62burst

Yes, the rumor is that the greater string break angle of the string from the nut to the tuner post is a plus. Agree. And Sgt Pepper, yes, there is some of that "harkening back to the old days" if you want to go that far back. Unique for the sake of unique. The wound strings can also whip around and scratch if you don't pre-cut on installation. And if you don't pre-cut, try not to mess things up when trying to get cutters into the slot.

Mr Colosi's specialty seems to be bone pins, and if you give him a couple of measurements of your current bridge pins, the ones he'll send you will most likely sit into place on your bridge with just the right amount of snugness. Question is: the pins that you've found on your guitar that are bent are probably plastic, which many people are fine with, so- what will bone pins do for the sound of a ladder-braced LG-1? Bob's site : http://www.guitarsaddles.com

Yes, bad circular definition, there. It's just that the words used to describe a guitar's sound can be very subjective, it was just meant to mean "the one that sounded like the sound that I was looking for".

More soundy. . . like, duh! . . . and Hummingbirds do occasionally drip nectar. (from the definition of nectar)

I had two. . . kept the soundier one, but liked the burst on other better. Tried to buy a third for the a/b/c, but the guitar monger cut me off: 'Gone through more J-45 and variants than I'm willing to admit, but the 12 fret brought strongest low-mids. Makes one wonder if some of that would still remain in the increased projection that might be had in a thinner bodied Studio 12-fret, if Gibson would ever dare build one.

Yes. I hope my last two posts communicated that.

Yes, gotta watch when using "SJ"- it can mean Southern Jumbo or Super Jumbo (SoJo= maybe less confusion), but it did make me think about the acoustic unicorn Gibson created when they did a very small number of SJ-200 12 frets. When looking for evidence of a recent Southern Jumbo 12 fret, Wildwood did an "Ultimate" run which had a torrefied Adi top, and a more conventional burst. They were still having Greg K demo the 2016 run as late as mid March 2019, so it kind of jibes with what you were saying about them soon becoming a distant memory re: their popularity. Apologies for the de-rail. . . Happy NJ50D- like everything about it, from tuners to pickguard to wood graining. Congrats.

That's what I thought when when I replied soon after 2Penny_ first mentioned it, . . . and he used the word "plate" in his post. A luthier once thought he was doing me a favor, and installed a PlateMate on my guitar, and that .032" plate is fairly thick, and definitely tearing one like the OP's is torn would be unlikely. But seeing the copper color, knowing copper's use as e shielding, and having a look at how thin and torn it was on his HB, and that if this was a TV-HB, then the onboard electronics would've been an aftermarket add-on which might've brought on some buzz issues. But OP 2Penny_ also mentioned buzz between the nut and fretted note, which might mean making sure humidity level is ok, and/or taking a closer look at the ramping of the nut.

Is Gibson offering the SoJo 12 fret again? Couldn't find any info on it. It was a no-brainer/relief when they brought out the 12 fret J-45 with tort teardrop p/g and the beautiful tri-color burst shortly after their run of 12-fret Southern Jumbos with the small (mostly black) burst and questionable contemporary firestripe 'guard.

Wow. That is strange. I'm not very big on onboard electronics, but it looks like some sort of copper foil tape, maybe put on there for grounding purposes. The previous owner might've had some electric hum/buzz that was an issue. You stated earlier that you had a good feeling about the seller. . . Maybe you could ask about it. But the only buzz you seem to be dealing with is fret buzz. . . have you been monitoring your humidity? With already low action, it doesn't take much to have the strings vibrating too closely to the tops of the frets, but yes, there is a lot of vibration going on in the bridge area, so any one of those foil shards could cause the noise you're hearing, too. It might be good just to get that off of the bridge plate. Also- maybe someone here has seen similar wire stays used for their Gibson factory-installed onboard electronics, but they're new to me.

'Agree with J45Nick's thoughts, it does look like buffing residue. That's quite a macro photo, maybe a pic of how it looks in a photo showing the whole guitar top (upload to imgur.com, select "direct imbed" if you don't have enough storage here on the forum). But yes, there is an imperfection in the finish on the outside edge of the bridge, bass side, and it appears to have some residue from the buffing process. Grab a slightly damp toothbrush, and clean that up a bit. It could be further lessened with a little Virtuoso cleaner, the V. polish. It's not uncommon to not get all of the things that are normally shipped with the guitar. Even if you did get the final build checklist- there is often some question if the actual string action height measurements are correct to that particular guitar. They could certainly change by the time the guitar gets to you, anyhow. As far as looking like a bridge re-glue. . . Gibson finishes their guitars, then in order to allow better adhesion to the top, the finish is scraped in the area where the bridge contacts the top. Often some shrinkage occurs, exposing a little bit of a finish gap there. And as Boyd said, and you most likely know, everything is more noticeable on a black guitar.

Absolutely great guitar. I'da chimed in sooner, but had to immediately go and check out several demos of the USA Frontier on YouTube. @40Yrs- yes, one of the vids, I believe it was Alamo Music, where the demo guy was mentioning that feeling the engraved p/g was just another one of the enjoyable parts of Frontier's playing experience. Many of the clips sounded a bit scooped in the mid range, but that could've been mic/mic placement, but it matches what I've occasionally noticed with the long scale squares, but the maple keeps those lows clean. The bridge inlay and some other aspects of the Gibson Dove aesthetics may keep some away from being Dove keepers, and the Epiphone USA Frontier makes for a hard to resist option. Congrats

Did you get a hygrometer yet ? Any guessing would be only that- just guesses until you know what the relative humidity is. Is the guitar in question the 50's J-45 that you got new in August and were trying to dry it out, because . . . (?) There was a lot of good advice in that thread when you posted your "When to start hydrating new guitar post" at the end of December:

Yes, those split parallelogram fretboard inlays are normally seen on the Southern Jumbo, as well as some other models. EDIT: If it's a True Vintage (and it wouldn't be a great shock if it got labelled as a J-45), the aftermarket installed pickup system, however, is not sweetening the deal. Ironically, you pay more for a True Vintage to not have any of that on the guitar. Pure acoustic.

That looks like a beautiful 2011 Southern Jumbo True Vintage. Made when Gibson still had a decent supply of really nice rosewood for the fretboards, and the fretboard on yours is evidence of that. It also seems to be a photo of the guitar when it was still fairly new, as it appears that the protective plastic is still on the pickguard- I know the look, as I kept the plastic on my 2007 for a while, and it too started to come up at the 'guard's "point" and also at it's outer edge. "Neck marks" ? If you're talking about what looks to be a reflection on the left side of photo #5, to these eyes, it looks like a reflection, maybe of another guitar case. Looks like a beauty- I'd love to have it.

Nahh.. ‘needs new strings. Nice case, too. this guy is a heartbreaker. Is it April 1st already?

There's it value. +1.

Those are some good boxes to tick. It also ticks some more boxes Seemingly fine build quality, and for a 2013, in a condition that says someone was very careful with this guitar - ✔️ Love the tuners, their tuner posts, pristine, full black (not thin & sunken in) finish on the headstock- ✔️ curious, though- slotted screws for the truss rod cover, and yours has one of the deeper notches (?) in the Gibson headstock "kiss" or "open book" atop it's edge Nice string break/lots of saddle, beautifully cut nut -✔️ Rectangle bridge with nicely grained rosewood and very nice contours to it's wings-✔️ And course, that burst-✔️ Thanks for posting those clips- it sounds great- and do you not use a pic ? good for you. and the guitar.

Very cool addition to the knowledge base. But- I hope you didn't just put discard that flubber layer. . . there was still some SJ-200 shrubbery stuck to it.

Done. In order to avoid going over to the forum's meager messaging storage, it was added to your "Hi John- . . ." thread in the forum's Messages box.

Yes, 'hope OWF is up there behaving himself but having fun with the angel band. There might be those who look for a reason to take something as a slight, but ol' Wily would never miss an opportunity to make a joke instead, specializing in the department of double entendre. . . lots of possibilities to be had there when talking guitar parts. Never noticed the video playing just off to the side- but having another look, I see there are a good number of classic images. Well done, OWF. Re: the pins- In a recent conversation with Mr. Colosi, I was told he can dye them black, but as bone is variable, there are often some that are "unique", and he sets those aside. . . probably would be perfect for what the Acoustic Monk was looking for.

Careful what you suggest. And keep your eye on the Sparrow. . . The Gibson Sparrow: So- would the new Prehistoric Series be offered in torrefied and petrified?

Sounds like so far you've had a very positive Gibson experience, and as Sal had suggested, getting in touch with, and hearing from, Don Ruffatto only added to that. And don't waste a second wishing your '200 had an Adirondack top- I'm glad my '07 200 TV is Sitka. . . the combination of the maple and the superjumbo's proportions are ample enough to reward you with a super-lush well-balanced sound that you'll never think twice. You're in for a treat.

Guitar forensics dept.

In a perfect world, yes, seeing the serial # in the one that was listed on Reverb 4 years ago would've been nice. But what caught my eye were things like the grain in the top- the two darker areas, treb side being wider, the thin light grain line running down from outside the "point" of the pickguard and it's lowest orange "berry", the little dark areas on the bass side of the rosewood mustache and between the two upper ribbon inlays. And your fretboard is more uniformly dark, whereas most of the as-spec'ed Madagascar rosewood fretboards can tend to be fairly well figured : . . . or the black speck on the nut (your ebay listing on the right), scratch on top of the low E tuner post, etc. Truss rod cover screws turned, so maybe the TR's been adjusted. So somewhere over the last four years, it's lost it's case, and gained electronics. Enjoy your new incoming SJ-200 True Vintage.