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ksdaddy

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Everything posted by ksdaddy

  1. I've seen some of the dark tinted J-40s. I always assumed they had some off-colored spruce and stained it dark so they could use it up.
  2. I briefly owned a '93 Gospel. Bought it cheap because of a side crack that ran almost heel to end block. Fixed it, strung it, it was okay. Sold it to a guy and he raved. He wanted a good Gibson acoustic for a stage guitar that would get thumped. He was happy. It didn't set me on fire but in fairness I didn't spend much time with it and certainly didn't take the time to find the right strings, etc.
  3. I've had 4 SGs in the last year. I tried to like them. It didn't work out. It was mainly the long neck and the fact I felt like I was reaching an arm's length to play in the first position. No fault of the guitar, it just didn't work for us.
  4. Wow.... New York and California have a higher class of guitar players? The only difference between a violin and a fiddle is whether you're buying it or selling it. Translated = snob Ford spent a lot of time and money on the Edsel too. I think I'll go downstairs to my fleet of "country music" guitars and pull every fret out above the first three.
  5. I just picked up what I believe is a T-310. Tele body but with a chrome humbucker in the neck position, some odd contact paper like stuff on the guard which I haven't peeled yet, maple neck, pointy 80s style headstock... the worst feature is that someone stripped the headstock face and put a Gibson logo on it. Weighs a ton. Seriously. I was hoping to pick up a Tele clone so I could tart it up rockabilly style with pinstripes and cheesecake, but the big hair headstock kinda flies in the face of the whole idea. We'll see. I probably don't have $50 into it at this point.
  6. That's the UK version of "take a flying f*** at a rolling donut."
  7. Like most everyone, I like to keep the original finish "warts and all"... for the most part. Sometimes you get handed a guitar that has little collector value or one that has had SO many repairs and mods done to it that refinishing it isn't going to affect it's value neagtively. I say make the most of it. Case in point, in 1987 I had a '73 J45 that someone had retopped. The guitar functioned well but the cosmetics were awful. I masked the binding and painted the whole thing (except peghead face) Cadillac brown metallic. Looked sharp. It was worthless to a collector but made someone happy. Last spring I bought a 2008 SG. The original finish was under there somewhere but it was easier to start from wood:
  8. It's not a mystery. I don't understand why you come here, ask us a question, then don't want to believe us. In a nutshell, an ES-125 is a 16" wide laminated archtop with one P90 pickup. If it has a thin body, it is an ES-125T. If it has a thin body and two pickups it is an ES-125TD. If it has a cutaway it is an ES-125C. If it has a cutaway and two pickups it is an ES-125CD. If it has one pickup, thin body, and a cutaway, it is an ES-125TC. If it has two pickups, a cutaway, and is a thin body it is an ES-125TDC. See how the model designations can be determined by their features and vice versa? God help us if they had made them left handed and with a natural finish, that would just add more letters. Have you got the guitar in hand? Even though a label was never put in (I know, I know, maybe Mildred put one inside one in 1961 to cover the nail polish she dripped inside on her lunch hour) you WILL (you WILL) find a rubber stamp inside with the model number. I SAY that. Maybe Mildred smudged it and wrote it in with pencil. But the true model number should very well be IN there. Like the sun IS VERY LIKELY TO RISE tomorrow, you should find a rubber stamp.
  9. Gibson did make a very inexpensive model in the very early 70s called the JGO. Think of it as a square shouldered version of the LGO. I'm sure they went through changes and inconsistencies and were built largely based on what was available. The few that I've seen have had pinless bridges and no back binding but that was only 2 or 3. Is it possible that "JGO" was accidentally written down as "J60" on the bill of sale? Here's a few googled JG0 pics:
  10. By request, here's a place to introduce yourself to the Gibson acoustic forum members....
  11. Yep, prayers work. But to quote Mick, "you can't always get what you want...". Life is about as bipolar as it can be. The past couple days have been awesome and I'm riding the wave. Hard to say what the next week will bring. I'll find a neutral base line at some point.

  12. Tried to reply a couple days ago, not sure if went through. The past few months have been turmoil with relationships... well one in particular that blew up in my face. So I haven't been very chatty. I'm getting my head back together slowly. Not a good year for me. Not doing much on the workbench either. That will come back in time, I'm not pushing it.

    Scott

  13. Tried to reply a couple days ago, not sure if went through. The past few months have been turmoil with relationships... well one in particular that blew up in my face. So I haven't been very chatty. I'm getting my head back together slowly. Not a good year for me. Not doing much on the workbench either. That will come back in time, I'm not pushing it.

    Scott

  14. Not at the moment, but I had a 1960 125TDC back in '85 and around 2003 I briefly owned a '57 125TD. Come to think of it, I owned a 120 for a while in the late 80s, which wasn't a lot different. Be very mindful of the neck set. They weren't all that rugged and many need resets. Beware if the action is on the high side and the bridge is all the way down. Look before you swipe the card.
  15. Seemingly normal and low key. I have moments of intense emotion but they are fewer as time goes on. I'm actually playing guitar again, so that's a good thing.

  16. According to the serial number, a girl named Linda installed the tuners and she had tuna salad for lunch that day. She professes to be a country fan but her secret passion is early 80s New Romantic music. I can tell all this by the serial number.
  17. Since you've had yours so long with no issues, I doubt you'll have any trouble. As to the distortion in the top... hard to say. I wouldn't get too worried. I have a '58 Gibson classical and the top looks like an old 45 rpm record that sat in a hot car. If you don't have any braces that are loose, don't sweat it. My only sage advice when shopping for a MK applies basically to any 70s Gibson. Not bashing them, just pointing out what I've encountered: 1. Twisted necks. Sight down it like a gun barrel. Some guitars do have a slight twist, even the best of them. But some 70s Gibsons are much worse than others. I don't know of any fix. 2. Make darn sure the truss rod works. Guitar 101 I know, but I've seen more than one snapped 70s rod. 3. Neck set (Guitar 101 again). Neck sets on 70s Gibsons are more complex due to the weird extra dovetail tounge under the fingerboard extension. The reset is the same, but removing the neck is horrendous (so I'm told). 4. Ebay language: "Minor crack in top along fingerboard". Look closely at the top where the 14th fret is.... see a dip there? Also look at the soundhole rosette. See any distortion by the crack? Danger. The top has cracked alongside the fingerboard extension and the neck is shifting forward. I've fixed them but I won't let you watch. I have to be part chiropractor. This seems to be a 70s thing but I recently did some work on a '57 LG-1. I think every brace had popped loose. There was also a crack on the treble side of the fingerboard where the pickguard had shrunk. The crack went all the way from the sound hole to the binding. I glued and cleated it without issue but if it had gone another year it could have done some serious damage. 30 years ago we could walk into a music store with the luxury of browsing a half dozen old Gibsons or more and we could turn our noses up if an old J45 had Grovers rammed into it or if it had a half dozen repaired cracks. We don't have that luxury now. We find a 50s J45 in any condition and it's a good day. Well, we haven't quite reached that point with the Mark Series. There are plenty of MK35s marked "2nd" with missing pickguards and as of right now we CAN turn our noses up. I haven't gotten mine yet; I want a blonde MK53. It'll happen, it's just not on the front burner. If I were to find a clean original one that passes the "70s Lookout!" checklist, I'd probably whip out the Visa.
  18. Funny thing about archtops, the audience can hear you but you can't hear Jack Squat. The sound is very directional. Don't worry, someone would be happy to give that L-48 a good home. I'll send you my shipping address if you like.
  19. My guess is 1954. Z-1952 Y-1953 X-1954 W-1955 V-1956 U-1957 T-1958 S-1959 R-1960 I think those are the only years this applies to and some models may have used a different method. I know many of the electrics used a number as a prefix.... 5 XXXX would be 1955, 6 XXXX would be '56. Don't take my word as gospel though. If you held a gun to my head I would say 1954, Factory Order Number 9036 (number doesn't mean much other than a batch number) and 25 means it was the 25th one in that batch (usually a total of 40). It probably has 19 frets, right?
  20. Since 1977 the first and fifth digit will tell you the year. Just punch in your number here: http://www.guitardaterproject.org/gibson.aspx
  21. Some Epis have 'Gibson' on the truss rod cover. Maybe that's what's being mentioned in the ad.
  22. It's an inexpensive Epiphone made in China in 2000. It's only related to Gibson because Gibson owns the Epiphone name and applies that name to guitars imported from Asia.
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