Dm5av

that sounds about right. I’m hearing 10k from Sweetwater, which is nuts.

About how much do you think a custom shop Dove should cost? Let's assume all the bling, a custom color, and some upgraded tone woods (aged maple and Adirondack spruce top) Ebony board and some nice tuners. I'm still trying to find a guitar that suits me, but as of yet I have not been able to do so. I know I like the Dove's in Flight, but don't fancy the current color too much (cherry back and sides with natural top)

I think I’ll end this thread here by saying... I freakin love this guitar. I have a hummingbird coming to test but... I could never let this dove go now, regardless. i have never... n-e-v-e-r had such a visceral reaction to an instrument. I went from hating this thing before I got it, to loving it once it arrived, to hating it again... and now I want to sleep with it in my hands. I’m sure a lot of that was simply me, the anticipation of getting a dove, which I have wanted for so, so long... but I swear this guitar has changed in the time I’ve had it, a week or so. Either that or I am just hearing it better, acclimating to it. I’ve found it’s boundaries better, but it still surprises me a little. It has a lot of volume if you’re careful about the attack. the paint smell is mostly gone, just needed a day or two out of the case and it’s just so beautiful. I pretty much cannot put it down all day. Now it just has a hint of a vanilla smell, which you’re right - it’s wonderful. this guitar must have been fresh off the factory. Kinda cool actually, despite all my protests. i could never let this guitar go. It has magic. I hear that now. It just sings, all the string’s harmonies come together inside the guitar and it just simply sings. I love it. tried to get a imgur type service, so you can see it. Hope it works. thanks all. https://ibb.co/LxmrdD0

This is true, but it is not easy to try anything above a $2,000 guitar. They just don't have them local. In any event, if I can give a good word bout Sweetwater, the guys there are incredibly reasonable. They do everything they possibly can do (within) reason, to help you find the guitar you want. I don't think they'd let you try each and every guitar in inventory, but they definitely understand that acoustics are unique. I could not be happier with them.

yea, just me at home at the moment. i have no doubt this is a decent guitar. But I have noticed some mild fret buzz at times. The guitar has things going for it, and it has issues as well. just like all of us I guess. i am going to try another guitar, a hummingbird with AAA woods and thermally baked top or whatever lol. it sounds like marketing fluff to me, but maybe it’s what I need. I tried a strange hummingbird with no pick guard and it was a cutaway too. Didn’t really do it for me, sound wise, but it did play nice. I think that the Dove probably is the guitar I am looking for, maybe not this exact Dove though. I am coming around to the sound, and the feel. it sounds really nice and feels really nice when it is played gently, not too hard. I can’t lay into the Dove like I can an older AJ pro I have (which incidentally looks and sounds exactly the same as a j-45 standard, I tested that today too.) idk what is going on with this Dove. It certainly has some nice qualities, but it’s just a strange guitar. At times I’m really enamored with it, and other times not so much. it also stinks to high hell like paint, which is giving me a sore throat. It’s awful, quite honestly. I’ve been playing the guitar for most of the day and my chest hurts now. I just don’t know about this guitar. I think I should listen to my gut and return it. i want to like it, but... it sure is fighting me.

I have to ask this, because I’ve never experienced it before with any other guitar. I’ve owned 5 or 6, so it’s not like I have a ton of experience but still. but, the new acoustic I got is kinda making me ill. the smell of paint is so strong it’s hurting me. I’m kinda retching at the thought of playing it. What’s the deal with that? does that just mean it’s really, really new? or, is it something else? Weird I know, I’ve never had that happen on a store bought guitar before... or ever actually. Cause all I have are store bought guitars lol. smells like an auto body shop. Yuck. at first it didn’t bother me, but I’m playing it for hours and I notice I’m feelin a bit ill from it tbh. Anyway to make it stop off gassing, other than wait? someone said put it in the sun, that doesn’t seem like a great idea. Is it?

you are not wrong here. i will be in it deep if I buy a $7,000 guitar. I might as well start lookin for a new place to live. that being said... I’ll never get that sound out of my head, and I’ll never forget that this is not it. I feel terrible saying this, but yea... it makes a difference. the only thing I don’t know is if ALL $7,000 guitars sound that good, or only some. I don’t have anywhere to try out a guitar like that. I never realized how rare it was. I guess it was not all just in my head, it really was a special guitar. almost wish I never touched it,

https://reverb.com/ca/item/3500694-2016-gibson-doves-in-flight-viper-blue-custom-acoustic-guitar I think this is it. The headstock, I think this is the one. And, Idk if I have any hope of finding it.

I think I found it guys! Someone suggested Hummingbird... I looked it up. Viper Blue Limited Edition Hummingbird Quilt, and guess what... it is maple. Man, ok... now, how do I get this guitar? Is there anything Gibson is currently making that would be close to this? Does quilted maple make a difference? That guitar has birds all over it, which is why I thought of birds in flight. I'm really starting to think it was a hummingbird now, but a maple hummingbird. This is definitely the color, viper blue. It looks just like I remember. Wouldn't this guitar sound a lot like a Dove? Maybe not, Idk... I could use some help on what this guitar is and what is available that would be an approximation of it. I'm not surprised, my friend at the time was very well off. This makes sense. I think he got it in or around Baltimore, MD in the 90's https://www.themusiczoo.com/products/gibson-montana-hummingbird-limited-edition-hummingbird-quilt-acoustic-guitar-viper-blue uh oh... wait a minute now. https://reverb.com/ca/item/3500694-2016-gibson-doves-in-flight-viper-blue-custom-acoustic-guitar It could easily have been a dove's in flight too. Idk Do these guitars sound materially different if they are Dove's in Flight, vs Dove? Of Quilted Maple, vs Maple? Is that hummingbird going to be different that a regular hummingbird, more like a Dove? I am getting somewhere!

you guys are a great bunch. I'm reading all the posts and I appreciate the thoughts. It's all correct, I am coming to terms with what the guitar is right now, not what that guitar was 20 years ago. It's OK. I miss those times a fair amount, but this is good too. 50 years is a long time to be looking for something, Evans, but I expect I'll be with you shortly if I don't find what I'm looking for 🙂 That projection, the boom, the sparkle, yet still retaining the definition of all the strings each being heard and not muddy... it's very difficult to find. Who knows if it even existed? Was it just in my brain? Was it the Tennessee Whiskey? Starting to wonder. I might never know... and the search continues. I was under the impression that a Dove would be louder than a hummingbird, that maple would project more than mahogany. I guess I thought brighter mean louder. Did they ever make blue sunburst hummingbirds? For sure that's all I know, it was dark blue sunburst, it had a dark neck, very intricate, and there were birds or a bird. I do believe the sound I remember was real. It was such a joy to play on, big. I remember my fingers felt small on it at the time and the luxury of each fret space. I remember that clearly But, we'd get drunk every night and just go through to morning. Almost the whole summer one year. I can't pull enough detail back to remember what the design was. I wonder if it was a dove's in flight, and I wonder if a Dove's in Flight sounds any different than a Dove Original? That guitar when strummed at E would reverberate and project, no rattle but you could really go at it and it would give it right back to you. I'm going to be honest, I played that guitar a lot, but I can't remember the exact design on the pick guard. I only know it was highly ornamented and I swear there was a bird. It could have been a hummingbird, but from all my reading I've read that of the two the Dove is the louder one. I like this Dove. I'm going to have to start a collection now I guess. And I like the AJ Pro too. This Dove does not have the low end that I remember though. I don't know if changing the style, Dove's in Flight vs Dove Original would do it. I wish I had a store where I could try it out. If you go to Bozeman, do they let you try all the models? I'm in Idaho so that's not out of the question. Only one thing is certain. I'm going to be in trouble with the wife.

Thank you, I enjoyed your tale and I can relate! The Aj Pro I have was the best I could find in the store in Long Island at the time. It was not the price, but it just had something. I get what you are saying.

I gotta tell you. this guitar is changing right in front of my eyes and ears. I can’t believe how different it sounds in a room with 9ft ceilings rather than 20ft. I’m not a pro, I don’t know these things so much, room size etc. but I’m so much closer to the sound I was looking for in my head. i love the dove. I feel like it’s opening up within hours as I play. It’s nearly a religious experience. sorry for doubting the brand and the company. I guess you can tell this guitar means a lot to me. It’s all tied up with history, friendships, music yea of course but there’s a great deal of life and love that has passed through and by me and Gibson guitars were often there. I never really thought about it that way, but when you look back and you’re trying to find something to hold onto from times long gone... you just take what you can get. This guitar is something I remember, so I hope it makes sense all my rambling. There’s a lot of weight on it for me with history and times and people I’ll not see again. I need the guitar to be more than just a guitar. It’s gotta be something that can help me remember, like a perfume you haven’t smelled in years from someone you loved. The sound can do that too. it means a lot to me that they are still making these, production line or not, it doesn’t matter. This is a beautiful guitar and the sound is beautiful. Might be all in my head, but I hear it differently than I did just hours ago. It feels like it is growing. it may not be “the one” but it is damn good. I’ll keep looking for the one, and this will be a fine friend until I do find it. There’s a lot to love here, if anyone comes by this later I want my final sentiment to be that there’s a lot to love about Gibsons still.

Received the Dove, the blemish is barely visible by the naked eye. I was completely deceived by the picture. It looked sooooo much bigger in the photo. this is a beautiful guitar. It’s shockingly good looking. now the strange thing is, it makes me appreciate the AJ Pro that I have in a new way. I had forgotten what a beautiful sounding guitar that is, with a lot of boom and focused on the low end. the dove does not sound like I thought it would. I have been looking for twenty years for a guitar that sounds the same as a friend of mine (who I have lost contact with). It was a Gibson, large, very big, dark blue into royal velvet blue, and had a bird on it I’m nearly sure. I always thought it was a Dove, but this just cannot be it. the guitar I have in my hands sounds nothing like it. This guitar (Dove) is very thin at the low end and that guitar from 20 yrs ago was a booming monster, yet still contained beautiful shimmering sparkling highs. in this Dove, the highs are here but they do not sparkle like that guitar of twenty years ago. This Dove is not unpleasant, but it is not the same either. It is not “the one.” I don’t know where to look now. The only thing I have to go on is what I read, and what I can get my hands on... perhaps an SJ-200 is what I need to try? would a dove’s in flight sound any different than this guitar, or just look prettier? This Dove, it’s completely different than the AJ. This dove is focused on the mids, a bit more refined, less muddy I think because it projects far less bass. it is bright as people say maple is, but I thought that would translate into boosted, sparkling, shimmer - it does not. I am quite surprised that the Dove is actually much quieter than my AJ Pro. This is unexpected. I was actually looking for a guitar that was even stronger than the AJ Pro, like that guitar from 20 years ago, but this is not it. this is something altogether different. I actually like it very much, for example playing “19th nervous breakdown”. I think that this Dove would be wonderful, amped, and most likely much better when recorded than the AJ Pro, which I find I need to cut the bass out of in the mix The Dove sounds just right for that, stones songs and recorded, but comping jazz chords or fooling around at the low end to sing to in a big room... it doesn’t project. Compared to the Dove, the AJ Pro has so much bass it nearly sounds like it is plugged in and has a tiny bit of dirt pedal added. I’ve grown really accustomed to having that bass and while I’ve already found a nice place to settle with the Dove. I don’t think this is the guitar I was expecting. I’m wondering if I need an SJ-200. I already don’t want to lose the Dove though. It is an absolutely gorgeous guitar regardless of the sound. The sound is fine, it is more refined than the AJ... but again, I’m searching for that sound from 20 years ago. It rang out every string with such boom, such volume, it sparkled so cleanly, it was heaven and I can’t find it, I don’t know where to look. This Dove is a little sloppy at the nut. I can see glue on the fretboard, or something very shiny, and there is a tiny bit of an issue with the binding down there too, but honestly I don’t particularly care. The only thing that has me questioning it is, the fact that it is quieter than the AJ Pro and I didn’t think it was supposed to be. i would love it if anyone could tell me where to look for the sound of the guitar I described from 20 years ago. it was LOUD, but is projected everywhere (bass, mids, high), and even though it was loud it had a sparkle to it that tickled my spine sending dopamine rushing through my brain when I strummed it. Unfortunately, I fell out of favor with the owner. I don’t think I’ll ever see him again. It was a perfect guitar to me, royal blue color... I swear it was a dove, but it couldn’t be. what I have in my hands is not that. this Dove here is very nice. I could be very happy playing songs like factory girl or any good stones tunes. I am a little surprised at how quiet it is, but I don’t know that is a bad thing for recording. I need some time with it. anyway, Gibson still has my love. I hope all of you are well and having a wonderful day!

yea, I guess it is a bit dramatic. I was so damn looking forward to this guitar. I’m over it. I’ve no doubt sweets will do the right thing and it won’t be a problem to send it back. Wish I could share the hi res photo, it’s a bummer for sure. Left side binding is missing a chunky bit at the nut. Who knows, maybe the picture lies. That’d be something . If it happens I’ll tell you lol. I’d be stoked. I whined enough. Everything is fine. I was super into receiving this baby but I’m sure fate will work it out somehow. i think this probably should have been caught somewhere along the line, but it’s a weird time right now and in the big picture it’s small potatoes. I’ve gone over quite a few pictures of the bound neck guitars and all the binding should meet the nut from everything I see. This one looks like it had a bit of damage or just didn’t get finished right. I idolized these guitars too much though. They’re just guitars. They’ll make more and some will be great. Anyway, no animosity. Peace love & tunes. Everyone does what they can.

You are 100% correct about Sweetwater. I have no fear at all that they will take care of it. I don’t like having to push it back to them though. I don’t think they have anymore Dove to sell right now anyway. I should buy some soap and call it a day. it’s ok. thanks for the reply and be well! I need to get over it. It’s just a guitar. In the long run this is good. I need to realize that fully the world is an emotionless conveyor belt of mass produced stuff. The people who make these things are not magical elves who pour love into their creations with pride. In all reality the people who make these things probably hate the dumb yuppies who buy them, and that’s me I guess. The pursuit of perfection (well, besides being a luxury car tag line) is a fools errand. I was being a fool and I need to stop thinking of music as some magical thing outside of the shitty world that just keeps getting shittier. That’s too much weight for any company, person, brand, or item to live up to and I don’t blame Gibson or Sweetwater for it. This is a good experience overall. The less emotional I can be, the better I can think. Maybe this is not what I need right now. I thought it was, but maybe it’s not. I’m obviously disappointed. I have gone to bed thinking and woke up looking, searching, reading for hours a day waiting for this damn guitar and I feel like an idiot now. It’s not magic, not going to fill whatever void I have, and won’t make me jump high enough to dunk.

You all are more experienced than I am, for sure. I’ve had, maybe ten guitars in my life from $200 washburns to well, actually this would be my most expensive guitar, the dove. do you find this acceptable? it is difficult with the picture being so grainy. i wish I could give a better picture to you. The binding on the right meets the nut, and on the left it does not. It looks damaged and the bone nut appears that it is messy on the left side. I personally find that poor, but... is this acceptable quality from this brand, for this price range? Are these minor imperfection par for the course? i think not, and I haven’t seen it before in less expensive guitars. I believe it’s a large enough blemish that I will feel it. I know for sure that it’s something a collector would absolutely balk at. I would, if buying it used. It’s possible I don’t understand this situation. I will send it back. For me it’s unacceptable. Would you keep it? Unrelated, but I’m kinda laughing at the file size limit on this website. I can only upload pictures that are less than 431kb. 430kb? what is this, 1990? What in the world is going on with this company. It starting to feel like a trend that things aren’t right. There’s so much good will, the brand is in my heart because it’s the brand I have seen relatives use and a sound that has been dear to me... but what in the world. i guess Gibson is struggling, like many. I hope they can pull it around. The guitar will be here tomorrow and if it sounds wonderful then it will be all the more painful. but yes, I’m definitely resigned to sending it back. I’ve learned that at least. As customers (Not just Gibson, but universally) we have to demand respect for our money, or we will literally have nothing.

yea. it’s all I can do I guess. would be nice if someone from Gibson read this and reached out. I’m nobody special, but it’s a decent amount of coin I’m trying to give them and all I want is a guitar that’s built without any obvious defects. that’s not too much to ask I hope. Fully understand that these are instruments and subject to imperfections, but this is something else altogether. It’s poor workmanship. For +$4k, I can’t do it. $999, sure np. $4,299, no.

I understand these are handmade (sorta)... but, really? the binding doesn’t even meet the nut on the left side. i don’t have the guitar yet, Sweetwater sends pics of your guitar to you, as it’s shipped. I’m so sad. I’ll get over it, but man... these things mean a lot to some people. To some people this is more than just another guitar. I guess there’s no place for sentimental people in a mass produced world. I feel just as bad for whoever created this. It must hurt them. I can’t upload a better picture because the file size requirements of the site are so low, but even still you can clearly see the neck binding is not meeting the nut on the left side. brand new. am I asking too much for $4299?