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Gibson Cedar?


MorrisrownSal

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I came within inches of buying a little Taylor cedar top before I got my J-45 (2003). I don't know their model #'s and stuff, but it was a small bodied guitar and was a hoot to play. A local store had it and I'd go back and play it often until it finally sold. That was the only cedar I've ever messed with, I think.

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I love cedar instruments. Interesting that you mentioned the Tak, I have an Takamine EAN20C, an enormous (bigger across the lower bout than an SJ200!) cedar and hog jumbo which is officially retired from gigging (I dragged it most of the way around the world with me in my early 20s, it looks like it’s been to war!) but is a lovely big ‘n’ warm old thing. Cedar is a great tonewood but doesn’t wear at all well, the top on my Tak isn’t much harder than balsawood, and has all the scars to prove it.

 

I’d love to see what Gibson could do with cedar.

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Correct! Gibson had a LC-1 Cascade guitar circa 2003. I had a (now deceased) friend who had one. Was a great sounding instrument. He loved playing it and sharing the story that it was unique in it was a Gibson that had a cedar top.

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff

Edited by QuestionMark
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QM, yes, some steel-string guitars are made with cedar tops. We know that these are pretty soft and will quickly show wear. I think the major discussion here is about the quality of the sound that these gits produce...and is it worth the problems that will result from the soft top. Willie Nelson's gut-string Martin is a cedar-topped guitar...and it's a wonder that it still holds together.

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Has Gibson ever made a cedar top acoustic? I have played a Tak P3DC that was great. I’m thinking a cedar top J45 would be incredibly warm.

A J-45 Cedar would be an interesting idea for a Bozeman custom build through the Made 2 Measure program, if things have calmed down for Gibson. . . wasn't all of that supposed to go down this month?

 

Leonard McCoy- how're things coming along on the Made 2 Measure build of the Everly?

 

It would be totally possible for cedar to sound meh in one guitar design, and sound too much in another. . . The seller of this cedar topped Epiphone AJ-500RC 12 fret told me his wife said the guitar was "too loud". Don't know if it's the light satin poly-finished top, the AJ style bracing, the longer scale length, or the rosewood, but I whole-heartily agree. The thing is an absolute anomaly. If one ever pops up for sale, the reasonable price is worth it, if in entertainment value only:

 

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I have a cedar topped, 12 fret Epiphone Masterbilt AJ 500 RC. These have rosewood on the back and sides, and a big v-neck. I just love it. Compares very well with any Gibson I own. I would HIGHLY recommend snapping one up if you see one for sale, but they rarely are, it seems. A beautiful, rich and complex sounding instrument of great power and delicate sensitivity.

 

Red 333

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I have a cedar topped, 12 fret Epiphone Masterbilt AJ 500 RC. These have rosewood on the back and sides, and a big v-neck. I just love it. Compares very well with any Gibson I own. I would HIGHLY recommend snapping one up if you see one for sale, but they rarely are, it seems. A beautiful, rich and complex sounding instrument of great power and delicate sensitivity.

 

Red 333

The sensitivity required on the player’s part that you allude to, as opposed to the seller’s wife’s observation on the one in the previous post’s photo as being too loud, begs a paraphrasing of the Chet Atkins line, where someone once told him “that guitar sounds wonderful” - Chet just cocked his ear toward the soundhole, & said “I don’t hear anything”.

 

There must’ve been a sloped shoulder Gibson acoustic built with a cedar top as a prototype laying around somewhere. A few years back this forum was abuzz when OlWileyFool started a thread taking suggestions about commissioning a run of guitars for those on the forum - I think the topic went a half dozen pages or more. A 12 fret J-45 was just a pipe dream. . . Since then, a handful of iconic Gibson flat tops have been offered in the 12 fret design.

 

Edit: the AJ 500RC has been on the eBay watchlist. . . ‘ Don’t think one has come up for sale for over a year.

Edited by 62burst
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A J-45 Cedar would be an interesting idea for a Bozeman custom build through the Made 2 Measure program, if things have calmed down for Gibson. . . wasn't all of that supposed to go down this month?

 

Leonard McCoy- how're things coming along on the Made 2 Measure build of the Everly?

 

It would be totally possible for cedar to sound meh in one guitar design, and sound too much in another. . . The seller of this cedar topped Epiphone AJ-500RC 12 fret told me his wife said the guitar was "too loud". Don't know if it's the light satin poly-finished top, the AJ style bracing, the longer scale length, or the rosewood, but I whole-heartily agree. The thing is an absolute anomaly. If one ever pops up for sale, the reasonable price is worth it, if in entertainment value only:

The Everly is scheduled for delivery in September/October. So far, everything is on track. Since the original Kluson vintage waffleback tuners are back (they are pricey), I might just try to get Gibson to install those instead of the scheduled Gotoh keystone tuners. If it is not possible anymore since we are fairly close to delivery, I might just get the Klusons installed after the fact or leave it be altogether.

 

Sxo9EAO.jpg

 

Cedar is plenty loud, that is not the issue. It is just that cedar as a top wood, while it generally gives the steel-string a broken-in sound right off the bat and its grain looks quite, quite neat, old, and even, I also found that the wood gives the guitar a muddy, rumbly, and overall unbalanced, little defined sound. That's not what I want from my steel-string acoustic.

Edited by Leonard McCoy
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So I bought that Takamine P3DC. dents on the top, but otherwise close to new. Price was great.

 

It is the best live sound I have ever had.

 

Unplugged its quiet but very warm and sweet. STrum too loud and it gets overdriven. expected I guess. Still, played with finesse It sounds much closer to a good J45 than any D18.

 

I wont cloud this board with any review.... but I am shocked with how much I like this guitar.

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