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want another Gibson small body


gruffydd3

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I do not really recall the neck on my '58 FT-79 other than it had the French Heel. My two 1950s Epis had different carves. But on both I replaced the nuts to the get it the widest I possibly could.

 

Of all the Gibson models out there, I have found the 1940s LG-2/3s to be the most inconsistent when it comes to sound. I think that is one of the reasons I went from LG-2s to a CF-100.

 

Of all the guitars I own, my favorite 1960s neck carve remains that on the Harmony Grand Concerts and the Sovereigns. It is a nice full roundback D with a 1 3/4" nut. Harmony changed virtually nothing over the decades other than to add a truss rod to some of their models in the late 1950s or early 1960s. They may be the most consistent sounding and feeling guitars on the planet.

15 or so years ago, I went on a Harmony binge for nostalgic reasons - finally got over it, but hung onto a pair of Sovereigns. One had been modified (rebraced, neck thinned👎, and such) and my wife claimed it. The other is pretty typical for the 1960's, sounds good, could use a neck set. They're neat guitars, the like of which we'll probably not see again.

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15 or so years ago, I went on a Harmony binge for nostalgic reasons - finally got over it, but hung onto a pair of Sovereigns. One had been modified (rebraced, neck thinned, and such) and my wife claimed it. The other is pretty typical for the 1960's, sounds good, could use a neck set. They're neat guitars, the like of which we'll probably not see again.

 

For me it is not nostalgia - I never stopped playing the things. Seems I have always kept Harmonys and Kays around. There is something about a long scale ladder braced guitar. Funny that your wife went for the Sovereign with the modified neck. My 1960 Gibson J-200 got a reprieve from the chopping block when my wife claimed it as her own. She loves that skinny neck carve.

 

I just finished fixing up my third Sovereign. The neck repair has held and all the cracks are cleated. Plays OK abut 1/2 way up the neck. I may do a kamikaze neck reset on it. Don't know yet. The only modification I have done to a Sovereign was to switch out the pinless bridge with an old Guild pinned bridge. I did not really hear any difference. I was more curious than anything.

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For me it is not nostalgia - I never stopped playing the things. Seems I have always kept Harmonys and Kays around. There is something about a long scale ladder braced guitar. Funny that your wife went for the Sovereign with the modified neck. My 1960 Gibson J-200 got a reprieve from the chopping block when my wife claimed it as her own. She loves that skinny neck carve.

 

I just finished fixing up my third Sovereign. The neck repair has held and all the cracks are cleated. Plays OK abut 1/2 way up the neck. I may do a kamikaze neck reset on it. Don't know yet. The only modification I have done to a Sovereign was to switch out the pinless bridge with an old Guild pinned bridge. I did not really hear any difference. I was more curious than anything.

I've wondered about the pinless to pinned bridge a time or two, and am glad to hear you say no noticeable difference. That inspires me to leave well enough alone. Hate to admit it, but my wife favors Taylor necks, which kind of explains the preference for the thinned Sovereign. Necks of that description are awkward, tiring, and painful for me after only a half hour, so I avoid them as best I can. Used to own a J-200 with what a friend called a 'rock n roll neck', and thought of that one when you mentioned yours. If memory serves, it dated to around 1960 as well. My '58 Epi has a moderate V contour, which treats me pretty well.

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I've wondered about the pinless to pinned bridge a time or two, and am glad to hear you say no noticeable difference. That inspires me to leave well enough alone. Hate to admit it, but my wife favors Taylor necks, which kind of explains the preference for the thinned Sovereign. Necks of that description are awkward, tiring, and painful for me after only a half hour, so I avoid them as best I can. Used to own a J-200 with what a friend called a 'rock n roll neck', and thought of that one when you mentioned yours. If memory serves, it dated to around 1960 as well. My '58 Epi has a moderate V contour, which treats me pretty well.

 

 

Gibson called those necks they came up with in 1960 the low action, fast playing neck or something like that. But Rock & Roll neck is a good description as it was part of a trend to make acoustic guitars feel more like electrics. My mid-50s pre-Gibson Epi FT-79 seems to have the same neck as your '58 with the very soft V. With 1950s Epiphones I always change out the nut to get as wide a string spacing as I can eke out.

 

What I am thinking of doing with one of my Sovereigns is to go with a 1930s Gibson style X bracing - forward shifted tall, thin and un-scalloped. Who knows, maybe I would end up with the poor man's AJ.

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