J185cat
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Posts posted by J185cat
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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.
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6 hours ago, Jinder said:
J185s are lovely guitars but are surprisingly different to J180s. I owned a J180 for a while and found it a totally different animal to a J185, possibly because of the large pickguards. The 180 was a beast of a guitar for rhythm work and had an appealing tone for jazz comping as the shorter sustain gave it a response more like an archtop than a traditional flat top. It was a great guitar to sing with as it was rich and detailed but not overly loud or dominant in any particular frequency. Extremely balanced, and under heavy pick attack it would compress really nicely.
J185s have similar balance but are louder, brighter and have longer sustain with a quicker response.. A little more brash (for want of a better word…not unpleasantly so) for rhythm work and with less of a sense of natural compression when played hard. I have found a J185 to be an excellent all-rounder and very good for fingerstyle playing but perhaps less well suited for vocal accompaniment than the J180.
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.
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One thing about it DaveF, you certainly should know what you like and don’t like after owning all those guitars. Wow!
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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.
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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.
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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?
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2 hours ago, Twang Gang said:
I have one that I bought new in 2020. I haven't played the standard or 60s fixed bridge historic so cannot tell you how they compare. I do love mine, to me it sounds like a Hummingbird should. Cosmetically it came flawless from Sweetwater. I tend to put 80/20 bronze strings on which gives it a little brighter (but not much) sound than the phosphor strings. I like it so much that a year later when I found a limited run maple body version I bought that as well. I love them both, but the original is the one I play most often.
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.
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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.
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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.
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8 hours ago, J-1854Me said:
I was once directed to a Gibson Authorized Repair center in the Seattle area -- this was years ago! -- and the dude answering the phone there wanted to know "how many pickups did my Hummingbird have?".......
Yikes.
Usually, Gibson repair has been good, even great, but I did have one very disappointing experience where the incorrect sunburst was applied and the incorrect pickguard installed on a Custom Shop guitar. Still can't get to loving that guitar much since the messed it up!
Fred
Humbuckers on a Hummingbird? Ok
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I echo what Dave F just said. I have had good results from their warranty service but yeah it is slow. Real slow.
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Excellent. Enjoy.
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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.
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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.
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That one is a winner. Cannot believe how great it looks.
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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.
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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>
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Let us know how this turns out,
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I keep wondering if doing this could affect the warranty on an original owner guitar? Especially if any issues occurred around the bridge. Thoughts?
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17 minutes ago, DanvillRob said:
I think I need to find a luggage repair shop!
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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>
NGD 2020 J45 Rosewood, Limited Edition Custom Shop Build
in Gibson Acoustic
Posted
I have a 2016 RW J45 (Custom) that has a vine inlay on the head stock and what you may call snowflake inlays on the fretboard. So yeah they do a lot of different stuff on these. Cant see the headstock well enough to comment on that but my 94 Centennial Jumbo has the more narrow, old style headstock.
My 2016 J45 is the easiest playing acoustic I have ever played. I like a low action and this thing is fantastic straight out of the box. The build quality is top notch, perfect. And best of all, it sounds great. Just as you described. I have a custom shop D28 with Adi top and scalloped Adi braces set in the “golden era” configuration. Incredible sounding guitar but the J45 RW is right there, just different.