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My first Gibson: SJ-200 True Vintage


Buddy Arry

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Hello everybody. I'm new here, my name's Arrigo and I'm a guitar player from Italy.

I've recently bought my first Gibson guitar, a Super Jumbo True Vintage. I think it's one of the best flattop guitars that I've played, one of the most refined and rich tones that an acoustic guitar can offer. So I'm very happy with it. The only thing that is disappointing me a little bit, is the volume of the guitar. I play a lot of rockabilly and 50s music, where the SJ is really the KING : ) but when I play bluegrass, I generally play with Martin and Taylor guys, and sadly their guitars tend to overpower my Gibson. It's not that big difference, but it is clear that their guitars have more power.

Before buying this guitar I've tried at least four SJ200, so I'm pretty sure it's not a problem of my guitar. I think it's a peculiarity of the SJ200.

I've tried Martins too: I like them, but I wasn't and I'm still not interested in their sound.

I'm sure there are a lot of Super Jumbo players here, could you please tell me your opinion about this?

 

Thanks!

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Welcome Arrigo ! And Congrats on your new axe!! Since the SJ200 is/was my #1 choice, I'm agreeing that it is the first choice for Rockabilly, 50's Rock, and that type of music. If you want more punch, try getting a bone saddle. It is hard to argue with the tradition of Martins being the standard in Bluegrass. Of course, you realize, the other side of the equation is how loud the banjo player has his instrument set up to play. I prefer one guitar that is versatile than having to pull out a different guitar for what I would say no one outside of the band would be able to tell the difference on. Stay in touch here! Jim

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Congratulations on a great guitar. I've had my SJ-200 for about 3 weeks now and am still in awe of it. I never considered that it didn't have enough power. I was thinking that if it was any louder I wouldn't be able to hear myself sing. Hey wait, that's not a bad thing!! Anyway, congrats and keep lovin' your new SJ.

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hey, buddy! welcome and congrats on a great guitar. there is a very jealous brit somewhere because of this news!

with regards to your Q, uncle buck posted a tune up/set up in an earlier thread that seemed to have miraculous results on one of his guitars. the thread was titled "little things...". check it out and don't do it yourself if you're not skilled. you cannot undo bad things like a saddle shaved too low. i'm interested in hearing your results as i am currently torn as to what my next gibby should be - an sj-200 or j-45rw. let us all know.

ciao, bello!

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Hello everybody. I'm new here' date=' my name's Arrigo and I'm a guitar player from Italy.

I've recently bought my first Gibson guitar, a Super Jumbo True Vintage. I think it's one of the best flattop guitars that I've played, one of the most refined and rich tones that an acoustic guitar can offer. So I'm very happy with it. The only thing that is disappointing me a little bit, is the volume of the guitar. I play a lot of rockabilly and 50s music, where the SJ is really the KING : ) but when I play bluegrass, I generally play with Martin and Taylor guys, and sadly their guitars tend to overpower my Gibson. It's not that big difference, but it is clear that their guitars have more power.

Before buying this guitar I've tried at least four SJ200, so I'm pretty sure it's not a problem of my guitar. I think it's a peculiarity of the SJ200.

I've tried Martins too: I like them, but I wasn't and I'm still not interested in their sound.

I'm sure there are a lot of Super Jumbo players here, could you please tell me your opinion about this?

 

Thanks![/quote']

Congrats on getting a great guitar-If you really want to up the sustain get a Tusq saddle and a set of Tusq pins put in. This has really worked on my 68 J 200.

 

Moose

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the True Vintage already comes with a bone saddle and nut. I wouldn't mess with anything, and I would respectfully recommend against using tusq for anything other than a cheap guitar .

 

What you might be experiencing is that when you sit or stand behind a super jumbo, it doesn't sound like it's projecting very well----because of the sheer cavernousness of the guitar. Acoustic archtop guitars are like this, too. But when you sit or stand in front of them, it's an entirely different story.

 

Now, if you aren't using medium gauge strings, you might try thatl----there is a lot of wood on the top of that guitar, and a medium gauge sting will move that wood and make it vibrate better than lighter strings.

 

At any rate, congrats on the guitar.

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Of course, I don't have this problem, but I have observed that guitar players who rest the back of their guitar on beer bellies don't seem to project as much volume as those skinnier dudes whose guitars hang and rest on rib cage and hip bone.

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Of course' date=' I don't have this problem, but I have observed that guitar players who rest the back of their guitar on beer bellies don't seem to project as much volume as those skinnier dudes whose guitars hang and rest on rib cage and hip bone. [/quote']

 

All a question of resonance V flatulence JIm!

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Of course' date=' I don't have this problem, but I have observed that guitar players who rest the back of their guitar on beer bellies don't seem to project as much volume as those skinnier dudes whose guitars hang and rest on rib cage and hip bone. [/quote']

 

All a question of resonance V flatulence JIm!

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Hi everybody! Thank you for all your replies.

Like many have said, my guitar already has a bone nut and saddle, so I guess there is no reason to switch to tusq. I was thinking about changing the bridge pins and install bone pins... I have a set of rosewood pins too at home, I might try them.

Now the guitar has D'addario EXP Phosphor Bronze 012, I love their sound, just a bit warmer than the typical phosphor bronze sound, but I want to try the 013 mediums.

One thing that is still not clear is if any of you has never had experience playing the sj-200 together with other guitars like Martin, Taylor and similar, feeling that you'd like to have more suond to compete with those instruments, especially when play bluegrass solos.

Thanks!

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Arry...have you had someone else play your guitar in a multi instrument setting, so that you can get in front and listen to it? I had the same complaint about my 1994 J200. I thought most of the power of the guitar was just resonating around in the large body cavity-----but when I heard it from another vantage point, it was quite shocking, how the guitar actually projected. I couldn't sense that while playing it .

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Congatulations on the new SJ-200 TV. Gibson really hit on something with the True Vintage series. I recently got a J-45 TV (see avaitar) and she's a real tone monster.

 

Your volume problem may be due to the fact that the SJ-200 is a maple guitar. If the Martins or Taylors you're playing with are Rosewood than they will natualy be louder. I have a Songwriter Deluxe in Rosewood and she is by far louder than either my Walnut or Mahogany J-45s.

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I don't agree with that at all. I've owned a mahogany J100, a rosewood J100 and a maple J200----though I preferred the tone of the mahogany J100 most of the 3, the maple J200 was louder, and projected more than either of the others. None of these guitars seemed to be that loud when sitting behind them, however. You could only get the full effect of their power when listening to them while in front.

 

There's a reason that the most classic, acoustic archtop guitars are usually of maple construction. When they needed a guitar to be heard, unamplified, in an orchestral setting, builders chose maple bodies, far more often than not.

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Congatulations on the new SJ-200 TV. Gibson really hit on something with the True Vintage series. I recently got a J-45 TV (see avaitar) and she's a real tone monster.

 

Your volume problem may be due to the fact that the SJ-200 is a maple guitar. If the Martins or Taylors you're playing with are Rosewood than they will natualy be louder. I have a Songwriter Deluxe in Rosewood and she is by far louder than either my Walnut or Mahogany J-45s.

 

SP, i agree with the SWD comment vs maple. the swd was the loudest guitar in the store when i bought it. louder than the j45 (hog) and a D-28 (missing end pin - i see this alot. do they fall out all the time?).

a guy at my songwriting workshop just bought a J200 maple and while it is quite loud, i was impressed that my swd was not buried by it. what was not impressive was my uncontrolable drooling. this jumbo VB is crazy sexy. every one joked that the floor must be level because the drool was streaming equally down both sides of my mouth.

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I don't agree with that at all. I've owned a mahogany J100' date=' a rosewood J100 and a maple J200----though I preferred the tone of the mahogany J100 most of the 3, the maple J200 was louder, and projected more than either of the others. None of these guitars seemed to be that loud when sitting behind them, however. You could only get the full effect of their power when listening to them while in front.

 

There's a reason that the most classic, acoustic archtop guitars are usually of maple construction. When they needed a guitar to be heard, unamplified, in an orchestral setting, builders chose maple bodies, far more often than not.[/quote']

 

Wow, this is comforting! I'm starting to think that all of you are right when saying that the feel of the guitar volume and loudness has a lot to do with the playing position.

I've always thought that rosewood and mahoganny were louder by nature, but I'm happy to hear that there are people who appreciate maple qualities.

 

By the way, is there a way to post some pictures of the King? : )

 

It's time for some real guitar porn--- =P~

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Wow' date=' this is comforting! I'm starting to think that all of you are right when saying that the feel of the guitar volume and loudness has a lot to do with the playing position.

I've always thought that rosewood and mahoganny were louder by nature, but I'm happy to hear that there are people who appreciate maple qualities.

 

By the way, is there a way to post some pictures of the King? : )

 

It's time for some real guitar porn--- =P~ [/quote']

 

from an earlier post.....

"First go to www.photobucket.com Get yourself an account. Its free. Once you have an account you can up load photos there. You will create an album. You will see all the photos you upload in the album... Under each photo will be a list of various link formats that you can copy... Each type of link serves a different purpose. If you click on the last one in the list ( IMG Code ) it will automatically copy a link that you can paste in your forum message.... When you copy the link in the body of your thread post the photos will appear in the thread... "

 

in short...load your photos to a host site, copy the IMG code and paste it onto your message reply window here.

 

we are already drooling!

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