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J-185

KL

By KL
in Gibson Acoustic

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KL

KL

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These are all great! Thanks very much . . . and keep them coming.

 

I do like the Maltese crosses.

 

That Adirondack top is great.

 

I do have a J-185 12 string in natural finish, but my camera is broken. But when I get it fixed I will get a picture up too. So I'm looking for a 6 string, and also would like to get a sunburst 12 string.

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bkharmony

bkharmony

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This is my '07 J 185 TV. There is a used one in burst on ebay right now. It's not a TV and doesn't have the inlays on the bridge but maybe that might not matter to you. Here's the link to the auction - http://cgi.ebay.com/Gibson-J-185-/320584957250?pt=Guitar&hash=item4aa45a3d42#ht_531wt_913

 

I've been looking for a burst J-185 for a while now. I was excited that one came up on eBay til I realized it was a Modern Classic. I won't ever buy another MC.

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KL

KL

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I've been looking for a burst J-185 for a while now. I was excited that one came up on eBay til I realized it was a Modern Classic. I won't ever buy another MC.

 

BK can you tell us why you would not have a MC?

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KL

KL

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There is a used one in burst on ebay right now.

 

 

That's weird . . . I search ebay every day for J-185's using different searches like J-185, Gibson J185, Gibson J-185 etc and that one never showed up, and I've just searched again and it didn't show up, but I can get to it from your link. I wonder if I've been missing some?

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KL

KL

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I search like you every day, the same way, and I've seen the one in the link above before. I am developing serious gas for one of these in sunburst....

 

Lets hope we don't end up bidding against each other!

 

I have just searched again and it does not show up, no matter what settings I use (worldwide etc), but I can still get to it from the link in this thread. Anyone able to tell me why. It's irritating because it makes me wonder if there are others popping up on ebay that I am not finding.

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Guth

Guth

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Sorry, not sunburst. The six-string has a red spruce top. Yum.

 

I tend to prefer the sunburst finish on just about any Gibson acoustic out there. However, I've found that when it comes to the J-185 (and the J-200) I'm personally torn between the appeal of the natural finish and the sunburst (I'm assuming maple b&s). However, when it comes to topwoods, while I understand the appeal of red spruce from a sonic standpoint, I'd pretty much always take sitka from a visual standpoint.

 

What can I say, I often seem to run against the grain. [tongue]

 

All the best,

Guth

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J-1854Me

J-1854Me

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My (former) 1996 J-185 in rosewood:

96GibsonJ-185RosewoodVSx2.jpg

 

My (former) 1998:

99GibsonJ185VS.jpg

 

A '99 (left) and a 2000 (right):

1999GibsonJ-185VS2000GibsonDavesGui.jpg

 

My (former) 2004. Went to a good young player:

IMGP0213cmpr.jpg

 

My current 2001:

01GibsonJ-185_51reissue_front1.jpg

 

My favourite, my 1956 J-185:

IMGP6468.jpg

 

I need my head examined, I guess, just like Katie Lee:

couchconswithJ-185.jpg

 

[biggrin]

 

Fred

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Guth

Guth

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Hi Fred,

 

I'm curious to know what the driving force has been behind your decision(s) to swap out so many J-185s? Tone, playability, or more of a pure fascination with this particular model? You have/had some red ones as well, correct?

 

Beautiful guitars.

 

All the best,

Guth

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EuroAussie

EuroAussie

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Ive always wanted a J-185ec and when looking for a gig guitar it was on top of my list alng with the SWD.

 

But .. i must say that every J-185 Ive played was a massive disappointment. They either sounded completely flat/ lifeless or too bright/ brittle. And Ive played them in germany, canada, US and Netherland.

 

When I compared them to a SWD it was like night and day.

 

Would love to find one that has realy spirit and whats its capable of.

 

cheer.

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J-1854Me

J-1854Me

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Hi Fred,

 

I'm curious to know what the driving force has been behind your decision(s) to swap out so many J-185s? Tone, playability, or more of a pure fascination with this particular model? You have/had some red ones as well, correct?

 

Beautiful guitars.

 

All the best,

Guth

 

Hey Guth,

 

No, I guess I'd say it's just been "The Quest", is all. Back in the mid-90s, they had stopped making J-185s "officially" after the Centennial Year models which I think were the November 1994 guitars (although some bear 1995 serial numbers; they must have gotten a bit behind).

 

I had been staying on contact with places like Elderly and Dave's on interesting and cool new Gibbies (this was in the Era Before Internet, for me), and these two stores would occasionally get in one or two examples from 'small one-off runs'. So I would go ahead and buy one here, keep it and play it for a while, and if another came along (and if I had the wherewithall....), I would go ahead and get another -- why? Just really liked the size, sound and playability!

 

In total, I've probably had about 10 of the Bozeman issues, including one of the Centennial ones. The latter ones (say, 2000 and after, and moreso with every passing year it seems) are imho much improved in tone over the earlier ones *in general*.

 

The recent J-185TVs are/were pretty good 'out of the box', but still, I've played my '01 next to a bunch of them, and I've not been convinced to acquire a TV (yet [rolleyes] ).

 

I've never had any red ones -- there's a few folks on the group who have had red J-200s and J-200Jrs, but I don't recall a red J-185 specifically.

 

I also like the J-185 "derivatives", such as the J-200Jr, J-1000/1500/2000, and have had a couple of custom-built J-185-based guitars built. One was blah, the other is great, but "way different" from a J-185 (only shares its shape).

 

So, yeah -- it's just been one of the models I like the best, for a variety of reasons, and the "hunt for better" has been the driver for me. As I suspect it is for many of us here [biggrin] . Gibson should be happy!

 

Hope that helps.

 

Fred

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