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Tell me about the Gibson Gospel


EuroAussie

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Dont throw the baby out with the bath water they say...Laminated b&S was looked upon

as inferior, and often associated with guitars from the far east.

However, there are some very nice guitars with laminates. The Gospel reissue is one.

The back is a pressed parobole, and as such has no bracing. This was like the original gospel of the 70s

the J-55 of the 70s and of course Guilds well known D-25.

Not bad sounding at all.

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I totally agree Aussie. I have to get more than the name on headstock and laminated doesn't cut it when buying a Gibson

For me it would all depend on the price of course, along with the tone, playability, and other characteristics of the instrument. I would not out-of-hand dismiss an acoustic based on partial laminate construction. Guess we all have our own criteria, and where I draw the line is that the top must be solid.

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One of the strengths of the various incarnations of Gibson acoustic has been its willingness to experiment and innovate. That's not to say I'm going to rush out and exchange rubles for everything they ever tried, but... Quite a few good designers have played with building a laminate for the back, such as the Selmer-Maccaferri gypsy guitars.

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Sure, but a solid top and laminate Gibson construction is what basically Epiphone is. So why would you want to pay $1k for a laminate Epiphone branded as Gibson when you can have the same for $300 ... ?

 

For me it would all depend on the price of course, along with the tone, playability, and other characteristics of the instrument. I would not out-of-hand dismiss an acoustic based on partial laminate construction. Guess we all have our own criteria, and where I draw the line is that the top must be solid.

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I cannot say this for certain about Gibson laminates, but was certainly the case with Asian imports.

The laminates on an Asian import had a very thin top of say Mahogany, underneath was simply poor quality ply wood,

A better laminated guitar would have multiple layers of the same type of wood eg mahogany. So not all laminates are born equal.

By the way, the B-25 reissue has laminated B&S.

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By the way, the B-25 reissue has laminated B&S.

Very interesting. My understanding is that the B-25 of the mid '60s had a solid back & laminated sides (which I confirmed on the sides of the '65 B25n I owned, as someone had drilled a jack hole in an LP position). The B25 lasted into the early '70s, and I'd guesss that at some point the specs changed to both the back and sides being laminated.

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Sure, but a solid top and laminate Gibson construction is what basically Epiphone is. So why would you want to pay $1k for a laminate Epiphone branded as Gibson when you can have the same for $300 ... ?

Well, like I said, the overall price would be a major consideration, but there are other factors that can end up as part of the equation, such as the overall build quality, historic connection, a unique tone, etc. Vintage Epiphone Texans made by Gibson with laminated sides command serious dollars. Vintage J160s with laminated tops, as well as reissue John Lennon models, are rather spendy beasts (yes, it's supposed to be plugged in). Occasional reissues as have been mentioned above, Guilds and a few Gibsons with laminated arched backs, Django's jazz boxes as noted above by Jerry, and more. Martin has had many laminated models (pre-Mexico models such as the DM), built in the USA, with the same high build quality as their solid wood counterparts - costing significantly more than a $300 Epi, and generally well worth it. All of that said, would I be interested in a used reissue Gospel? Nope, but a used reissue B-25? Just maybe.

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Very interesting. My understanding is that the B-25 of the mid '60s had a solid back & laminated sides (which I confirmed on the sides of the '65 B25n I owned, as someone had drilled a jack hole in an LP position). The B25 lasted into the early '70s, and I'd guesss that at some point the specs changed to both the back and sides being laminated.

 

Bobouz...My error. It is just the sides that are laminates on the new custom B-25. Solid back and top.

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Sure, but a solid top and laminate Gibson construction is what basically Epiphone is. So why would you want to pay $1k for a laminate Epiphone branded as Gibson when you can have the same for $300 ... ?

 

Take a look at the 60s Hummingbirds and Doves -- lots of laminated backs and/or sides with solid tops on those.

 

Some people pay more than $1K for those, even now!

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You know that Gospel looks identical to a Canadian made Gibson Concert Series, no longer in production. Only differences i see are theinlay on the headstock and the green plastic tuners.

 

But the real differences are a brand new CSM with case was about $1000, (discontinued now) and other material differences:

 

CSM has ebony fretboard, mahogany sides and back all solid wood. But the gospel and the CSM look like clones.

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You know that Gospel looks identical to a Canadian made Gibson Concert Series, no longer in production. Only differences i see are theinlay on the headstock and the green plastic tuners.

On the original Gospel, the peghead had a standard Gibson logo along with a little dove in flight.

Always thought that little bird looked cool, but typically the guitar didn't sound very good!

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Take a look at the 60s Hummingbirds and Doves -- lots of laminated backs and/or sides with solid tops on those.

 

Some people pay more than $1K for those, even now!

Now that we talk laminated back'n'sides, can anyone recommend a waterproof way to check if ones old Gibsons are laminated.

I know the common answer is to look at the wood-patterns from both sides, but mahogany is so fine grained (like small pine-needles) that I find that test method difficult.

Even more difficult it is to live with 3 vintage 'squares' without being sure of the materials.

 

 

1 kilo !?! , , , , have a nice Sunday Bay-watch :

 

http://www.ebay.com/...=item2a1f391b50

 

http://www.ebay.com/...=item2c665969ab

 

http://www.ebay.com/...3#ht_606wt_1037

 

http://www.ebay.com/...2#ht_597wt_1037

 

http://www.ebay.com/...8#ht_506wt_1037

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have a 1993 Gospel. It is a very nice sounding guitar. I think the reason they go for relatively cheap prices is that 1) it is not an iconic Gibson model and 2) it wasn't all that expensive to begin with, I think $1000 MSRP. The back is laminated because it is arched and has no braces. I have read that the sides are solid but I'm not sure about that.

 

I bought mine used in 1998 for under $600 so the fact that I could probably sell it for about that much today means I have played it for 14 years for free!

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... does anyone have any info on what is being done at the Garrison plant?

Didn't read this at the time, but maybe it's not too late to respond.

 

Nothing is being done at the Garrison plant. It was shut down in 2009 (IIRC) -- due to apparently-unsolvable production problems -- and everything anybody thought was worth saving was packed up and shipped back to the U.S.

 

-- Bob R

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I have to step into this one...on behalf of the Gospel Reissue and its laminated back. I have a 1994 Gospel Reissue 100th Anniversay model. It is one of +20 guitars in my guitar collection. (I say this so its understood that it doesn't just automatically get any kind of favoritism or bragging rights b me just because I own one...you know what I mean.)

 

When I first obtained it (in trade for a different guitar), I was highly skeptical of it being anything but some lesser known Gibson model that I would likely seldom play from my stable of guitars. At first I also thought it likely wouldn't be able to stand up to being a gigging guitar or a guitar in terms of flexibility and durability or a guitar I could bring to the music jams I stage where tons of other acoustic guitars are present and one's guitar is subject to holding its own and when needed standing out against all those guitars.

 

Yet, over time, I found to my surprise over the past 6 years or so that I've now had it that the Gospel Reissue is probably the second or third most flexible, tough anddurable, pleasure to play guitars in my collection. Right behind my J-45 CS and my SJ. The Gospel Reissue is a great players guitar. Everytime I start setting it aside for another guitar to meet some new musical challenge, I keep ending up coming back to it as a workhorse.

 

I've read someone trying to compare it to one of the short-lived Canadian models. I've played those and can honestly say the Gospel Reissue and the Canadian models have nothing in common in terms of how they feel, play, or sound. The Canadian models didn't feel like Gibsons. The Gospel Reissue absolutely has a Gibson feel and vibe.

 

It also does not sound or compare to one of the Epiphone models. The Gospel R has a Montana handcrafted vibe and playability to it, whereas the aforementioned Epiphone models mentioned are very good guitars, they are not comparable except maybe on a spec sheet.

 

The solid top and the laminated back finishes on the Gospel Reissue is comparable to high end Gibson standards...except, with some corners cut with the laminated back to hold its costs down. This is not found on the Epiphone models. The pickguard is a bit non-Gibsonish, however, a bit of what might have been a Gibson marketing effort to attract church ministers to it who at the time Taylor was pointedly marketing its guitars to as a vast players market to try and penetrate/saturate...thus likely the Gospel name being resurrected at the time by Gibson.

 

Believe me, when I traded for the Gospel Reissue I never thought it would end up being one of my favorite and most flexible guitars when I got it...with its lesser known model name and laminated back to boot.

 

Just my two cents.

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff

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I have a 1994 Gospel Reissue 100th Anniversay model. The pickguard is a bit non-Gibsonish...

 

They apparently changed the pickguard in 1994 from the earlier years. They also reversed the bridge and changed the headstock inlay based on pictures of 1994 models I've seen on Ebay.

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I know Gibson changed the headstock inlay on the 1994...wasn't aware if they changed the bridge, though. I'm not sure if they changed the pickguard, but I will say that the 1994 one in the photo in the e-bay link at the very beginning of this thread appears to possibly have a slightly larger pickguard than mine does...but, it is a bit hard to tell for sure.

 

Here's a video of me that includes photos of me playing my 1994 Gospel Reissue (its the square shouldered blonde guitar in the photos.)

 

The round shouldered blonde guitar in the photos is a 1956 NY Epiphone Company F79. (The pre-Texan model from before Gibson purchased Epiphone.)

 

Disclaimer: Though the video shows my Gospel Reissue and F79 in it, the guitar I'm actually playing in the audio is a 2006 Gibson CS J-45 1964 Reissue. Ah, the magic of audio and video in our modern world.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

QM aka Jazzman Jeff

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