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2018 SJ-200 Vintage


Victory Pete

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?? There's no rule that says the MOP ribbons cannot be cut through for ramping. The Western Classic I owned some years back was a four ribbon bridge with a less than optimal neck set. There was no hesitation to ramp into the ribbons where necessary to get sufficient break. The distance between the saddle and the pins can be an issue with a 4-ribbon bridge.......it requires an above average neck set to be right without ramping.

 

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Is that an ebony fretboard? Lefty?

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There's no rule that says the MOP ribbons cannot be cut through for ramping.

Well yes, that is true. Guess cutting into the inlay just seems all wrong to me.

 

But clearly the design is less than optimal, and why even have to go to such an extreme as cutting into the inlay, when the two-ribbon (or J-100ish no-ribbon) mustache bridge is already in Gibson's arsenal?

 

If you're okay with a four-ribbon mustache bridge, that's great. Personally, I look at it and can't get past creating setup limitations for the sake of two additional strips of (imho) bling overkill.

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If you're okay with a four-ribbon mustache bridge, that's great. Personally, I look at it and can't get past creating setup limitations for the sake of two additional strips of (imho) bling overkill.

 

Yeah, just inlay emeralds on the bridge pins, like on my 17-1/4 inch lower bout jumbo Guild F50R.... msp_rolleyes.gif

 

f50r559.jpg

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Well yes, that is true. Guess cutting into the inlay just seems all wrong to me.

 

But clearly the design is less than optimal, and why even have to go to such an extreme as cutting into the inlay, when the two-ribbon (or J-100ish no-ribbon) mustache bridge is already in Gibson's arsenal?

 

If you're okay with a four-ribbon mustache bridge, that's great. Personally, I look at it and can't get past creating setup limitations for the sake of two additional strips of (imho) bling overkill.

 

 

It is the original historic bridge, all vintage SJ-200s have them. do you have an SJ-200 with the 4 bar bridge?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Woo. Nice top on that one, Cougar............real nice.

 

You know it, Buc! That baby's got everything I could ever want - ebony board and bridge, abalone rosette, sunburst, AAA sitka, DTAR dual source.... At about half (or less) the price of one of them killer SJ200's, it's still an over-the-moon guitar!

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You know it, Buc! That baby's got everything I could ever want - ebony board and bridge, abalone rosette, sunburst, AAA sitka, DTAR dual source.... At about half (or less) the price of one of them killer SJ200's, it's still an over-the-moon guitar!

 

Six emeralds!? Wouldn't that pay for an SJ200?

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It is the original historic bridge, all vintage SJ-200s have them. do you have an SJ-200 with the 4 bar bridge?

Over the years, there have been a number of versions of the J-200 that featured the two-bar mustache bridge. "Gibson's Fabulous Flat-Top Guitars" has an example of one on page 14.

 

I've previously owned a '01 J-150 with a two-bar bridge, as well as a '96 J-100xtra with a no-bar bridge. Currently, I have a maple '00 J-100xtra with the no-bar mustache bridge.

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You know it, Buc! That baby's got everything I could ever want - ebony board and bridge, abalone rosette, sunburst, AAA sitka, DTAR dual source.... At about half (or less) the price of one of them killer SJ200's, it's still an over-the-moon guitar!

Gotta love those Guilds, Cougar.

 

My '94 maple Guild jumbo has a wonderful tone - different from my Gibson jumbo, but equally satisfying!

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I'm always super wary of guitars with iffy neck sets. My first SJ200 had an awful setup and basically zero break angle over the bridge when I got it, 15yrs or so ago. The neck set wasn't the issue though-the bridge was MASSIVELY thick, around 16mm. My luthier laughed at it when he saw it, it was chunky to the point of comedy.

 

None of my subsequent Gibsons have had anywhere near as thick a bridge. I lived with it for a bit, but when I had it refretted for the second time I had my luthier shave the bridge to normal thickness, which helped with the setup issues.

 

I have to say though, the volume and tone were just fine with minimal break angle. 99% of Martins have what I would consider to be poor break angle from new, but sound fine.

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