.jay.

ghost_of_fl thank you! I did decide on keeping them. Still looking for a place to do a refret. Thank you everyone for the insight much appreciated and i learned a little bit about my stuff in the process!

Also Sgt. Pepper yes the electronics are in the guitar (and they work). They say Gibson right on them. The repair tech said that was a plus, and also a huge giveaway leading to them being genuine

Thank you guys so much, I brought both of the guitars to guitar center to have them checked out, and set up. The repair tech told me that the neck angles were very good (I guess that can be an issue if guitars have sat for a while and these were in storage for 2 years after the previous owner passed away) and also I guess the bridges have been reglued. He played both of them and checked them out, and said they were the real deal, and that the sticker mislabel could have been a reissued sticker from Gibson (which is why the serial number matches the headstock). I'm thinking the previous owner probably contacted them and got a new sticker for the wrong guitar? Who knows. I plan on keeping them, so maybe I will take them to one of the Gibson repair shops and they will be able to tell me more. The repair tech told me he hated me after I told him what I paid for them 😂 and if I was going to resell them I could get anywhere from $800-$1300 each.

Also the jumbo cut away or j185 does look like that in person, I took the pictures at night with the flash on (phone camera isn't to great lol). I guess I'll just have to wait to see what the repair techs/people at guitar center have to say. My main concern is with the J45, the other guitar is just a bonus.

I checked the truss rods, no Allen heads to be found and they do look like 5/16" nuts the forum will not let me post more pictures but would have no problem sending them to you if you really wanna see them. The serial numbers on the stickers match the headstock serial numbers and both numbers come back as Bozeman, Montana made guitars. The original owner of these guitars was killed in a car accident, and I bought them from his brother in law who doesn't play acoustic guitar and wanted them to go to a good home. I was given copy's of the receipt for the J45 Rosewood, as well as Gibson owners manual pamphlet and warranty pamphlet, and a pre-packaging checklist. The mystery model had no paperwork or anything, but he did give me a packet on the electronics. He also told me if I was unhappy with them or if they were found to be fake, to let him know and he would give me my money back. I paid $800 for the pair with hardshell cases. I have an appointment to bring them to guitar center and get them looked at, just trying to learn as much as possible before hand.

Ok I will check and post pictures, thank you. Just curious as to why the tag would state J45 when it is in no way shape or form a J45. Could a mix up like this have happened in the factory?

Hello everyone, yesterday I picked up two Gibson acoustic guitars from a seller on craigslist, and I was looking for some insight on whether they were authentic Gibson's or not. The first is a J45 Rosewood that I was given paperwork with as well as a copy of the original receipt (feel very good about this one). The second is a mystery... The tag on the inside of the sound hole says "J45" with the serial number matching the head stock, but the guitar looks like a EC30 Blues King, or a J-185. Please let me know what you think, they both play very nice and sound good so I'm happy with them just really hoping they are the real thing. And I also got hard shell cases with them that say Gibson as well.