EuroAussie

Good lord, that might possibly be the worst sounding / recording of a Hummingbird Ive ever come across.

Old fashioned.

There's something special and pure about the natural Hummingbird, unlike her tarty, attention seeking burst' sister. Will look amazing in 10-15 years when that top darkens and a few decent dings get into that wood. Glad you got her with the Tulip tuners, for me its Tulips or nothing on a Hummingbird, like the J-200.

Its a challenging guitar to play and the tone is specific, not to everyone's liking. The slope shouldered rosewood long scale designed is quite a challenge to harness, it really a has a lot under the bonnet. This is turn makes it a challenging strummer, best suited to hybrid strumming, but excels at single note flatpicking and fingerpicking. As Jinder mentioed, this power and volume clashes with the male voice, i had the same experinece when i owned mine. Also, the tone is somewhat rustic, a bit rough n ragged, especially compared to the smoother J-45. Id say those two things ,and simply less marketing, exposur had an impact on the AJ. Simply not as appealing to a broad audience, but more a tighter segment, which in turn impacts sales big time.

Sal, you've become the master of harmony ! ps: which guitars you have now ??

Lars, its highly inconsistent. In that sometimes you nail the phrasing, pitch and melody, and other times its hopelessly off. But what Im noticing is you seem to sound at your best when you attack the notes / phrases with some strength. And i think alos think about the how you phrase the words, sometimes the melody, words and phrasing just dont get at all, other times its spot on. So i would suggest try to attack the vocals a bit, just a bit, let out the feeling, think about the phrasing so it comes out naturally rather than trying to make it fit. It might mean writing different words to fit the melody / phrase.

Thanks a lot Larry, it was a long, long time ago, good to hear from ya .. Just on the topic, i recall this specific video is what fired up my desire for the Hummingbird orginally, some 12 yeras ago or so. Dunno exactly what i love about this clip, but its a mix of that rocky mid range sound , the nectar dripping on those single note lines and that cut through in the rhythm ... or maybe just the shitty qualty video that kinda gave that tone .. but anyways, i find it captures that Humminbird blend of laid back folkiness and rock grit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpDueO5bxqU

The Hummingbird nectar glaze ... saturate, saturated mids, warm, spaghetti like bass, thick trebles, slightly blunted ... thats how i would describe. I reckon this vid I recorded, jeez, 8 years ago now captures that HB tone i describe above rather well. I reckon strings have as much to do with getting that tone out as much as picks. Preferably well worn strings, PB's. In terms of pick, always used a Gibson mid, but recently found I like the tone of my Bird TV with a thick 1.0mm pick ... but i might try Em7's suggestion to try the light 0.50mm ..

Those Keef chords he hit for a short moment sounded sublime.

Ive recently discovered how my HB TV sounds so much fuller and deeper with a thicker pick. Normally I play with a midium thicked pick around .75mm, but my Bird really responds positively with a 1.33mm pick. Fuller, richer, both strummed and when picked individually. It makes sense as the guitar has that fundamentally flatish tone, and a good, hard pick with some bite can really bring that tone and volume out.

Looks great, sounds pretty average to be honest.

Both still sound very tight to me. Maple guitars need the shite played out of em first to soften em up before reaching that lovelly maple syrup warmth.

Stopped making the J-150 more than 10 years ago. But its a great guitar, Id strongly recommend getting a used one. Its become my favourite Gibson in the herd.

Whatever the guitar, if you want it to play like butter have it professionally set up with an accomodating action.

Always go for tone first, period. You will get used to the looks, quickly, and it will never change. But great tone builds, develops, makes love to you ... go for tone.

oh i hate it when they do that !

yeah, but sometime they put it a little to the left of me ... have to fire their asses for that.

I get my roadies to place it on the floor in large print, afer they put the water around, got the towels ready and soundchecked all the gear.

Know what you mean ... I have a J-150, Dove and J-40 and they get most airtime in that order ...with the J-40 quite a bit down behind the other two. Although the Martin Jumbo has a very unique voice, incredible depth and tone sustain, but just not as fun and versatile as the maple big birds. Im right now moving and was wondering if I only had to take three guitars with me it would be the J-150, Dove and Southern Jumbo. And it had to be just one guitar Id be pretty satisfied just with the J-150.

Not a fan of the J-35 here. I find the tone to be far too light and thin, Ive never played a J-45 Studio. However in that lower range price the model that I found to be BY FAR the best in terms of tone was always the J-15, which I find gives the J-45 standard a real run for its money.

Ive always found a huge difference in sound from a standard Hummingbird to the premium ones, ie Vintage, True Vintage. Its worth the extra cash in my opinion.

so you finally got the J-200 you always coveted mate ? I remember you talking about owning one years ago on the AGF .. well done matey ! As a side note i would ignore what the pricing says now. give it a month or two, wait till we go into a deep recession. its gonna be nasty but one upside is that guitar prices will drop drastically, in particular the used ones.

Thanks for listening guys. Its a pretty sloppy job listening to it a bit later, timing not quite right but I got into the mood and thought, why not ? Yes, the Dove is a beast, it has a grittier, rockier tone compared to the maple super jumbo which is more lush, balanced. Both are amazing. Along with the Southern Jumbo its the three Gibsons in my stable that get 90% of air time.

I got inspired by the Super moon to record one of my favourite Australian songs of the 80's from The Church .. Under The Milky Way. Recorded with the Dove this time ... a bit of full moon fun.

Id suggest J-15 if on a budget or a J-45 True Vintage with some years on it if willing to spend a bit more. Both are superb guitars.