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zombywoof

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zombywoof last won the day on April 27 2023

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  1. What fingerboard binding? What I see is the tang and end of the crown maybe not protruding but even with thew side of the board. If guess though, I simply label it fret sprout.
  2. As I just play them and do not build them, I am no expert. But it looks like a case of fret sprout to me. If so, it is not necessarily an example of poor build quality but as with other issues a reaction to the world surrounding the guitar.
  3. My J50 dates to 1942 so well before the batwing scratchplate came into vogue. More than likely, as noted above, somebody at Gibson made the call that a natural top J45 was more marketable than a J50. Me, I think I will wait until Bozeman comes out with a J50 sporting a burst.
  4. Given the scale, body shape and lumber used for the rim and back, the J60 is Bozeman's updated take on the Heritage. And yeah, that model was meant to appeal to the bluegrass crowd.
  5. Sorry but just going by looks (which is obviously all I got to go on) this one does not even come close to getting me to break my self-imposed guitar exile. If nothing ese it is not the best-looking burst I have run across. But give me one with a small amber center surrounded by all that black and you will pretty much send me running for the drool bucket.
  6. When it comes to guitars, I cannot think of them in terms of "good" and "bad" but just different. So, it comes down to those I really like and those I like not as much. Think of it in terms of a J45 built from 1955 to 1960 and the current crop of 50s Original J45s. Neither is what I would even think of calling a slacker but each has their own balance and as such their own voice. Me being me, I was a fan of NYC-built Epi flattops. Overbuilt as it got but to my ear, they had an early-Guild vibe about them. And to this day I will take a NYC-made Epi archtop over a Gibson. The low point for Epiphones though was in the 1970s into the 1980s when Gibson simply licensed out the name. More often as not what you got were bottom of the food chain Arias. In the end though, Gibson started doing right by the brand.
  7. Where this info regarding what was built where comes from is beyond me. Gibson continued to produce acoustic flattops and maintain a repair department in Kalamazoo until 1984. Jim Deurloo who had worked at Gibson from the late-1950s to the late-1960s returned and by the end of the 1970s was serving as the Kalamazoo plant manager. In 1983 he made a last-ditch effort to resurrect the acoustic line by tasking Abe Wechter with designing guitars and building prototypes based on older specs which I believe debuted at NAMM that year.
  8. I fingerpick a J50 because that is the only way I know to approach a guitar. That said, I do not find them the best choice. It has nothing to do with sound and everything to do with a scary skimpy string spacing at the bridge. I get along better with my 1932 L1 and 2013 Fairbanks Roy Smeck both of which have a far more generous spacing.
  9. I agree that whoever picked out the pickguard and open gear tuners chose wisely. I feel the J15 and the J29 were the poster children for New School Gibson Tone. Basically, a different balance from the steady diet of 1940s and 1950s Gibsons I lived on. So that would give me a reason to buy a J15 as I did not see the money in buying a guitar which sounded like that which I already owned. Pretty much a different is good thing. But in the end, I do not have a clue as to whether I could have come to embrace the J15s brighter voice as the thin neck put the model outside of my comfort zone. So, it will remain one of those sweet mysteries of life.
  10. My uncle played a similar violin. Just a cheap German factory fiddle which he played in the school orchestra from the early-1930s on. I have several of those old wood fiddle coffin cases which came with various instruments. You are right in that while they are very cool looking they do not provide the best protection. I did have one fully restored with a new plush interior, hardware and such. I have a fiddle built by a ship's carpenter during the Civil War which if I ever get fixed up will call that case home.
  11. For those who go back far enough with this forum you will recall a member who tried to list every variation of the J45 to come out of Bozeman up to that time. He gave up after hitting 90 or so. My main thought though was that Gibson had to have set some kind of record for the number of names they went with for various bursts.
  12. I have a number of cases dating from the 1920s to the early-1960s and the one thing I can say is that the latches, locks and hinges are a far better quality than what you get today. In fact, the only case I have "retired" is the Lifton which came with my wife's 1960 J200 and that was because the covering was giving up the ghost. I figured I would save what was left of it so if she should ever decide to part with it (which is extremely doubtful) I can say the guitar comes with its original case.
  13. I believe the "Lifton" cases are supplied by General Wood Works which Gibson Brands now owns.
  14. When I first stumbled on my 1942 J50, it had a separated back seam, two open cracks on either side, of it, a split and loose brace, and had lost its original bridge and pickguard. I felt like if I bumped the guitar with my knee the whole thing would fall part. Even though the shop owner who knew me well let me take it home for a bit before making a decision, I knew from the moment I got it into my hands that this was "The One". So, I handed over $3200 and it was off to the races. After a full year and outlay of another $900 the guitar was back in my hands and fit as a fiddle and looking good. And I knew I had chosen wisely when the second-generation luthier who fixed it up handed it back with the words his father used to call guitars which sounded like this one "once in a blue moon Gibsons."
  15. And as I said, the purchaser has every right to expect a guitar in pristine condition. But I also agree with the opinion that the scuffing may not have been because Bozeman turned a blind eye to it but occurred after it left the factory. The point I was making is somebody bought my '42 new. I initially thought the top just had a crazy grain. It took the eye of a good luthier to figure out it was the result of a build error.
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