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I know I am preaching to the choir here, but....


woodruff

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Anyone here besides me and my wife total Gibson Acoustic converts? I have owned several different brands of acoustic, but finally at age 40, came on to Gibson, and this is where the train stops. Final Destination Gibson. My wife equally only loves Gibsons, and specifically her J-45. She is the only guitar player I know who dont suffer from GAS. I suffer, but I only GAs for another gibson acoustic. Right now I got my h-bird, and she is suiting me prefect for now.

 

I know some folks will consider me a bit narrow minded. Of course, i consider my gibson epiphany at 40 years of age a stroke of genius.....and i cant be the only genius in the drawer.....:)

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I have to say that I have never cared for the sound of Gibson acoustics.

 

Please don't mistake me for a "hater" - I am far from it. I have used Gibson electric guitars for many, many, years and I think Gibson makes fine instruments.

 

But. Gibson acoustics just sound dead to me. Compared to a lively Martin or Taylor, Gibsons don't seem to have any life. I guess the flip side of that is that if you don't like acoustics with a lot of brightness, then Martins and Taylors won't sound good to you.

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Thanks for the sermon[-o< I too became part of the Gibson brethren' date= after many years playing others brands I took a chance on a J-50 and was converted. I am currently gassing for a H-bird to join my J-45.[/quote]

 

hey dodge, the h-bird and teh j-45 are a great combo. for sure!:)

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I have to say that I have never cared for the sound of Gibson acoustics.

 

Please don't mistake me for a "hater" - I am far from it. I have used Gibson electric guitars for many' date=' many, years and I think Gibson makes fine instruments.

 

But. Gibson acoustics just sound dead to me. Compared to a lively Martin or Taylor, Gibsons don't seem to have any life. I guess the flip side of that is that if you don't like acoustics with a lot of brightness, then Martins and Taylors won't sound good to you. [/quote']

 

understand. i feel the same way about taylors, very little soul. funny how our ears hear life in one guitar and not in another. i never heard a more balanced guitar than my 93 h-bird. i would call it bright but with depth.

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understand. i feel the same way about taylors' date=' very little soul. funny how our ears hear life in one guitar and not in another. i never heard a more balanced guitar than my 93 h-bird. i would call it bright but with depth. [/quote']

Yes, it is interesting. Maybe I've never had the pleasure of playing or hearing one of the "good" Gibbies - after all, it's only the occasional Martin that really stands out, and as you say, Taylors do come across as a bit antiseptic.

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Not a new convert, but I do prefer Gibson's. Never liked Taylor's. I have had some nice Martins, although I like the 15 series the best. I had a 00-15 that I wish I good get back.

All in all it's Gibson that does it for me.

I don't think I ever played one I didn't like!!

I do have an epi AJ500M that I really like, it's my go to the beach guitar.

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Anyone here besides me and my wife total Gibson Acoustic converts? I have owned several different brands of acoustic' date=' but finally at age 40, came on to Gibson, and this is where the train stops. Final Destination Gibson. My wife equally only loves Gibsons, and specifically her J-45. She is the only guitar player I know who dont suffer from GAS. I suffer, but I only GAs for another gibson acoustic. Right now I got my h-bird, and she is suiting me prefect for now.

 

I know some folks will consider me a bit narrow minded. Of course, i consider my gibson epiphany at 40 years of age a stroke of genius.....and i cant be the only genius in the drawer.....=D> [/quote']

 

While I like Gibsons well enough, for a variety of reasons, I guess I'd approach your comment from a different angle: "What proportion of your guitars do Gibsons represent?" as well as "What other makers' guitars do you own?"

 

For me, as far as acoustic guitars go, Gibsons are by far the mainstay, but I also own Martin, Larrivee and a few others. Gibson still accounts for the lion's share, though, and that is because they "fit" me the best, in terms of playability and tonal satisfaction.

 

Fred

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While I like Gibsons well enough' date=' for a variety of reasons, I guess I'd approach your comment from a different angle: "What proportion of your guitars do Gibsons represent?" as well as "What [i'][/i]other makers' guitars do you own?"

 

Fred

 

hey fred!

 

100% right now. but i have owned martins, a taylor, a larrivee, a guild 12er, a tachamine....and several fender electrics. and finally, gibson. long road, glad i made it.

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My personal opinion is that as far as acoustic guitars go, they all tend to sound different. I love my Taylor 612CE for fingerstyle and the shimmery highs. I also love my AJ for the clarity and great strumming and flat picking that I can do with it. Each has it's own place in the stable and both get used alot! If I had to choose to keep one, it would be the Taylor but I would be depressed for months about losing my Gibby!

 

Beauty_Beast_Blackie_2.jpg

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I've got an eclectic "herd" of guitars myself. Although I only own one Gibson (L20), it is a fantastic guitar. For a small bodied guitar, it has great sustain, volume, eveneness across the strings, and with the 1 13/16" neck, (and my big hands) it plays well strummed, picked or fingerpicked. I came to Gibson, like many of you, from the Martin branch of the acoustic guitar tree. Martin beats Gibson, hands down, on fit and finish of their instruments. But there is something about that "woody" Gibson sound that is hard to describe. Martin also has unique sound qualities, and I find myself drifting to different songs or different ways of playing songs when I switch between guitars. THAT, I like. Each guitar brings out a different sound, brings out different music from my hands. I recently found a guitar at a price that I could not beat. Someone was motivated to sell their Grand Concert Goodall, and I had just sold a Martin, so, I'm sure you guys will understand.....great guitar for sale, money in hand.....must buy......lol......but this Goodall is in a league of it's own compared to the rest of my guitars. Very rapid attack, unbelievable volume, sustain, overtones, undertones.......this guitar just sings. I'm surprised too, because I only learned AFTER I bought it that Goodall uses bolt-on necks, which I always thought hindered sound quality. Not on this one. I was going to buy it and resell it after a time, because the price was good, but now I can't let it go. Fit and finish on the Goodall, makes the Martin look cheap!!! But the sound......my goodness. My wife bought me a little Washburn Parlor, the 125th year anniversary model that is available this year.....all solid woods, sitka top, rosewood b&s....and I would put the sound quality of this little guitar up against the quality of parlors I have played costing $4000 and more!!! So, beauty and sound are in the eye and ear of the beholder, but I think the variety of guitars is just wonderful for inspiring innovation and moving in different directions musically. One mistake I made in the beginning of my collecting, was to buy similar guitars. If I liked one, I would buy another which had too similar a sound. Now, I actually seek out that variety.....Happy collecting all of you!!!! Pic below is of the L-20 and the Washburn Parlor.....

 

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IMGP0004.jpg

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I've got an eclectic "herd" of guitars myself. Although I only own one Gibson (L20)' date=' it is a fantastic guitar.

[/quote']

 

Hey WileyFool,

 

Thanks for the info on the L-20 -- I seem to recall that guitar as only having been made in maybe 1993 or so. I still have the glossy-paper promo sheets for the L-20 from back then!

 

I think that, overall, they are fairly rare guitars now.

 

Fred

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Yeah Shrimer.....mine is a 1994 100 year anniversary model.....Rosewood B&S. 12 frets.....I understand that they were made with Mahog. b&S and also some in Koa....some with 14 frets too.....I have played this against some Robert Johnson's, L-00's, L-oo cutaway with Maple b&s.....none can touch this guitar......strange....great sound...

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I was pretty much an exclusive Martin owner; mostly because of all the crap I'd heard regarding the alleged poor quality of Gibson's guitars. Then I found a great SJ200 followed closely by an outstanding AJ which was everything all the Martin dreads I had owned, wasn't.

Those two a lovely 000-15S fulfill all my needs now.

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Gibson acoustics just sound dead to me. Compared to a lively Martin or Taylor' date=' Gibsons don't seem to have any life. I guess the flip side of that is that if you don't like acoustics with a lot of brightness, then Martins and Taylors won't sound good to you. [/quote']

 

Interesting thing... I recently heard someone call the tone of my friend's Brazilian/Adirondack D-28 Golden Era "chimey"... I guess like a bell? That description made sense to me and seemed to describe it well. It's an absolutely incredible guitar. Then, I was listening to a fellow band member play my Advanced Jumbo (EIR/Sitka) the other evening and it sounded "crunchy" to me... not "chimey" at all. It was the only instrument playing while we sang "Angel Band". It blew me away. Very vintage sounding, antique even... like it was born to play old, traditional music. Now, all of that may seem pretty silly, but it describes the two tones to me. One not any better than the other, just different.

 

My EIR/Adirondack Western Classic sounds pretty "chimey" though... interesting because I think the Super Jumbo was originally produced as a Gibson response to the prewar D-28.

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Gibson acoustics just sound dead to me. Compared to a lively Martin or Taylor' date=' Gibsons don't seem to have any life. I guess the flip side of that is that if you don't like acoustics with a lot of brightness, then Martins and Taylors won't sound good to you. [/quote']

 

Interesting thing... I recently heard someone call the tone of my friend's Brazilian/Adirondack D-28 Golden Era "chimey"... I guess like a bell? That description made sense to me and seemed to describe it well. It's an absolutely incredible guitar. Then, I was listening to a fellow band member play my Advanced Jumbo (EIR/Sitka) the other evening and it sounded "crunchy" to me... not "chimey" at all. It was the only instrument playing while we sang "Angel Band". It blew me away. Very vintage sounding, antique even... like it was born to play old, traditional music. Now, all of that may seem pretty silly, but it describes the two tones to me. One not any better than the other, just different.

 

My EIR/Adirondack Western Classic sounds pretty "chimey" though... interesting because I think the Super Jumbo was originally produced as a Gibson response to the prewar D-28.

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Eddie, I think Martins have the original "scooped" tone - a very pronounced bottom end and top end, and you can really hear the top end on the upper frets. The mids are probably not as strong. I guess "chimey" works well as a description - I've always thought of Martins as "full and bright."

 

As a contrast, the Gibsons could be described as having a lot of low-mids and midrange, and not much on the top or extreme bottom. So "woody" or "crunchy" definitely makes sense.

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Interesting thing... I recently heard someone call the tone of my friend's Brazilian/Adirondack D-28 Golden Era "chimey"... I guess like a bell? That description made sense to me and seemed to describe it well. It's an absolutely incredible guitar. Then' date=' I was listening to a fellow band member play my Advanced Jumbo (EIR/Sitka) the other evening and it sounded "crunchy" to me... not "chimey" at all. It was the only instrument playing while we sang "Angel Band". It blew me away. Very vintage sounding, antique even... like it was born to play old, traditional music. Now, all of that may seem pretty silly, but it describes the two tones to me. One not any better than the other, just different.

 

My EIR/Adirondack Western Classic sounds pretty "chimey" though... interesting because I think the Super Jumbo was originally produced as a Gibson response to the prewar D-28.

 

[/quote']

 

I find my Taylor 612C (Sitka/Maple) to be a very "chimey" guitar and my Gibson AJ to be the darker sounding guitar. I definatly agree that it is a true "Vintage" sound. I think that is why many performers in the 1960's may have used Martins on stage but played Gibson's for there recordings. It was a truer 60's sound. FWIW the Advanced Jumbo that Gibson made in the 1930's was their response to the Martin D-28 with the herringbone purfling. It was dubbed "The bone killer" for that reason. Another great nick name for the AJ is "Acoustic Cannon" I think that one is the best! O:)

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Interesting thing... I recently heard someone call the tone of my friend's Brazilian/Adirondack D-28 Golden Era "chimey"... I guess like a bell? That description made sense to me and seemed to describe it well. It's an absolutely incredible guitar. Then' date=' I was listening to a fellow band member play my Advanced Jumbo (EIR/Sitka) the other evening and it sounded "crunchy" to me... not "chimey" at all. It was the only instrument playing while we sang "Angel Band". It blew me away. Very vintage sounding, antique even... like it was born to play old, traditional music. Now, all of that may seem pretty silly, but it describes the two tones to me. One not any better than the other, just different.

 

My EIR/Adirondack Western Classic sounds pretty "chimey" though... interesting because I think the Super Jumbo was originally produced as a Gibson response to the prewar D-28.

 

[/quote']

 

I find my Taylor 612C (Sitka/Maple) to be a very "chimey" guitar and my Gibson AJ to be the darker sounding guitar. I definatly agree that it is a true "Vintage" sound. I think that is why many performers in the 1960's may have used Martins on stage but played Gibson's for there recordings. It was a truer 60's sound. FWIW the Advanced Jumbo that Gibson made in the 1930's was their response to the Martin D-28 with the herringbone purfling. It was dubbed "The bone killer" for that reason. Another great nick name for the AJ is "Acoustic Cannon" I think that one is the best! O:)

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