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RHANK

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I have been looking to add a natural top Dread for awhile. I looked at several Hummingbirds and almost bought one from Canada that was Natural top and Rosewood back and sides, but I couldn't pull the trigger because of the cost.

 

I was recently at Guitar Center and I found this 2015 Songwriter Deluxe Studio in their used equipment room. This guitar was hardly played and looks brand new. They have a great guitar Tech (if you can catch him) and I talked to him about the guitar. He set this thing up so nice and it plays perfect. I am really impressed with the boominess and it sounds great plugged in to my PA as well.

 

I talked them down to $1450 on the guitar and I am really pleased.

 

Sorry about the far away picture....I will get some close ups soon.

 

The thing is...I am completely surprised by the sound difference from the J 45 Custom. Should it be that completely different?

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Thanks Jazzman... After doing a little investigating it seems that the Songwriters bracing is different than the J45. They call it advanced forward bracing and that was the result that they were searching for trying to get a bigger sound out of it.

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Congrats. Very nice. I've been eyeing up a Songwriter myself for a while.

 

Slightly smaller body dimensions than a Hummingbird I believe and the forward shifted bracing as you state.

 

Enjoy.

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I read that Ren Ferguson came up with the design for the Songwriter and that it is actually the first all new designed guitar by Gibson that has been a success that has fully joined its team of otherwise legacy models. Ren also added the insight that he borrowed heavily from a wide array of successful Legacy Gibson models from throughout the years when he designed it although no one model in particular. Kinda like borrowing from the best designs of many models. I found that very interesting.

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff

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  • 3 weeks later...

I have been looking to add a natural top Dread for awhile. I looked at several Hummingbirds and almost bought one from Canada that was Natural top and Rosewood back and sides, but I couldn't pull the trigger because of the cost.

 

I was recently at Guitar Center and I found this 2015 Songwriter Deluxe Studio in their used equipment room. This guitar was hardly played and looks brand new. They have a great guitar Tech (if you can catch him) and I talked to him about the guitar. He set this thing up so nice and it plays perfect. I am really impressed with the boominess and it sounds great plugged in to my PA as well.

 

I talked them down to $1450 on the guitar and I am really pleased.

 

Sorry about the far away picture....I will get some close ups soon.

 

The thing is...I am completely surprised by the sound difference from the J 45 Custom. Should it be that completely different?

 

 

Hi, I'm a newb here, but I recently picked up a 2012 SWD Standard. I had the shop put new strings on when I purchased it and although it sounded very nice and warm, it was very mellow, balanced, but not overly bright like my Taylor or Martin. Reading some threads on here and other sites, I figured that maybe it was the rosewood back and sides that give it the sound characteristics. After 6 months, I just replaced the strings with Martin SP Phosphor Bronze and wow!!!! Has it really opened up, sounds brighter, more airy, punchier even. Open strings just sustain, resonate and jangle. Never thought that strings could make that much of a difference. Can you describe how yours sounds compare to the J45?post-85130-090206300 1493389733_thumb.jpg

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Nice! Congratulations. I love my Songwriter Deluxe (2010). I set out looking for a J45, but ended up with the SWD. The sound, as others have said is "balanced" warm, articulate, and clear without the top-end brightness of say a Taylor or Martin (I also have a Martin 00028VS) and IMO - the j45, as much as I love J45's - sounded a bit muted next to the SWD, so I ended up with the SWD. What a nice combo to have. I still hope to have a j45 someday.

 

I also think you were smart to get the full sized body - IMO it makes a difference over the cutaway.

 

Here is mine with the pickguard peeled off and nickel Grover keystone tuners instead of the gold "butterbeans" - it knocks down the "bling" a little.

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The Songwriter Deluxe is an awesome guitar. It is the Gibson guitar that got me back to Gibson after 25 years. I bought a Hummingbird new in 1977 and it was a POS all the way around. I never wanted to play another Gibson until I picked up a Songwriter Deluxe in 2005. I've been a Gibson man ever since.

 

I especially love the understated moustache bridge in ebony and the ebony fretboard with the parallelogram markers. Wonderful instrument.

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Really love that vintage burst. I would have gone with that if they had one available. I'm noticing that my intonation is out on the B string. Would a compensated saddle help fix that?

 

Thanks - it's actually a little more "brown" than the picture makes it appear

I think so - my saddle is compensated (came from the factory that way - yours should be too, I think?) and I don't seem to have any issues. Not sure what the differences are in the SWD from year to year - not sure which pickup mine has from 2010 either! Saddle feels like it is CERAMIC when I take it out.

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The Song Writer is not an iconic classic but it is one tremendous guitar. It fills a great niche in the Gibson line up. I greatly prefer it to the J45 custom. The Song Writer and AJ do much to fill in the Rosewood full body line up.

 

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The Song Writer is not an iconic classic but it is one tremendous guitar. It fills a great niche in the Gibson line up. I greatly prefer it to the J45 custom. The Song Writer and AJ do much to fill in the Rosewood full body line up.

 

 

Don't forget the much wrongly maligned Hummingbird pro which fills the Spruce/Hog gap.

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