J185cat

I have a Martin that came with a satin finish neck. At first I was not sure about that but quickly realized I liked how smoothly it played. I’ve owned the guitar about 2.5 years and have noticed that just from playing and wiping down with a guitar cloth (no polish) it has become more like semi-gloss. So if you have a faded/VOS whatever and use a polish on it you may over time see some subtle change.

Your comments regarding the J185 petty much mirror the experiences I had with mine although mine was Koa and not maple. I really wanted to love that guitar but it just didn’t quite work for me.

One thing about it DaveF, you certainly should know what you like and don’t like after owning all those guitars. Wow!

How goes one even define what “best” means in a guitar? Wouldn’t that depend on the player, their style of playing and tonal preference? I’m sure you could use some things like fit and finish as a little more measurable quantity but after that it gets subjective. Never heard of them but i have no doubt they are fine guitars.

Leave it in the case and shipping materials and it should be okay. Tell your friend to be patient when he gets it and let it come up to room temperature. Sudden temperature changes are risky.

I have my Dad’s 99 Bird. It is one of the easiest playing guitars i have ever played. When the mood calls for theHB, nothing else can substitute. I have tried numerous different strings on mine but keep going back to D’Addario’s. What are some of you using on yours?

There are not a lot of acoustic guitars I would like with that blue finish but for some reason i love it on the HB. Nice pair of guitars.

I agree with Jinder’s thoughts about a J45. Certainly would be a change from the D35. And the J45 is a very versatile guitar also.

I owned a 2005 Koa J185. It also had an ebony fretboard instead of rosewood. But i have to say my experience was quite different than yours. First it was one of the easiest playing guitars I have owned or played. Second and one of the reason I sold it was I wanted a guitar with a little bit deeper/stronger bass. I’m just an old chord banger and I thought the J185 was just too refined for me if that makes sense. I enjoyed listening to it when someone else played it more than playing it myself. That said it was a very balanced and beautiful guitar. Occasionally I wish i could play it again but replaced it with a J45 and am satisfied with the change.

Humbuckers on a Hummingbird? Ok

I echo what Dave F just said. I have had good results from their warranty service but yeah it is slow. Real slow.

Excellent. Enjoy.

Can’t help you with the case but played one of those years ago and really enjoyed it. If you list the measurements I’m sure someone on here could probably be of help.

Even if the price were no object I would just have to pass on this one. But, each to his own. If this is the one that grabs you, then it is right.

That one is a winner. Cannot believe how great it looks.

Gibson also has a restoration and repair service in Nashville. Typically this would be for instruments that you return to them but who knows, may be worth contacting them to see if 1) they have anything like that or 2) if they would sell just a part. Good luck, hope you get her back right.

May very well be one of the “Mystic Rosewood” AJ’s. The tunners look to be Waverly’s. This is a very nice guitar. Do you research>

Let us know how this turns out,

I keep wondering if doing this could affect the warranty on an original owner guitar? Especially if any issues occurred around the bridge. Thoughts?

They also did shoe repair but the guy did a really good job. And when he saw the name Gibson on the case, eyes got wide and he wanted to know all about the guitar. However I don’t think he had any idea what an AJ was.

Some years back the combination lock/latch on my AJ case broke. After some research I found that TKL had an office in Virginia. I called them, described the problem and the sold me a new one over the phone. When i got it I took the case and new lock to a local shop that repairs luggage. The did a great repair job and no issues since.

If you cannot find a good local shop Gibson has a repair/restoration shop in Nashville that does good work although they are slow. Get this done right and you should be good to go.

My AJ is by far my favorite guitar. They have that deep resonance you noted but are not boomy sounding, just beautiful. Think you will get used to the scale length pretty quickly. Congrats and darn, now I want a beer.

I am a fan of Red Spruce. I have two guitars with that top, a Gibson AJ and a Martin D28. I have not had a lot of opportunities to play other AJ’s so trying to say what the difference is with RS vs Sitka is difficult but my ears hear a crystal clear tone with lots of headroom. I play hard, too hard actually and it just does not compress. Similar for the Martin, mostly more volume but I don’t notice the”boominess” i have heard in some D28 or D35’s. Maybe the RS keeps that under control? One consideration, my experience is it does take RS some time to loosen up when new>

This one is easy for me. My Luthiers Choice AJ. If something happened to it I would be devastated. For my taste it just has the perfect combo of deep, rich resonance with the right touch of Gibson “crunch.”