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Has anyone ever seen a 1956 J45 with this finish?


jannusguy2

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I'm with Jinder on this. It's probably a 1966, not a 1956. I don't think I've seen that cherryburst on a pre-1965 J-45.

 

For comparison, I bought my old J-45 in 1966. I was 19 years old, and am now 71. If he bought this J-45 new in 1966, he's likely at least my age. Unless he plays the guitar every day, so that he remembers everything about it, he could easily make a 10-year mind slip.

 

Not that I ever would, of course...

 

Let's see now, where did I put my car keys?

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I'm with Jinder on this. It's probably a 1966, not a 1956. I don't think I've seen that cherryburst on a pre-1965 J-45.

 

For comparison, I bought my old J-45 in 1966. I was 19 years old, and am now 71. If he bought this J-45 new in 1966, he's likely at least my age. Unless he plays the guitar every day, so that he remembers everything about it, he could easily make a 10-year mind slip.

 

Not that I ever would, of course...

 

Let's see now, where did I put my car keys?

 

You are 71?

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I'm with Jinder on this. It's probably a 1966, not a 1956. I don't think I've seen that cherryburst on a pre-1965 J-45.

 

Aaaa, I've seen the trad. cherry down to at least '62 perhaps further.

My theory is that Kalamazoo began turning the cherry burst spray-can toward the 45's soon after the Hummingbirds saw light of day (which happened in 1960).

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Range Year

----- ----

0100 to 42440 1961

42441 to 61180 1962

61450 to 64222 1963

64240 to 71040 1964

71041 to 96600 1962, a few from 1963/1964

96601 to 99999 1963

000001 to 099999 1967 (all 6 digit numbers starting with "0" are 1967)

 

100000 to 106099 1963 or 1967

 

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Here's the seller's reply when I suggested he might be off by 10 years:

 

I checked the serial number online and it shows it's a 1956. Also, that's the year I bought it new. My research shows that was the one year they did have adjustable bridges.

 

He swears he's the original owner, it was not refinished, and Bob's your uncle.

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Another old guy here - I vote for 1966. Have not seen a 1950's J-45 done in cherry EVER, and I've seen some interesting variations courtesy of lots of time spent off and on around Kalamazoo since I was a young'n😅

Saw a cherryburst KG-11 once, but that belonged to an employee who took it into the shop and did the refin himself.

Also, the soundhole rings are wrong for 1956 J-45. And I'm betting that the adjustable bridge parts won't match 1956 specs.

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Here's the seller's reply when I suggested he might be off by 10 years:

 

I checked the serial number online and it shows it's a 1956. Also, that's the year I bought it new. My research shows that was the one year they did have adjustable bridges.

 

He swears he's the original owner, it was not refinished, and Bob's your uncle.

 

 

That's easy enough to verify. A 1956 J-45 will have a V-prefix serial number. Ask him what the serial number is.

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Here is a jewel from 1960. One of the first cherries at all. Notice how 'fat' the burst has grown. Probably sounds stellar as well.

 

http://www.replayaco...bson-j-45-sold-

 

 

Notice this J-45 still has the single-ring rosette. The one Jannus is looking at has the two-ring rosette, which didn't appear on the J-45 until about 1965, to the best of my knowledge.

 

Here's an idea out of left field. In 1968, my 1948-1950 J-45 went back to Gibson for top repairs and a fretboard replacement, and came back looking almost exactly like the one Jannus is looking at, except with an adjustable bridge. It was to all appearances a 1968 J-45 cherryburst.

 

But the FON is still 3644, and it has a neck with a tapered headstock, late 40's bracing and dark back and side stain rather than cherry, etc.

 

If I had been hit by a truck in 1968, and my guitar in that form had showed up here today for evaluation, everyone would swear it was a late 60's J-45. That is, until they looked at the FON and some of the details.

 

Maybe this guitar went back to Gibson at some point and suffered the same fate as my old J-45 (which has now regained much of it's 1948-1950 appearance).

 

I'm still waiting for the seller to supply the FON on our mystery J-45. That will tell the story.

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Notice this J-45 still has the single-ring rosette. The one Jannus is looking at has the two-ring rosette, which didn't appear on the J-45 until about 1965, to the best of my knowledge.

 

Here's an idea out of left field. In 1968, my 1948-1950 J-45 went back to Gibson for top repairs and a fretboard replacement, and came back looking almost exactly like the one Jannus is looking at, except with an adjustable bridge. It was to all appearances a 1968 J-45 cherryburst.

 

But the FON is still 3644, and it has a neck with a tapered headstock, late 40's bracing and dark back and side stain rather than cherry, etc.

 

If I had been hit by a truck in 1968, and my guitar in that form had showed up here today for evaluation, everyone would swear it was a late 60's J-45. That is, until they looked at the FON and some of the details.

 

Maybe this guitar went back to Gibson at some point and suffered the same fate as my old J-45 (which has now regained much of it's 1948-1950 appearance).

 

I'm still waiting for the seller to supply the FON on our mystery J-45. That will tell the story.

 

As you and I both know from experience, back in the day when a guitar went back to Gibson for work they did not use period anything and you got whatever the stock parts and finish they were using at the time. I have probably asked you this before but does your J-45 have the FON stamped on the back of the headstock? This confused the heck out of me as it is not supposed to be there until somewhere down the road I got a chance to ask Gruhn about it who told me it was a common practice for Gibson when they got a guitar in for work that included a refinish.

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Notice this J-45 still has the single-ring rosette. The one Jannus is looking at has the two-ring rosette, which didn't appear on the J-45 until about 1965, to the best of my knowledge.

Yea, the rings live a life of their own. Something tells me the 45 doubled up during '62, , , a round after the cherry got normal.

Funny enough my 1959 J-45 yellow-amber-black-burst 45'er has the 2 rings - like a spill over from a Southern J.

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As you and I both know from experience, back in the day when a guitar went back to Gibson for work they did not use period anything and you got whatever the stock parts and finish they were using at the time. I have probably asked you this before but does your J-45 have the FON stamped on the back of the headstock? This confused the heck out of me as it is not supposed to be there until somewhere down the road I got a chance to ask Gruhn about it who told me it was a common practice for Gibson when they got a guitar in for work that included a refinish.

 

 

Yes, they stamped the FON on the back of the headstock while it was there for repairs. I remember staring at the guitar when I unpacked it, thinking they had somehow sent me the wrong guitar.

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Seems the ad has been removed.

 

 

That's sort of a shame. It would have been nice to get to the bottom of it. The seller had some interesting recent instrument sales, which suggested he was a dealer rather than an individual.

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Yea, the rings live a life of their own. Something tells me the 45 doubled up during '62, , , a round after the cherry got normal.

Funny enough my 1959 J-45 yellow-amber-black-burst 45'er has the 2 rings - like a spill over from a Southern J.

 

It would not be too surprising to discover that some guitars originally destined to be SJ's ended up as J-45's. Pretty much the only difference at that time was the fretboard inlays and binding, and headstock inlays. I think even the bridges were the same unlike earlier, when an SJ could have either a belly-up or belly-down bridge.

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It would not be too surprising to discover that some guitars originally destined to be SJ's ended up as J-45's. Pretty much the only difference at that time was the fretboard inlays and binding, and headstock inlays. I think even the bridges were the same unlike earlier, when an SJ could have either a belly-up or belly-down bridge.

Precisely - this is a very close sibling to mine.

 

https://reverb.com/i...-sj-in-sunburst

 

 

, , , or should we say cousin.

 

 

 

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That's sort of a shame. It would have been nice to get to the bottom of it. The seller had some interesting recent instrument sales, which suggested he was a dealer rather than an individual.

The seller checked with Gruhn who confirmed it was 1967. He plans to relist with the correct info. He indicated he's 80 yrs. old and had forgotten when he bought it. Seemed on the up and up.

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The seller checked with Gruhn who confirmed it was 1967. He plans to relist with the correct info. He indicated he's 80 yrs. old and had forgotten when he bought it. Seemed on the up and up.

 

 

That's pretty much what we thought in the first place. At 80, it's pretty easy to misplace a decade of your life. I feel bad for him in a way, but he made the right choice in going to Gruhn for clarification.

 

It's still a very nice guitar, and the world is still spinning on its axis.

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