ALD323

Round and round we go! Here we go again, sorry guys but I need to know! The new Gibson Hummingbird, with the red Vintage Cherry Sunburst...found in the sweetwater link below states that it has a.... "ROUND" neck shape. It gives no other detail. Considering how many different Gibson necks there are, and the frequency with which they change the names, I am wondering what this means. Does round mean thick and round..or thin and round? I am not a fan of thick necks and need to know before I buy one. Can any one give a more accurate description of a new "round" neck than the Gibson specs in Sweetwater gives? Swetwater link below> Thanks for your help! And so we have the new standard hummingbird with a "ROUND" neck And the new Vintage model Hummingbird describing its neck as " ROUNDED" !!! I am left scratching my head saying...WTF! lol! https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SSHBHCN19--gibson-acoustic-hummingbird-standard-vintage-cherry-sunburst

Round and round we go! Here we go again, sorry guys but I need to know! The new Gibson Hummingbird, with the red Vintage Cherry Sunburst...found in the sweetwater link below states that it has a.... "ROUND" neck shape. It gives no other detail. Considering how many different Gibson necks there are, and the frequency with which they change the names, I am wondering what this means. Does round mean thick and round..or thin and round? I am not a fan of thick necks and need to know before I buy one. Can any one give a more accurate description of a new "round" neck than the Gibson specs in Sweetwater gives? Swetwater link below> Thanks for your help! And so we have the new standard hummingbird with a "ROUND" neck And the new Vintage model Hummingbird describing its neck as " ROUNDED" !!! I am left scratching my head saying...WTF! lol! https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SSHBHCN19--gibson-acoustic-hummingbird-standard-vintage-cherry-sunburst This has been reposted in the Gibson room, mods please feel free to delete this post. Monitors please move this to the Gibson room. I posted this there but someone deleted it.

The new Gibson Hummingbirds, and the J-45's now come from the factory with tusk bridge pins, not the usual plastic pins they used to come with. It already has a Tusk saddle. These two combined, on both my Hummingbird and J-45 make for weaker base, shallow mids and thin highs, in my opinion. I had to remove the tusk pins, and replace them with ebony pins, and the richness was restored. I kept the tusk saddle. While I much prefer the look of the Gibson white ball pins, those two models sound poor with tusk pins in my view. The ebony made them deeper, richer, and sweeter for me.

Keep the guitar in a small back bedroom, with door closed, invest in a proper sized window air conditioner for that room, keeping it running till you reach 50% or lower. Do not place the guitar directly in front of the stream of air...and keep it in its case sealed shut. Then play as needed, and return to its room. It will actually cost you less in electricity than some of those in case humidifiers do. Good luck. Also get an accurate hygrometer such as an Oasis hygrometer (Guitar Center or many other places) Get two of them, one for the small room...and one for inside the case. This is how I maintain all six of my Gibsons and Epiphones. It has worked for years.

I agree with Gibby, the Gibson J-45 standard has the best tone by far to my ear. I can hear the sound of one of those baked tops on the fancy expensive models and that does not sound as natural to me as the standard model. The standard J-45 also seems built a bit heavier and seems more durable to me with more natural tone. I love mine, and can't imagine using any other model, the sound and tone is just so completely J-45.

Taylor makes great guitars. That being said, the Gibson SJ-200 won over the Taylor by a mile. The SJ-200's looks alone were enough to win the race right out of the gate, but once the SJ-200 opened it mouth, and was played back to back with the Taylor copy of the iconic SJ-200 , the Taylor simply never had a chance.

Burst is not a model. But burst can be included in the particular models name, if it happens to have a burst colored top.

I would choose the beautiful Standard J-45. The cost difference can not be justified to me at all. I own a Standard 2015 J-45, and it is simply superb in every way. The specs on the different new and confusing multiple models of the J-45 guitars are simply, for me, too much to deal with. ...Vintage, True Vintage, New vintage, on and on. Neck sizes changed, baked tops added, bracing altered, exotic colors of blue and green, different tuners. All claiming to make a guitar that has been great for decades , greater by spin and higher price. The Gibson J-45 Standard has been good enough for literally thousands of singers, professionsal performers, and guitar players the world over for decades. It's definately good enough for me. I feel the same way about my 2013 Gibson Hummingbird Standard. Superb. And I've played them all. Good luck on your choice. They are all good guitars. But I do not feel you need to pay the highest price to get the very best Gibson. And the J-45 Standard...well..it speaks for itself. Time tested, loved the world over. It's a fabulous guitar and the best bang for the buck too.! Or get one of the more expensive vintage models. What ever floats your boat! Good luck on your decision!

Plus 1

The lable inside the sound hole should say either Hummingbird..or Songwriter. What is written there..is what you have!

My Sweetwater 2019 Gibson J-45 M, Slim bodied, Mahogany/Sitka, Acoustic Electric, in a delicious Light Cherry burst cut away! It really puts the cream in my coffee!

Looks like a very authentic 2011 Gibson J-45 with a very nice well blended burst, and clean looking sitka top. I think your going to find that it is outstanding! It's only good enough if it's a Gibson! And this one is! Best wishes and enjoy it!

I have installed many pick guards on Gibsons. And I have to say this pick guard was not properly installed in my view. If my luthier had handed me my Gibson back, with the pick guard looking like this, I would have gone through the roof! Proper and even pressure was not applied when this pick guard was installed. When proper...even pressure is applied from the top of the pick guard to the bottom, slowly, pushing air bubbles out as you proceed,and making contact with the adhesive to soundboard top, so that is is evenly applied, then air bubbles, and adhesive marks would not be seen through the clear portions of the pick guard. This does takes time, and a very skilled hand during the application process of these particular pick guards. But your luthier was paid to do the job properly. Simply put he applied the pick guard much too quickly, and did not have proper clamps and tools to "squeegy" the air bubble out as the guard was being installed. It also requires knowing exactly how much "pressure" to apply to the pick guard as it is installed. It requires considerable press down pressure to install these clear pick guards if the bubbles and adhesive are not to show through. Too much pressure and you could collapse the top, one of the reasons so few of these guards are applied properly, fear of ruining the guitar by applying too much pressure to the top. Other solid colored type pick guards do not present this problem as the the bubbles and adhesive do not show through it, so it is not an issue. But clear pick guards, those that show through to the sound board, need careful and considerable skill to apply if it is not to end up showing those nasty bubbles, and a look of being half glued on and half pulling up. Just my opinion. Take it back to him. In my view it is not under any circumstances acceptable, especially since it was applied by a luthier who was paid to do a proper job.

Thanks for the Hummingbird video! It was great! I enjoyed it especially because I have a Gibson Hummingbird, and the history of this guitar is amazing! It is a true icon for sure! I do have one comment on the front picture of the pickguard on the video...the one you can see above before you actually begin playing the video. It obviously is a Gibson Hummingbird based on the inner orange Gibson serial sticker. But the pickguard installed appears to be an Epiphone Hummingbird pickguard, at least it looks that way to me. It is much different than my 2013 Gibby bird pickguard, and it is identical to both my Epiphone Hummingbirds. ..Or did Gibson at some point in the past use pickguards that look like modern Epiphone guards? Hah! Perhaps its just my new bifocals acting up! lol! When my Gibson Hummingbird pickguard peeled off early on...I used an extra Epiphone Hummingbird pickguard temporarily on it, till I repared the Gibson pickguard for reinstall....the epi pickguard did fit, and actually didn't look too bad..in fact, it looked just the one above! Just curios about everything Hummingbird!

Very nice song, well done! Love the guitar too! Thanks for posting it! ....Sounds like we both grew up in the same town! lol!

Not surprised. I prefer my Elixir 80/20 nanoweb lights (.12-.53) strings on every guitar I have owned in a lifetime, some 40 guitars, for that clear unmuttled, crisp sound, particularly when they are worn in. Did plenty of experiments with PB's, and many brands, but still always return to 80/20's no matter the brand of string.

I do not recommend the thick flubber guard on any Gibson....What you don't want is that thicker rubber (flubber) pick guard. I didn't find much difference in tone on my 2013 Hummingbird with the flubber guard...but it DID lift and peel off within a year causing me much grief and stress. For years now, these thick Gibson flubber pick guards have been notorious for pulling up and peeling off the top of the guitar.... I just bought a new 2019 Gibson J-45 M ...but for some reason it had the standard celluloid thin pick guard. While some others of the same model had the flubber guard on it. Crazy right? But If mine had been fitted with a flubber guard, I would not have bought it. My Hummingbird peeling flubber guard taught me a hard lesson. Thinner is better..for tone..and for longevity, but the decision is up to you. I also own a J-45 standard guitar form 2015..it has the standard thin pick guard...which is why I bought it. If it had been fitted with a peeling rubber flubber guard as the new ones now are..I would not have bought it. Hope this helps.

eebird, my 2015 J-45 has the "standard" written on the second line under the J-45, just for sake of comparison. I don't know if there were variations of the label on the 2009 model you have. But otherwise looks normal.

Way to many J-45 models to muddy the waters. I have a nice standard J-45 model...yet when I tell someone I own a J-45, many don't seem to know which one I'm talking about unless they have studied dozens Gibson guitars all labeled J-45. And I am also wondering if this J-45 model comes complete with the defective peeling flubber pick guard that came with my Hummingbird, and now comes on most new Gibsons??

Very good move. That red bird is stunning beyond words. The color alone is enough to keep it, not to mention the velvet sweet sound that only a Hummingbird can produce. I have one of the brown Hummingbirds. Best playing and sounding guitar I ever own in my entire life, and I've owned fourty guitars. But I hate the dull brown washed out color on mine. I will be hunting for a red bird when I can find a good used one. Because to me a Hummingbird is not a Hummingbird unless it has the exquisite color yours has. It's how they were born in the 60's.

Having owned both, I sold the AJ which was indeed great!...LOUD too! But LOUD is not always the best fit especially for a singer who likes to sing and be heard while playing, particularly when playing unplugged. I preferred the delicious subtle tone of the bird. Your words were "softer, richer, more enchanting" on the Hummingbird. I found that to be the deciding point for me. So I sold the AJ, and kept the precious enchanting Hummingbird. There was simply no contest for me. The Hummingbird seemed to play obediently "behind my voice." The AJ seemed to play more aggressively "in front of my voice" unless I continually maintained control of my strike attack. Evaluate what is most important to your playing style and singing along with it, and choose the one that works best for you. A/B them both back to back on any song you love, and see which guitar allows your voice to shine through the most effortlessly if you sing along a lot. If you do not sing, the AJ and its wonderful roar may be most gratifying. If your point of playing is to deliver lyrics and message, the Hummingbird is probably best. Both are wonderful guitars. But the best one for you, is the one that fits your style effortlessly for what you do with it. Good luck. Its a hard decision. I loved my AJ dearly, but it just did not fit the ticket for my playing style.

jschmitz asked about good fitting pins for a j-45. Yes in stewmac you can buy ivoroid white ball pins which fit both my 2013 Hbird and my 2015 J-45 standard with no modifications what so ever. Also if you prefer ebony..Martin pins will fit perfectly with no modifications to pin or holes either. https://www.stewmac.com/Hardware_and_Parts/Endpins_and_Bridge_Pins/Waverly_Ivoroid_Bridge_Pins.html As for drilling bridge pin holes...I would never drill the pins holes larger, not even on a cheap guitar, let alone a Gibson. I have had much success reshaping and carving pins, both plastic, ivoroid and wood pins..for various guitars, with a very sharp, firm, pocket knife..carefully whittling slowly and evenly around the base upward toward the pin head. Keep checking as you go for fit so as not to over cut the pin making it too thin. It is tricky, tedious work I must warn you however. I worked for me.

Here is what Gibson writes in Sweetwater about its advanced response neck on the J-45 M Light Cherry Burst acoustic with a cutaway.... Exceptionally smooth playability The Gibson Acoustic J-45 Modern Mahogany has an advanced-response neck profile that feels at home in your hand whether you're playing chords or single-note leads. As you play your way up the neck, you'll also appreciate the smooth feel of the 16"-radius rosewood fingerboard. With a neck that plays this smooth, and with the added convenience of a cutaway, you'll be able to play longer with less fatigue. I own a Gibson with the new Advanced Response neck, and the Slim Taper D on a Masterbilt also. I find the description above accurate..both are very playable..I have no trouble at all playing either, nor switching from one to the other. I find the Advanced Response neck a tad wider, and the fret board slightly flatter, and over all just slightly bigger. The flatter 16 inch radius is also very comfortable to me as well. If you want an slightly bigger neck, slightly flatter, the Advanced Response is the way to go. If you prefer thinner by just a bit, the sweet Slim Taper D neck will do it. I love them both. ....Hope this helps.

I don't care for a guitar that is too loud when not miked. It hides the voice. And it forces constant monitoring of the amp for feed back while performing with an amp. I could use dynamics to control that of course, but why buy a guitar where this is a constant issue? My J-45 and Hummingbird almost play themselves, never overpowering the voice unless I play them to roar..and they can do that easily enough. A quiet puppy that stays quiet and knows when to to bark, that to me, is a guitar whose dynamics are built right into the model.

The Gibson and J-45...and the Gibson Hummingbird..either or both. You hit the nail on the head! Buy them used and save a fortune. Here are two GC links to start looking for a good used one. These two guitars are icons in the Gibson family. You can't go wrong with either. They are great for rythem and strumming and everythiong else you throw at them. And if you happen to be a singer..they are even better. Hope this helps! https://www.guitarcenter.com/search?typeAheadSuggestion=true&typeAheadRedirect=true&fromRecentHistory=true&Ntt=used+J-45 https://www.guitarcenter.com/search?typeAheadSuggestion=true&typeAheadRedirect=true&fromRecentHistory=true&Ntt=used+gibson+hummingbird