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J15 to J45


nopicknick

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Guys at the local GC told me they were having a 15% discount on Gibson. So if I wanted to try a J45 it would run $1799. I took my J15 back and brought the 45 home. I'm in the tweaking stage right now, but it will have to be stellar to beat the 15. We will see.....the 45 is a beautiful vintage burst.

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Here is my 24hr assessment....took the stock strings off and tried Dragon Skin lights 11-53. The guitar did not like them at all. Put some Elixir HD's, which at least for me, sound and feel the best on just about anything. I straighten the neck slightly, but it looked to have too much relief to begin with. Played it a lot last night and today after the Sunday "have to do's". It is louder than the J15 with more warmth. Not so much more low end, but well just warmer. The top end it about the same, and the midrange is slightly darker in a good way. The midrange is strong and creates a nice roundness to the over all tone. The vintage burst is beautiful, and the neck feels the same as the 15 did. I do think the intonation isn't quite as accurate as the J15 though. This could be the strings and neck adjustment settling in. I'll be patient but it does seem the 6th string, 3rd fret G is a tad sharp. Not horribly off, but the 15 was pretty much dead on. For the difference in price between the two, with the 15% discount, the J45 is the clear winner. But dang the J15 was an exceptional guitar on its own.

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***UPDATE***

 

As much as I want to own a J45 I simply wasn't bonding with this one. For fear of someone else procuring my J15, I went back and the 15 is back at home. Once here I am now convinced I had the right one to start with. Although the 45 had beautiful tone, and I mean really beautiful, the J15 just fits better.

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***UPDATE***

 

As much as I want to own a J45 I simply wasn't bonding with this one. For fear of someone else procuring my J15, I went back and the 15 is back at home. Once here I am now convinced I had the right one to start with. Although the 45 had beautiful tone, and I mean really beautiful, the J15 just fits better.

Good decision. Glad you got the J-15 back, your instincts are dead on. Gibson did a darn good job on those guitars. I was at a GC today...tried 3 different J-45's ...two Customs and one standard....I wanted to like one of them...I wanted to buy one of them..but they sounded dead and rubbery stringed, just not right. They did have a J-15 there also, which actually sounded much better than the J-45 models they had. It's tone and sound seemed more precise and clear. So I came home with out a J-45. ...Opened my sweet Masterbilt AJ-500M case....and Eureka! I knew I had what I really wanted all along! ...well at least till gas hits again!

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Hi,

when I was looking for a J-15, I found one that I liked, but had the chance to play it back to back with a J-29, J-35 and a J-45. The J-35 was the worst of the group, it just wasn't in the running, the J-29 was ok, but the contest really cane down to the J-15 and the J-45. It was an incredibly hard choice, they were both great, but different. The J-15 was bright and clear (I like bright sounding guitars) and the J-45 had a lush mellow sound. I could have quite easily taken either (or both!!!) home. In the end it was my Wife who made the decision, as she pointed out, I'd wanted a J-15, so as she pointed out, if I didn't get one I'd be constantly wondering what if? She's usually right.

 

 

Ian

 

Now what if I'd got that J-45?????????????

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Now what if I'd got that J-45?????????????

You'd be wondering about the J-15. :)

 

I played a J-45 standard and J-15 yesterday at GC, and between the two would had definitely gone with the J-15. But I have an unusually good J-35 that's noticeably better than either one, so was just looking.

 

DC

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You'd be wondering about the J-15. Solution: you need both. :)

 

DC

 

I was thinking exactly the same thing, My Wife on the other hand didn't quite see things the same. She'd already told me that if I bought another guitar it was going to cost me some Carats. I promptly took her to the fruit and veg isle at our local Sainsbury's (a U.K Supermarket chain). I don't know what's wrong with her, but she hasn't said much to me for about a month?

 

 

Ian

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