TellyzGuitars Posted October 31, 2017 Author Share Posted October 31, 2017 Well folks, I've had time to clean up, set up, polish up and string up this rare passed over Texan and can now post a brief review. Made in the Gibson Montana plant alongside it seems the centenary model Gibson’s made in the same era, 93-95 Specs on this limited run of 170, solid spruce top, slope shoulder, pressed back (no braces, like the Gibson Gospel) in Solid Mahogany as matched by the grain inside and out, 3 piece neck, multiple bound top/back, nickel plated Grover tuners, mother of pearl parallelogram position markers, decals on the headstock fashioned like the Gibson made Texans, available in natural and sunburst, rosewood fretboard and bridge, stamped Made In USA on the back of the headstock and scalloped bracing. Details are taken from Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars though this guide doesn’t mention the pressed back, or interestingly, the scalloped bracing, I was a little surprised to see that. As a player, the neck is a D profile. Since my first assessment it has improved considerably. Finger style seems pretty nice though I'm no finger style player, flat picking is quite good, not a J50 or a Martin but definitely good, rhythm is very good. There is definitely a country flavour to this guitar, a country music player and singer would love this. I often tune down half a step for a nice tone and reach the key singing at church but this guitar doesn't like it too much, the B string has this loud pop to it that significantly reduces at full tune. Condition is beautiful, not a lot of marks in the finish, frets and fingerboard are good, a lot of finish checking, especially on the back. It cleaned up and polished up beautifully. Having assessed a Gibson J35 Limited from the same era they share similarities, like the finish checking and the tone that’s a little constrained; because of the thick spruce tops and quite heavy nitro finish maybe, I don't really know, but both have the basis of a nice toned quality guitar but share this sense of being constrained though this Texan is standing up a lot more since the set up and new strings. This Texan was greatly improved with Camel bone nut (the original looked like composite), quality bone saddle/bridge pins (it came with soft plastic that someone had put in along the way), a setup with nice break angle behind the saddle and about half an inch between the spruce top and the top of the saddle. I tried Ernie Ball Aluminium Bronze strings to bring out a nice tone which seem to work fairly well, I'd like to try Martin Retro next time. As with the J35 mentioned earlier, the signature Gibson bass isn't there. Though there is a nice bass, tone seems a little more weighted towards the treble side though it has a tone quite unique and apart from other guitars, certainly anything else I have which in itself makes it appealing to me. Structurally in really nice shape, constraints aside, playing and inspecting this guitar I feel reveal a very nice quality instrument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuestionMark Posted October 31, 2017 Share Posted October 31, 2017 Sounds great in the video! Best of luck. Didn’t realize from your earlier posts it was a sunburst model (unless I missed it). Very cool guitar! QM aka Jazzman Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TellyzGuitars Posted October 31, 2017 Author Share Posted October 31, 2017 Sounds great in the video! Best of luck. Didn’t realize from your earlier posts it was a sunburst model (unless I missed it). Very cool guitar! QM aka Jazzman Jeff I'm glad it is because I just swapped my only other sunburst with my brother so this gives me a sunburst again, and who doesn't like a Gibson sunburst. The guitar came up a treat too, better than the pics show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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