zombywoof

The neck on my 1942 J50 is a very sweet round shoulder C carve clocking in at something just over 1.0" at the 1st fret with a 1.745" nut.

Holter has long been considered one of the best manufacturers of aftermarket pickguards out there. While I have yet to see any Firestripe scratchplate that can match what I have on my two 1930s Gibsons (they are more subdued looking but you can really see where the name came from) those Holter produces are definitely a cut above most of the newer versions. I would be remiss, however, if I did not mention one thing. There have been two major meltdowns about Bozeman-made Gibsons on this forum that I can recall. One was over laminate bridges. The other was placing pickguards right up to the soundhole. Not that it is really a Bozeman quirk as my 1956 Southerner Jumbo sported that feature. But if you have ever seen what a pick can do to the edge of a soundhole, positioning it right up to that edge makes all the sense in the world. As to adding a second, that is solely a matter of personal taste about looks. So, who gives a fig what I think. That said, my wife's 1960 J200 had a second pickguard added sometime during its life. We removed it. Had nothing to do with sound (we heard absolutely no noticeable before and after difference) but was simply all about aesthetics.

My first Gibson 50-some-odd years ago was a 1950s LG1. Never knew what year it was built as such things were impossible to figure out back then so the best you could do was to narrow it down to a build period by features. As to the scuffs and such there are a ton of sites out there with all kinds of advice as how to camouflage them. Most say go with Meguires or something made to use on auto bodies. Seems to make sense as Gibson was shooting PPG/Forbes lacquer which is the same stuff the auto builders were using. But as I have never sweated the aesthetics, I have no wisdom to impart. As a sidenote, 1950 is the year the "modern" Gibson Guitar Co. emerged following the expansion of the factory, a re-tooling (doing away with the existing mish-mash of tools, dies and fixtures) and re-organization of the workforce. Their goal was not only to increase production but to lower scrap costs while too many guitars were not passing inspection.

You are some four or five years too late as I am still in that place where I have absolutely no interest in acquiring another guitar. My second favorite slope shoulder jumbo though remains a 1956 Southerner Jumbo. This is the instrument where the notion that some of the worst mistakes I ever made were trading or selling off guitars came home to roost. Over a decade later I still think about and miss the thing.

If there was a Dial a Guitar Prayer hotline, mine would be for Bozeman to come out with a late-1950s or 1960s inspired J45/50 with 20 frets and the big pointy pickguard which sported the non-scalloped bracing Gibson went with in 1955. I really liked the sound of those guitars.

Cooking in lard as opposed to oil will hide a host of sins.

If Gibson is like Fender they do a brisk business with the Japanese market. In the case of Fender they even had a habit of offering instruments you could not get in the States. No opinion on whether the guitar is legit or not. But if you look at the seller their usual offerings are fairly cheap stuff such as thumb pianos and what look to be bottom of the food chain ukes. There is even some indication they are connected to a distributor in China. To say the least though, a quality used guitar is not their usual fare.

We have Barberton Chicken about 1/2 hour down the road. The same family has been offering it since the early-1930s. Both the chicken and the hot sauce are a little slice of heaven on earth.

Gibson has, on occasion, produced J200s with a D35-esue three-piece maple back. 1994 was, of course, Gibson's Centennial so they were releasing all kinds of limited runs in addition to their stock offerings. While Limited Editions would have come with a certificate, others such as the standard run '94 J100 my wife once owned sported a Anniversary label. A photo of the inscription and the label would go a long way to solving any mysteries.

Guild has been on a roll distributing new versions of Dearmond pickups starting with their take on the Rhythm Chief. I still though have several old Dearmonds on hand. The only thing I have had to do to keep them working is to replace cables. But as Gibson kept their acoustic version of the P90 extremely close to the vest, the Dearmonds and various knockoffs such as those offered by Kent pretty much remained the only game in town until Bill Lawrence stepped up to the plate. Not the most acoustic sounding pickup ever made but if you dig a Lightning Hopkins/Elmore James vibe they are just what the doctor ordered.

Me being me what caught my eye was not the guitars but the piano with the two candlesticks attached. That is about as cool as it gets.

The second-generation luthier who fixed my '42 up handed it back with the words his father called guitars which sounded like mine a "once in a blue moon Gibson." He also said he never heard his father use that accolade on any Gibson other than those built in the 1940s.

When was the last time you saw a shop that repaired luggage?

I am still in that place where I just do not get emotional about guitars. In a way it is kind of liberating. Plus, it is a great rationalization for spending money on other things - the what the heck, I would have dropped that much on a guitar in a heartbeat thing.

Nope. Just walked out the door without even asking to try it out.