ksdaddy

Happy Father's Day to Jimmie Englund (1922-1999). He was a good guy. If he made any enemies along the way, I sure never heard about it. I never once "got the belt" and God knows I deserved it. Sometimes I think he was a little more badass than he allowed us to see. I stumble on old pics like the one from the early 50s by the car and wonder what kind of deviltry he and I might have gotten into if we were contemporaries.

Gibson truss rods usually work VERY well and I don’t remember the last time I ever turned one more than that. Don’t be discouraged by one minor mess up. Everyone trips when they’re learning to walk.

Prayers said for both Sal’s dad and the hospital staff working on him today.

You have the support, high hopes, and prayers from your forum family. We will be thinking of you.

Reverb seems to be the “go to” place to sell now. It’s also a good place to get an idea of what instruments actually sell for, if you look through the “sold” listings.

The case is circa 1990. There have been 4-5 sold on Reverb ranging from $125 to $280.

It's beyond "red flag"....

Nobody on this Earth is going to fake a 70s Hummingbird.

Yep, that’s why I’m recognizing it as a vice. The last few days in the hospital and the first few days home, I was guzzling it non stop. Now I have one tall glass in the morning. I tried looking for unsweetened orange juice, and all I found was some “light” type. One sip and I almost barfed it into the sink. It had Stevia in it. Years ago we bought big 2 quart cans of unsweetened grapefruit juice, no idea if it’s still available. It was “store brand” and dirt cheap. I’m willing to shift over and see if my oj lust can be slaked with something else.

I’m sure I could, except I gave up all alcohol in 2003. Tobacco in 2014. Not much left to give up!

My wife is seriously pursuing a heart healthy diet and has lost about 20 lbs. Now that I am on board (was forced on board lol) she prepares meals with that in mind. Lots of fresh vegetables, haddock, salmon, chicken, quick oats and fruit for breakfast, things like that. I’m okay with the stripped down basic no sugar added ragu mixed with ground turkey atop spaghetti squash. I’m getting used to all of that and don’t miss the garbage. No Pepsi, coffee or tea in the last month. I’m trying to lower my cholesterol through diet and hopefully wean off the statins. I think my one vice now is orange juice. Lots of it. I crave it like I did when I was a hung over teenager.

There are many other places to post, Facebook groups for example, where people can speak more freely I suppose. Some things could get you Facebook jail (this I know firsthand), but those groups are largely the wild west compared to a well run forum. I was involved with a Gretsch forum and I don't even know if they're alive anymore. Ditto for Heritage. The Ovation Fan Club is a ghost town now, replaced by a FB group established by the same people who had the Fan Club site. Many people don't like FB and I am not advocating its use, just pointing out the elephant in the room. One of the elephants anyway. As to bullies, trolls, and malcontents, yes, we have had them over the years. Most have gone away. One major one died, so there's that. Bigass bully. Drove one of our (rare) female members to never coming back. I had the good fortune to have met both of them face to face and they were both "good people", but one took on a different persona when he was behind a keyboard and was also very briefly made a moderator. He did not last and left with his tail between his legs. The one you guys have alluded to has not broken any rules lately so I will not take any steps to get rid of him. I personally have been in the crosshairs of some forum members who were "a lot nicer" than him and never once used any of my bestowed mod abilities to make them go away. One persecuted me relentlessly until someone above me banned him. Had I pulled the trigger, it would not have looked good for me. If I could change one thing about the way we respond to new people, is that.... even though we have heard their question time and again about serial numbers, identification, value, all that, I think we owe it to Gibson and all present and future forum members to answer them politely and with much patience. I know most of us already DO that, but I think it's something we need to keep at the front of our brain. I know that's just one small facet of forum activity, but if people have a good first impression, maybe they will come back. There's a lot of good knowledgeable people here, we shouldn't brush off some wide eyed newbie with a question or make them look stupid in any way. My two cents. Scott

Surgery was done on 5/15. For the first couple days I wished I had never gone to the ER in the first place and would rather have been found dead on the floor of my garage. The pain was that bad. I was on opioids that made me a catatonic slug. I often slept sitting up in a hard chair, propping my chin on a pillow turned end-ways on my lap. I got off the opioids as soon as I could (my choice). I was on a very mild opioid when I got sent home, then down to Tylenol 4x/day, now 2x. The pain(s) have subsided to what one might feel like if they took a nasty bicycle spill 2 or 3 days ago. I am still easily winded but I largely attribute that to my anemia (RBC and hemoglobin are really low). They say both will improve in time. I’m taking Geritol, hoping that will boost the blood. I’m unable to drive until at least 6/27 when I follow up with my surgeon. I’m also not supposed to lift over 5-10 lbs but I have lugged guitar cases around the house (shhhh). My mental outlook is mixed. “They” said I would hit the ground running and feel like a million bucks. That was a lie. It is a slow recovery and my mind is moving faster than my body is ready for. I will start cardiac rehab on 6-19. I will jump through whatever hoops they present to me. I have not had caffeine since 5/3. That addiction is gone. It had no teeth. My diet has changed dramatically; zero junk, tons of unprocessed fruits and vegetables, haddock, salmon, chicken, low salt and low sugar, quick oats for breakfast. I did have a bowl of ice cream last night. As to the events of the past month, I would rate it 1.5/5, would not recommend. As the saying goes, if I had known I was going to live this long, I would have taken better care of myself.

It most definitely has a solid top. As to the sides and back…. Anyone’s guess. It could have any combination of solid and laminated sides and back. Gibson = no rules.

I ignore most artist model bs myself. Swear to God, if my life had gone differently and I was in a position to be offered a signature model, I would refuse it. What jollies would I get knowing people were paying big money to play a guitar set up to MY liking? Yes I’ve owned dozens of Les Pauls but I don’t consider that to be a signature model, given what little influence Les actually had on it. I could be suckered into wanting an old Gretch Chet Atkins but that’s my one slip. I never even bought a Guild Roy Buchanan model in the 80s and I have serious hero worship for him. Not enough to buy a guitar just because he has his name on it.

This is not the place.

The B15 used inexpensive tuners and I understand that they can be frustrating. Before I drilled, I would remove them, drizzle some oil on all moving parts, and spend several minutes cranking them with a peg winder. Bonus points if you get the peg winder attachment for a cordless drill. Spin the heck out of them for a few minutes, let them drip dry on a paper towel overnight, wipe them off as best you can and reinstall. That’s probably not the advice you were looking for but that would be my first choice. If that does not yield satisfactory results, you might look into repro Klusons of the “three on a strip” variety. They may be a drop in replacement.

No restrictions on Murph’s account.

I’m so glad to hear of your progress!

Gibson used “custom” and “deluxe” on some of the acoustic labels in the 70s. I have no idea why, I’ve wondered if adding those words gave them a little latitude when making spec changes. Pure speculation on my part.

The S means 1959. The 6958 is the factory order number, which has no significance; that is to say there is no hidden information in it. They made many of their models in lots of 40; yours was #18 of that lot.

It’s a B45-12. I note it has a new top. If he used the original bridge, it is likely 1970 or newer.

There are other reasons why the ‘73 doesn’t sound as good. They had different bracing mainly. Gibson used sycamore in Kalamazoo, then when they closed in ‘84 the stock was shipped to Nashville, where they made acoustics up until ‘88 or so… then THAT remaining stock went to Bozeman and I think they used it until 91 or so. I don’t know for sure of course, but pretty safe to assume your 1990 is sycamore. People have claimed it to be magical wood. I don’t know. I’ve got a 1989 sycamore J200 and a flamey maple 2000 J200 and they are distinctly different. I can’t say I clearly prefer one over the other.

.The headstock overlay is completely fake and it looks like the “open book” top of the headstock has been modified a little. The body looks Gibson but there’s no truss rod. Could be WW2 or it could be a Kalamazoo that’s been modified.

I had a prostate laser surgery in 2016 and had a catheter for 9-10 days. I had a long guitar strap holding the bag like a wine bag but lower. I took it out myself, standing over the edge of the bath tub. I saw my late father telling me to come towards the light.