guitars -- at least not in the way it is the natural habitat for Gibson banjos and mandolins. I guess I am a bit unique in these circles because I do play old golden era Gibsons pretty often -- both in sessions and on stage. (Truth in advertising makes me report that we also have and play old Martins too.) The Gibsons I sometimes play this way are a 35 Jumbo,36 AJ, 35 RSRG, and a 43 RW SJ. We have others (Banners Js, J-35, RSSD, and a bunch of small stuff), but to my ear they do not excel at bluegrass like the others. Now as you travel the US and Canada jamming, you find that BG people generally have no trouble recognizing old Martins -- particularly old D-28s. But for Gibsons, it is tower of babel out there. Gibson is part of the problem because of their naming practices, new and old. "Jumbo" is perhaps the most abused word. The Jumbo was built from 34-36. But then there was the Advanced Jumbo (36), the Jumbo-35 (36, later called the J-35), followed by the J-55 (40), J-35, Southerner Jumbo (42) (later called the Southern Jumbo), J-45, J-40, J-35 ... Even worse, Gibson introduced the Super Jumbo (SJ-200) in 1938 -- a completely different model that shared the SJ designation with the Southerner/Southern Jumbo. There are many models in that line, and people soon started calling then Jumbos too. After a while, Gibson came along and called them Jumbos too (eg J-200). Then when Gibson started copying the old models, they named them in such a way that people with old guitars had no way to describe their instruments that was not also the name of a new model -- true vintage, original Jumbo, etc. When we play the old Gibsons, mostly they are not recognized -- even the old AJ and RW SJ. People will tell me about how they know someone with a similar guitar -- perhaps a 1967 J-45 . So when I play my "actual, really true vintage and that was actually built in 1935 original" Jumbo, mostly they think it is a J-45. It is a Jungle out there! Best, -Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62burst Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Is this it? That looks delicious. I could eat a case of those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phelonious Ponk Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 He'll, I'm not confused. Jumbo is what Gibson called their first big guitar. If it has a J at the front of the model # it's a jumbo. If it has SJ there, it's a super jumbo. No confusion there. If they ask about that SJ that looks like a J with parallelogram inlays, I can explain that. In the very rare event that they ask about the J that looks like a small SJ. I can explain that too. If they look at my OJ and tell me they like my J-45, I'ill explain if I think they care, take the compliment otherwise. If they call my OJ or any Gibson Jumbo a dreadnought, even if they work for Gibson, I correct them, because it would be unfair to leave them going around insulting good Gibsons like that. That's like calling Salma Hayeck a Janeane Garofalo. So what was the problem? P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philfish Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Remember the thread, Do you think Gibson would buy this photohttp://users.ece.gatech.edu/~barnwell/Armucheestage1.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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