Rosewood J150

[Joe M]

Local CL ad has a J150 listed with rosewood back and sides. Is there such an animal? I thought all J150's had maple back/sides?

[EuroAussie]

Except those two custom orders ...

[Jinder]

A handful were made with rosewood in 2005. I find rosewood jumbos to be a bit of a congested beast sonically. I’ve played a few Ray Whitley 200s that were variable but the best of which was very good. If you search “The Mercurymen - Introducing The Band” on YouTube, I’m playing the best of the Whitleys at Gibson HQ in London on that vid.

 

I’d be intrigued to play a RW 150 but I suspect it might not hit my buttons.

[Joe M]

Except those two custom orders ...

 

 

???

[bobouz]

???

With the J-150, I'm only recalling the rosewood variant.

 

The J-100 had mahogany back & sides through most of the '90s, then switched to maple in '99. There was also a bubinga version in the 2000s, and then the recent walnut version.

[frenchie1281734003]

There were some J100 Xtra's from 95 that had Rosewood back and sides.

[Hogeye]

A handful were made with rosewood in 2005. I find rosewood jumbos to be a bit of a congested beast sonically. I’ve played a few Ray Whitley 200s that were variable but the best of which was very good. If you search “The Mercurymen - Introducing The Band” on YouTube, I’m playing the best of the Whitleys at Gibson HQ in London on that vid.

 

I’d be intrigued to play a RW 150 but I suspect it might not hit my buttons.

 

 

Not that it matters much but---The guitar you were playing in the video was not a Ray Whitley and the guitars you played at the London Entertainment Relations office were not Whitley's either. They were all Western Classics. I enjoyed you playing and vocal a lot and the guitar in the video sounded great to me.

 

Gibson made 37 Ray Whitley J-200 customs in 1994. They contracted to the Whitley estate to build 37 of them as that was the year the originals were made. None were exported all were sold to serious collectors here in the U.S. The only one I know of that made it out of the U.S. was purchased by Mack Yousada and he bought it for the Tsumura (sp?) collection in Japan. All 37 of the Ray Whitley guitars were made of Brazilian Rosewood. The headstock had the old Gibson script logo with the flowerpot inlay below it. Then the words Custom Ray Whitley were inlayed in Mother of pearl below that..The Truss rod cover was bound and had the initials R.W. inlayed in it.

 

The demand for more Whitley's was growing but since Gibson had a contract agreeing to only 37 they put the Western Classic into production. This was the later guitar you have a video of. It is Indian Rosewood and doesn't have the Ray Whitley name inlayed into the headstock among other changes. It makes no difference as the Western Classic is a wonderful guitar. I'm just glad you got to play them and offer an opinion on them. Come to Bozeman and I will let you play my Ray Whitley.

 

Yes Gibson did make a run of Rosewood J-100's but as soon as people figured out it was far superior to the Maple J-200 at a much lower price point they changed the specs on the 100 to Mahogany. Gibson marketing at it's best.

[JuanCarlosVejar]

Here's a J 150 R:

 

https://www.gbase.com/gear/gibson-j-150-natural

 

 

 

 

JC

[MorrisrownSal]

Jinder you are the real deal.

Wow on that video. You guys really complement well. Do you still play with those guys?

And Hogeye, again you are the king of information. Well done.

[Joe M]

Hogeye, when you said Gibson made a run of 100’s with rosewood, do you mean 150’s also?

[Mafy31]

A handful were made with rosewood in 2005. I find rosewood jumbos to be a bit of a congested beast sonically. I’ve played a few Ray Whitley 200s that were variable but the best of which was very good. If you search “The Mercurymen - Introducing The Band” on YouTube, I’m playing the best of the Whitleys at Gibson HQ in London on that vid.

 

I’d be intrigued to play a RW 150 but I suspect it might not hit my buttons.

 

I m gonna be out of topic, but thanks for posting this ! Enjoyed watching this short movie. Your music is so great, you're talented guys.

Great voices and nice gibby sounds.

[Jinder]

Not that it matters much but---The guitar you were playing in the video was not a Ray Whitley and the guitars you played at the London Entertainment Relations office were not Whitley's either. They were all Western Classics. I enjoyed you playing and vocal a lot and the guitar in the video sounded great to me.

 

Gibson made 37 Ray Whitley J-200 customs in 1994. They contracted to the Whitley estate to build 37 of them as that was the year the originals were made. None were exported all were sold to serious collectors here in the U.S. The only one I know of that made it out of the U.S. was purchased by Mack Yousada and he bought it for the Tsumura (sp?) collection in Japan. All 37 of the Ray Whitley guitars were made of Brazilian Rosewood. The headstock had the old Gibson script logo with the flowerpot inlay below it. Then the words Custom Ray Whitley were inlayed in Mother of pearl below that..The Truss rod cover was bound and had the initials R.W. inlayed in it.

 

The demand for more Whitley's was growing but since Gibson had a contract agreeing to only 37 they put the Western Classic into production. This was the later guitar you have a video of. It is Indian Rosewood and doesn't have the Ray Whitley name inlayed into the headstock among other changes. It makes no difference as the Western Classic is a wonderful guitar. I'm just glad you got to play them and offer an opinion on them. Come to Bozeman and I will let you play my Ray Whitley.

 

Yes Gibson did make a run of Rosewood J-100's but as soon as people figured out it was far superior to the Maple J-200 at a much lower price point they changed the specs on the 100 to Mahogany. Gibson marketing at it's best.

 

Thanks Hog-I’ll definitely take you up on the offer of the visit if I’m out Bozeman way! Very interesting info on the Whitleys and Western Classics. The guy we dealt with at Gibson referred to them as “Whitley 200s” but I imagine that was out of habit, having had the original Whitleys around in years previous.

 

I loved the one I borrowed for the vid-I pleaded with the London office to sell it to me, but it wasn’t an option as it was demo stock. Sensational guitar!

[Jinder]

Jinder you are the real deal.

Wow on that video. You guys really complement well. Do you still play with those guys?

And Hogeye, again you are the king of information. Well done.

 

Thanks Sal! We made an album back in ‘08 but were dropped by our label when the “credit crunch” recession hit here in the UK. I jumped ship and signed to Universal (initially as a writer but later as a solo act) and Simon from the band co-produced a solo album of mine, Crumbs of Comfort, which they put out in 2012. That record is, to all intents and purposes, the second band album, as I wrote most of it for a followup album before we were dropped.

 

We re-united for a tour in 2013/14 which was fun, but since then we’ve been doing our own thing. Still good pals though 🙂

[blindboygrunt]

Thanks Sal! We made an album back in ‘08 but were dropped by our label when the “credit crunch” recession hit here in the UK. I jumped ship and signed to Universal (initially as a writer but later as a solo act) and Simon from the band co-produced a solo album of mine, Crumbs of Comfort, which they put out in 2012. That record is, to all intents and purposes, the second band album, as I wrote most of it for a followup album before we were dropped.

 

We re-united for a tour in 2013/14 which was fun, but since then we’ve been doing our own thing. Still good pals though 🙂

 

How does the signed as a writer work jinder ?

Do you have to turn a certain amount in per week/month ?

Or just fire them at them when you have something ?

Then can you use the songs for your own albums ??

 

Recently sold a little PA to a local girl here who had a few tv things with xfactor or the other one. , she’s now sitting writing stuff for China or the Far East market. Because ya know a number 88 in China is the equivalent of a number 1 here due to volume of downloads. .....

[Jinder]

How does the signed as a writer work jinder ?

Do you have to turn a certain amount in per week/month ?

Or just fire them at them when you have something ?

Then can you use the songs for your own albums ??

 

Recently sold a little PA to a local girl here who had a few tv things with xfactor or the other one. , she’s now sitting writing stuff for China or the Far East market. Because ya know a number 88 in China is the equivalent of a number 1 here due to volume of downloads. .....

 

With Universal i was on a monthly salary, which counted as advance instalments against future sales. I was on a fairly kushty contract which didn’t require me to turn in a certain number of songs, just to show willing to work to the “wanted list” that would be sent out every fortnight and pitch songs for projects that I felt I either had, or could create, suitable material for.

 

I pitched material for a ton of stuff, but the big projects are almost always swamped with pitches, so I tended to pick up cuts with the smaller/more underground acts who I felt had potential. A bit like my pal Amy Wadge, who buddied up with a then-unknown Ed Sheeran and has gone on to sell millions and win Grammys with him...except without the record sales, Grammys or Ed Sheeran!

 

I’ve had a few really nice cuts, none that have sold big numbers but some really lovely reworkings by great artists. Lotte Mullan, Henry Priestman and Aled Jones all did lovely jobs of material I’d either written or co-written. I’ve had some odd ones too, most recently Nick Knowles of DIY SOS released an album with one of my songs on it last month, and I’ve had opera crossover acts and even a boyband have a crack at some stuff.

 

It’s a weird experience, hearing other versions of your songs is rather like bumping into an adult who was once a baby you reluctantly put up for adoption...some of them end up pillars of the community, others end up far more interesting...

[Hogeye]

Hogeye, when you said Gibson made a run of 100’s with rosewood, do you mean 150’s also?

 

 

The J-100 rosewoods were actually on the pricelist in 1992. They didn't appear as J-100 rosewoods but just J-100s. There were no J-150s at the time. They were outselling the Maple J-200 by a bunch before someone figured out they were sensational guitars at a bargain price. They quickly changed the spec to Mahogany and that was the end of that. They did spec out the J-100 with Maple in 1999 and up to 2003 before they went back to the Mahogany. The original J-100 was Maple in 1989 when they built 79 of them in Vintage Sunburst. I would love to see one of the original 1989 J-100's again they were really special guitars. Gibson didn't start the price list until 1990. Gibson can be very confusing at times as the marketing folks had no clue as to what they were doing. Still don't.

 

The J-150 doesn't appear in the pricelist until 1999 it was listed as a Maple guitar. They thought of the J-200 as top of the line then the stripped down J-150 and then the J-100.

 

I have a J-100 from the real Custom Shop back when the Custom Shop was separate from the regular guitar production line. It is mahogany with a Red Spruce top. The neck has an off-set V and is very easy to play.

[slimt]

The J-100 rosewoods were actually on the pricelist in 1992. They didn't appear as J-100 rosewoods but just J-100s. There were no J-150s at the time. They were outselling the Maple J-200 by a bunch before someone figured out they were sensational guitars at a bargain price. They quickly changed the spec to Mahogany and that was the end of that. They did spec out the J-100 with Maple in 1999 and up to 2003 before they went back to the Mahogany. The original J-100 was Maple in 1989 when they built 79 of them in Vintage Sunburst. I would love to see one of the original 1989 J-100's again they were really special guitars. Gibson didn't start the price list until 1990. Gibson can be very confusing at times as the marketing folks had no clue as to what they were doing. Still don't.

 

The J-150 doesn't appear in the pricelist until 1999 it was listed as a Maple guitar. They thought of the J-200 as top of the line then the stripped down J-150 and then the J-100.

 

I have a J-100 from the real Custom Shop back when the Custom Shop was separate from the regular guitar production line. It is mahogany with a Red Spruce top. The neck has an off-set V and is very easy to play.

 

 

I had a ebony j100 Maple and a 92 J100 Rosewood.. they went to Greg in a trade.. I think I ended up with a Montana Special sj200.. brass plaque Guitar.

[Joe M]

Thanks, Hogeye