My wife has agreed to let me buy one new guitar, not three. Which would you choose and why?

[Lucky Boy]

As I was leaving GC as month ago, I noticed a Hummingbird on the way out of the Acoustic Room. Never playing one before, I picked it up and started strumming, it stunned me! The tone was awesome. The way I chose my Cascade was to play a song that I love on many different Gibson's and the Cascade just felt right. It had the right tone, but which Gibson doesn't?

 

Good luck on making such a tough decision.

[ballcorner]

I believe Keith Richards once said that the Hummingbird is the only acoustic you will ever need.

 

That is a great quote from a great electric guitar player.

[AndrewG]

I voted for the J200; I've never been a fan of square shoulder dreads on purely aesthetic grounds and I have never played either a Dove or a Hummingbird!

So, J200 it is then.

 

___________________

 

Gibson SJ200 2005

Gibson Advanced Jumbo 2002

Martin 000-15S 2007

[ballent]

Thanks to all who replied. I will let you know what I decide . . . if I can ever make up my mind! After hearing from all of you, now, in the words of Freddie Mercury . . . "I want it all"!

[darktrader]

You should also look at the working man J-45. I have a chance to play both the hummingbird and the WM-45 and the WM-45 had a way richer tone. So I couldn't believe it so I had my friend play it too. Let just say the WM-45 is the better choice! Can anyone tell me why the WM-45 was discontinued and sounds so good for the price?

[macaibhistin]

Okay, so what's wrong with the Dove?

[ballcorner]

I would deal the wife off for a new girlfriend who is more generous and understanding.

[Eddie Rondack]

 

Yes' date=' Eddie, I probably bit some off here without really intending to. I will explain that my Hummingbird is a 1974 and my close friend owns a 2004 that I have played quite a bit.

 

For me, and I own this opinion, the Hummingbird is a beautiful strummer. I have not had success playing bluegrass or fingerstyle on this mellow instrument so I don't see it as being versatile in the same way an AJ or a J45 are. To state my point more clearly: If a person is only going to own one Gibson acoustic - I would encourage them to get a J45 or perhaps an Advanced Jumbo rather than a Hummingbird because my experience has been that the J45 genre offers more volume and tonal variations to the player.

 

I am not familiar with a single artist whose main stage guitar is a Hummingbird. The Sheryl Crow guitar is something of a Hummingbird variant, but otherwise who is playing them?

 

The J45 genre guitars, on the other hand, are on stage all over the world every night. There has to be a reason for it, no? [/quote']

 

Hey, I don't necessarily disagree with you... the Hummingbird is just very popular on this forum... I don't really have an opinion about it specifically, since I've never owned one... I think the AJ and the Western Classic are the best Gibsons I've ever been around...

[retrosurfer1959]

Okay' date=' so what's wrong with the Dove?[/quote']

 

it's RED#-o

[woodruff]

well, I got a hummingbird. it is the most balanced acoustic i have ever owned. perfect for fingerstyle, soloing, and strumming. spruce and hog, cant go wrong. and all that gibson mojo. it has really killed GAS for me. which isnt easy for any guitar to accomplish. however, i would love to own a J-200 one day. would be the perfect compliment to my wife's J-45 and my H-bird.....good luck....

[ballent]

I would deal the wife off for a new girlfriend who is more generous and understanding.

 

Oh yeah, deal the wife off . . . now THAT'S a great idea . . . and to whom should I leave everything in my will? Although perhaps the girlfriend thing . . . hmmmm.

 

On a serious note, for anyone who is interested, I went to the local GC yesterday and played a while on a J-45, really liked it and ordered one! So now I'm thinking that maybe if I approach my wife the right way about it, I might STILL need to figure out which of the others I should eventually get! Good idea, eh?

 

Thanks again for all the great input! This is a great forum!

[woodruff]

 

Oh yeah' date=' deal the wife off . . . now THAT'S a great idea . . . and to whom should I leave everything in my will? Although perhaps the girlfriend thing . . . hmmmm.

 

On a serious note, for anyone who is interested, I went to the local GC yesterday and played a while on a J-45, really liked it and ordered one! So now I'm thinking that maybe if I approach my wife the right way about it, I might STILL need to figure out which of the others I should eventually get! Good idea, eh?

 

Thanks again for all the great input! This is a great forum![/quote']

 

the J-45 is almost the perfect guitar.....i suse the word almost cause the perfect guitar might not exist.....but it is close enough....

[albertjohn]

Nice problem you have. Someone else has suggested the Songwriter Deluxe, an example of which I own. When I chose this I did a side by side test with the Hummingbird, not in a shop, with my teacher playing both and the SWD was the better imho. Have played an SJ 200 but was too big and "in your face" or me but then again Pete Townsend did write some great stuff on one. Can't comment on the Dove as I've never played one. Very pleased with my SWD. Cheers.

[Red 333]

Thanks to all who replied. I will let you know what I decide . . . if I can ever make up my mind! After hearing from all of you' date=' now, in the words of Freddie Mercury . . . "I want it all"![/quote']

 

That's why you should buy the most ornate J200 you can. It's the most expensive. Once you have that one, the price of any other guitar you want later will seem like a trifle in comparison, making it easier to convince the missus.

[Red 333]

Thanks to all who replied. I will let you know what I decide . . . if I can ever make up my mind! After hearing from all of you' date=' now, in the words of Freddie Mercury . . . "I want it all"![/quote']

 

That's why you should buy the most ornate J200 you can. It's the most expensive. Once you have that one, the price of any other guitar you want later will seem like a trifle in comparison, making it easier to convince the missus.

[Red 333]

Thanks to all who replied. I will let you know what I decide . . . if I can ever make up my mind! After hearing from all of you' date=' now, in the words of Freddie Mercury . . . "I want it all"![/quote']

 

That's why you should buy the most ornate J200 you can. It's the most expensive. Once you have that one, the price of any other guitar you want later will seem like a trifle in comparison, making it easier to convince the missus.

[Red 333]

Thanks to all who replied. I will let you know what I decide . . . if I can ever make up my mind! After hearing from all of you' date=' now, in the words of Freddie Mercury . . . "I want it all"![/quote']

 

That's why you should buy the most ornate J200 you can. It's the most expensive. Once you have that one, the price of any other guitar you want later will seem like a trifle in comparison, making it easier to convince the missus.

[Dotneck]

Of those three, I'd probably get the J-200 'cause I already have a dread and a 'hog guitar...but I don't have a jumbo nor do I have a maple guitar.

 

Although those are MY reasons....not sure those are good reasons for YOU to choose one of them though...

[Dotneck]

 

I DO wish Gibson Would Lower Their Prices. They Would Sell More If Prices Went Down A Tad

 

Not sure if thats true...I read about a speech Henry did at a business school where he said sales went UP after they raised their prices.....

[ballent]

Well, for anyone who is interested, as I mentioned, I ordered the J-45. When it finally came in, I was quite impressed with the sound. However, two things about the guitar really bothered me . . . one, the two pieces of spruce that make the top of the guitar were not book-matched. Second, the very end of the head stock was not finished. It was shaped and stained and it appears as though there had been an attempt at finishing it, but that attempt was never completed. It was rough and not glossy like the rest of the guitar.

 

I feel like when you pay $2400 for a hand-crafted guitar, book-matching the top and finishing the entire guitar should be a no-brainer. I sent it back.

[rar]

[T]wo things about the guitar really bothered me . . . one' date=' the two pieces of spruce that make the top of the guitar were not book-matched.[/quote']

 

Having seen how production works in Bozeman, I find this hard to believe. Are you sure that you weren't just seeing runout? I know some people have strong aesthetic objections to runout, but there's no correlation with tone. My OJ top, for example, has significant runout, but there's no way I'd trade it for one with a closer-to-quartered top that didn't sound as good -- and none of the others I've played has sounded as good.

 

Second' date=' the very end of the head stock was not finished. It was shaped and stained and it appears as though there had been an attempt at finishing it, but that attempt was never completed. It was rough and not glossy like the rest of the guitar.[/quote']

 

Long story short, if you spray a thin nitro finish over end grain, it's going to be rough, rough enough that it doesn't look glossy (or at least as glossy as the rest of the guitar). On a really well-finished guitar, you should be able to feel the wood grain everywhere (at least one the finish is fully cured). For example, if you run your finger across the top, you should be able to feel the grain in the spruce. If you can't, the finish is damping the top's response. I'm not saying that it's impossible to get the endgrain finish smooth and glossy on a well-finished guitar, but it's significant extra work -- which translates to significant extra cost -- for no tonal and insignificant (in most people's opinion) aesthetic return, so Gibson doesn't do it.

 

I sent it back.

 

Sounds like that was the right thing to do, since the guitar wasn't what you wanted. It also sounds like maybe the J-45 MC isn't the guitar for you: if you get another, you might be happier with the top but you'll probably be just as unhappy with the finish on the top of the peghead. Buying a Gibson is the only way to get a guitar that sounds like a Gibson -- certainly in the price range you're looking at -- but you might want to start thinking about alternatives.

 

-- Bob R

[guitarstrummer]

Second, the very end of the head stock was not finished. It was shaped and stained and it appears as though there had been an attempt at finishing it, but that attempt was never completed. It was rough and not glossy like the rest of the guitar.

 

Rar's explanation was very good. I've never seen a Gibson acoustic that did not have a rough top on the headstock. It's just the way Gibson's are made. Either you can live with it or not. If not, Rar's suggestion of looking at a different manufacturer is a good one. Otherwise, you'll never be happy.

[rar]

I read about a speech Henry did at a business school where he said sales went UP after they raised their prices.....

 

True, because the higher price led to an increase in perceived quality. Despite all the recent hubbub about people liking cheap wine more when they were told it was expensive, marketers have known about this effect for a long time.

 

But the real reason that lower prices won't increase sales is because demand already far exceeds supply. The Bozeman plant is working at maximum capacity, and every guitar is sold before it is built. In fact, there is sufficient demand in Japan alone that Gibson could sell every Bozeman-built acoustic there. The number of guitars exported is artificially restricted in order to ensure a reasonable supply in the US. Whatever you want to say about Henry, he's clearly more committed to supplying us with great guitars rather than he is to maximizing profits.

 

And Bozeman isn't really interested in selling more guitars, because they feel like they'd have to change the way they build them to do so -- more automation, etc. -- and they don't want to go that route. Acquiring Garrison will mean more Gibson-branded guitars out there, helping to satisfy the excess demand (and people who want a Gibson at a lower price), but without Bozeman having to give up doing things the hands-on, old-fashioned way that results in the guitars so many of us just plain love.

 

-- Bob R

[retrosurfer1959]

I don't know if Gibson lowered the prices I could by more guitars :)

[andy73]

If your edging towards the Hummingbird, at least also check out the Sheryl Crow too, it sounds better imho. I did an A/B test with them both where I work as I had both in stock, put same new strings on both and the Crow just sounded so much nicer, its worth a look.