J185cat
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Posts posted by J185cat
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29 minutes ago, RBSinTo said:
Gearbasher,
Thanks for the information.
Your answer indicates that my j-45 could have been built with factory installed electronics that were subsequently removed.
RBSinTo
If it is of any interest to you I can recommend one of those Colossi wooden end pins to replace the jack. If it doesn’t matter, then you probably have your priorities in order so play on!
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3 hours ago, Silversurfer said:
Start by removing all the strings completely. If you just don’t want a UST under the saddle, remove the saddle and you see the Element UST. It’s a thin braided wire. Use toothpick or mini screw driver to lift it up. You can then just push the Element through its hole in the saddle slot, replace the saddle with a slightly taller one and just let the Element “hang” inside the guitar. The clips hold the rest of the wires, so it’s not going anywhere and if you ever want to put it back, just push it back up through the hole.
If you want to take out the whole thing permanently, do the same as above, unscrew the endpin jack cover and remove the nut at the endpin jack. To remove the volume/tone control, push a razor blade to cut between the volume/ tone control and guitar - come at it from different angles and it’ll pop right off. Remove the battery and bag and if you want, remove the wiring clips. You’ll need a large oversized endpin to plug the hole. Bob Colossi makes a nice wood one. It requires a bit of sanding to fit, but it looks much better than the Stew Mac gizmo.
On one of my J45’s I did just as you described by pulling the UST back into the body of the guitar and then using a small wire tie I strapped it to some of the other wires so it wouldn’t rattle around in there. I did this just in case I ever decided to sell the guitar, it would be easy to undue.
My other J45 I just took everything out except the volume control. After reading your process I may now try that. I also got one of those end pins from Colossi. Apparently he made a few rosewood ones and I got one of those. Just took my time sanding it down to a snug fit and also used very fine grade sandpaper to polish the visible part. Looks great! Really nice write up by the way.
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1 hour ago, dhanners623 said:
I had the Baggs Element system removed from my 2016 J-35. It’s a good pickup, but I just don’t like 9V batteries in my guitars. Had the endpin jack replaced with a NoJak endpin from StewMac. It was a great move for the guitar; it just felt lighter and the top seemed more vibrant. Now, if I need to amplify it, I use a Baggs M1.
One note of caution, though — The Element’s tone and volume control was actually glued to the underside near the soundhole. I thought it would’ve been stuck on with double-sided tape, but the shop that did the work (St. Paul Guitar Repair in St. Paul, MN) said it was actually glued in. They figured Gibson was finding the double-sided tape wasn’t doing the job so they started gluing them in.
When I removed mine the last thing I tried to get was the volume control. I was expecting it to come off easy but when I saw how much resistance there was I decided to just leave it alone. Now I understand.
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I have done this to one of my J45’s. Simply pulled the UST back down into the body and started clipping wires. I also replaced the end jack with a rosewood end pin that I bought from Bob Colossi. I had a new bone saddle and fitted that up to my desired height. The only thing I left was the volume pot as I was afraid I would damage the wood near the sound hole removing it. Never have regretted it and yes this should be an option.
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So my answer needs more explanation also. I picked one month for the two I play most often. Others could be more like 3 to 4 months. I don’t use coated on any, I keep trying to like them but it just doesn’t work for me. The D’Addarios have come closest so far.
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10 hours ago, ksdaddy said:
I've built a few instruments. My first 'all acoustic' guitar build was a 17" archtop. I had no clue what I was doing, trying to carve the top. I did it but made some pretty bad mistakes. Obviously I used flatsawn wood for the top. It came from the frame of a 70s waterbed. I figured I'd practice on it before I spent $125 (at the time) on a spruce blank for the top. I spent so much time carving it that I decided to use it anyway. It's still thicker than it should be so it's lacking in much tone. The back vibrates more than the top I think. If I hold it close to my belly, I can choke a lot of sound out of it. My biggest screwups were the shallow neck angle and not enough taper on the neck width. Kinda hard to fix either. From 2005 to 2009 I built a thin body electric, this arch top, two mandolins, and a long neck banjo. I haven't built anything since 2009. I started building a violin from scratch but got discouraged. The pieces are in a box somewhere. I keep saying I will build another "something" someday. No idea what. I know nothing I could ever build would re-invent the wheel, so I shy away from another build, knowing that my best effort won't be on par with the average Chinese $200 guitar.
Putting that aside, one huge block for me is lack of access to a thickness sander. The sides on my thin body electric and this archtop were put through a thickness sander at a custom woodworking place, trying to get 1/8" down to 0.100" or less. They weren't really set up for tolerances that close but they did it for me anyway. If they were willing to do that for me again, I would be more inclined to start one. I would be very happy making a straight ahead classical, nothing weird, totally respectful of the traditional designs.
Don’t know what she sounds like but that guitar is a stunner to look at. My only foray was a StewMac Strat style with a mahogany body. For some reason I was determined to use nitrocellulose for the finish. Hint, when they tell you not to apply nitro in high humidity, LISTEN. In the end it turned pretty nice.
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3 hours ago, Murph said:
Sal may have a point. My hands are pretty rough from decades of construction, demolition, property maintenance and such, running chainsaws and everything else.
I've spent the last 3 months on a property renovation. 6-7 days a week.
Plus I've owned that J-45 for nearly 20 years, since it was new.
This J-15 is just a pup.
Murph next time I need some sanding done I’m going to send the piece out to you and just get you to rub it down with your hands!
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None of my guitars look like Murph’s or anywhere near that. Maybe that says I don’t play them enough. I do wipe them down every time I play them and occasionally hit them up with Virtuoso Polish. So it seems excessive to me anyway.
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Had a feeling this was where you would end up. Congrats. I have 2 guitars with Adi and love them both. To my old ears they don’t sound harsh at all, more dynamic and clear but both have had a fair amount of play-in time now. Neither top was terrified. Enjoy.
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The Git virus burns strong in you. Unfortunately there is no cure. I am still haunted by a guitar I played at a local shop over ten years ago but could not ‘justify” whatever that means.
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I could listen to that all day. Great job.
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The knowledge that all you guys have about these older guitars never ceases to amaze me. One of the reasons I love being on this site.
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1 hour ago, E-minor7 said:
To avoid any derailing : I was just joking on.
NP E-minor. I mistakenly thought you were jesting me and fortyearspickn for believing the story. I think we were both just remembering the post and had no clue whether it was true. Hey, but you’re good! Maybe should run for office. More stories like that and you may get my vote. Think I’ll play some myself now.
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33 minutes ago, E-minor7 said:
Yes, sir - As many of us will know the 60s Kalamazoo pick-guards were all done with German panzer paint conquered during the Battle of Bulge, brought all the way to Berlin, then flown over the Atlantic in the summer of 1945 and auctioned on the American market as late as 1957. Gibson was fast and bought somewhere between 4 and 500 barrels - plus approxemately 6000 standard cans of white and yellow. 22 employees are reported to have gone down during the work with this material - some hallucinating so strongly they later became rather famous fine artists. A rumour tells that one Kalamazoo decorator after finishing a Dove guard rose on a chair yelling out in the factory hall : I shall personally see to it that this Fender Stratocaster will land in the hands of Jimi Hendrix ! He was later that day taken away in a long white car and ended as Salvador Dali's assistant somewhere in Catalonia, Spain.
So there you have it forty (and J185cat too) - with details especially for you. I had decided not to bring this myth up, but now you asked and hit my weak spot.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Disclaimer - all above the dotted line except the last 2 sentences are made up and have no connection with reality whatsoever.
So all I was saying is that sometime in the past a poster on here claimed that the early guards were painted with some type of WWII German paint. I I have no idea, didn’t work for Gibson back then. Relax, go play some guitar.
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48 minutes ago, fortyearspickn said:
Didn’t a member suggest Gibson needed to use Panzer Paint on their Pickguards?
I believe you are right.
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6 hours ago, E-minor7 said:
You are right - don't think 1999 split them up between Vintage and Standard. The guard may even have been something third. Doesn't turn down my curiosity regarding a picture.
I’m still searching. She did this some years ago and I’m afraid the photo may have been on an old PC that got reformatted. Sad that the paint did not stick because it really did look nice.
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20 hours ago, E-minor7 said:
Would be good to see pictures of this guitar. Before, after, , , and after after. Perhaps it only possible to post an 'after after'. Is it the Vintage model ?
I’ll see what I have before/after. Real busy now with elderly parents on my wife’s side but I will look into it. Not vintage, 1999. But perhaps the easiest playing acoustic I have ever played and all HBird without a doubt.
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So a kinda funny HBird pickguard story. In 2017 I inherited my Dad’s 1999 HB which my wife and I bought for him to replace his older Gib that was lost to the flooding from hurricane Floyd in eastern NC back in 1999. I swear that guitar kept him going a couple years more than he should have. He lived to play that thing. So, the guard was almost completely faded out. My wife is somewhat of an artist and she decided she wanted to repaint the thing. So I got some photos of the guard and let her have a go. The only paint I had that I thought might work was some of those small bottles of model paint like we used to use on model cars etc. She did a phenomenal job. It looked great and I was over the moon. Then, the first time I cleaned the guitar with guitar polish the paint just ran off. Devastated. So that was the last time we messed with it and I now accept it as a badge of former player honor.
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He is a guitar guy. I think this has good potential for the future if the board will actually let him lead the Co.
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I can hear that iconic voice in my head right now. That’s when you know someone was the real deal for me.
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As a previous boat owner (yes I have now achieved the second happiest day, sold it) there was often talk of using ozone generators to remove odors from the interiors of boats and to prevent mold and mildew. I never needed to go that route so I can’t speak directly to the results but the other thing I was always told was not to use the ozone generator for too long because it would begin to attack any plastics. So just wanted to put that out there as a caution in case you get to that point.
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Now this is my kind of politics. The Guitar Party. Murph for Prez!
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Nice. Always good to have at least one short scale you can bond with. They are just so much fun to play. I like the sound of the fuller neck also.
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Just one thought, I assume all the frets are well set? You’ve probably already checked that but no gaps or anything?
Asking/testing your sonic compas & soundwise memory - just curious
in Gibson Acoustic
Posted
You pose some interesting questions and while I am not attempting to answer those I thought a recent experience of mine could be of interest concerning how far digital has advanced. Just this month I replace my old Denon CD player that was one of the first generation of CD players out there. It was a great machine but finally began to have issues. I replaced it with a Marantz CD60 . Before removing the old player I listened to a CD I was very familiar with and then after listened to the same CD again on the new unit. I was immediately impressed with how smooth the sound was. Yes there was more detail, dimension and all the stuff you would expect but it was just so much warmer. Made me realize that after a while of listening with the old Denon I was getting listener fatigue. And this is not a Marantz commercial, I am sure that the difference would be there with any of the newer unit. Progress has been made.