J185cat
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Posts posted by J185cat
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Interesting BSB. by the way a friend of mine over in Rocky Mount has a slope D hog Bourgeois that i have played a few times. Not sure if that what you reference in your post. I have not played a version of your J45 never even seen one around here but based on my experience with the Bourgeois I strongly suspect I would prefer the J45. Enjoy.
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Really neat find Dave. Got to say I am not as big a fan of those sunburst back then.
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I am truly amazed by this find. I am so glad it “found” you. If one were inclined to think this way they might say it was meant to be.
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Think I could just stare at that guitar all day. Wow.
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My definition of early has been anywhere from 3 to 6 years to hear a difference and then gradually until one day 15 years later you go “man this guitar sounds really really good.” Highly scientific! I had a 94 Centennial Jumbo that my wife gave me and that thing was tight and brittle sounding when she gave it to me. If not for being a gift I probably would not have kept it. But in three years it had changed greatly and today i am glad I kept it. Had a koa J185 that i sold after about 5 years and I don’t think that guitar had”opened” up much at all. They all seem to have their own timeline. Would be interesting to hear what some other like DaveF who have opened lots of guitars has experienced. It’s all fun ain’t it?
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My limited observations with modern guitars is that this function is somewhat logarithmic. In other words the greatest gains are early but then the improvements continue on a slower rate. So decades are required to get to that 90 plus percent level.
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JT I am sure you have thought about this but these guitars which are apart of “Americana” need to survive and be around long past all of us for future generations. At 69 years I have already thought about that. Don’t want so sound so fatalistic but hope you have a plan for preservation. In the mean time keep publishing this incredible history that you are in touch with,
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Thanks for the feedback on the festival, i have only been as a spectator so would not have encountered some of the issues you did. I have heard that there is better organization now than that first year but can’t say myself. I did once get to play an original AJ at Lowes Vintage but it had been refinished so don’t think that fully counts. However, it was still amazing. Didn’t have mine there so no A/B but i have been around long enough to know that a 2003 guitar is NOT going to sound like one built in 1936 no matter what woods were used. I don’t get to GA much anymore, lived in ATL for awhile back in the 70’s. Asheville, maybe. You familiar with Gary from Bee Three guitars? Sounds like he has some nice ones also but your collection is just off the charts. One other thing, last year I bought a custom shop D28 that has an Adi top and it is amazing how much the top on mine looks like yours. Some really nice Adi on both.
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Hey tpbiii why don’t you bring some of those awesome Gibsons down to Raleigh this week for the IBMA Bluegrass Festival. It is an grand gathering of bluegrass music. I am sure that I and BoSoxBiker can take care of you and maybe we can compare your incredible original AJ to my BRW version. Could be interesting.
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I have an ES137 in “Blueburst”. Think they would make a good duo. Some of those color stained guitars don’t work for me but I like this version of the Bird. Congrats and let us know how she sounds.
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Would be interesting to see what JT has to say about this one. Thanks, enjoyed seeing that.
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I opened a 93 Gospel and currently have a99 HBird. Don’t know how the inspired by HBird compares so I can’t do an exact comparison, What i can say is i sold the Gospel and have regretted that decision often. Does not mean i liked it more than the HBird just that it was a fun, light weight guitar with a balanced tone, The HBird is all HBird, mellow with plenty of depth and just damn addictive. Not much help i know other than to say you can’t go wrong here.
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I can leave the string on my AJ seemingly forever and be just fine. However I too change strings on the Bird much more often. Maybe scale length does have something to do with it.
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Just listened to the podcast and it was great. A side note, I let my 88 year old mother-in-law read the book, she absolutely loved it and has started asking questions about my guitars. Next time she is here in Raleigh she wants me to show her all of my guitars and tell her about them and their differences. Also enjoyed the playing by the way, could keep on listening. Thanks again for bringing this important story to light.
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As you suggest Zombywoof, there really isn’t a set formula and since i suck at it I am not a good resource. One thing I have always had in the back of my mind is balance and that describes the J185 to a tee. The good thing here is how could you go wrong, j45 or J185. Life is good!
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My experience with my J185 was pretty different from your strummer vs finger picker info. Now my J185 was Koa and not maple but to me it was a great guitar for finger style but for me my J45 was what i wanted in a strummer. Since i mostly flat pick I sold the J185. However those early James Taylor albums make a pretty good case for the J45 as a finger style guitar don’t they? Play both if you can.
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I would be very concerned that some lubricants could damage the nitro finish if they got on them. Not being a chemist or knowing what is in all of them I couldn’t say which. We all know the stories of mosquito repellent with DEET. Anybody have any ideas or am I just being overly cautious?
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I have two guitars with this type of saddle, a 94 Centennial Jumbo and an AJ. I have used both methods to lower the saddle. To me it depends on how much you need to remove. On the 94 i just removed a small amount so i took it from the bottom. Easy to do. The AJ needed a little more so i took a compass and ran the metal edge along the top of the bridge and traced the radius just blow as a guide, Took my time and it went great, Neither of these were glued in and i have never had any issues.
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A good question BSB and the answer may be useful to all of us. I can’t directly answer since I don’t have any torrified top guitars. I do have two guitars with red spruce tops one of which has almost 19 years of playing on it now. Both are over rosewood. My observations on those are that there is the obvious volume and dynamics difference but i believe it actually parts a warmer sound to the rosewood, which can be a good thing. If the torrified RS acts the same maybe that would not be good for maple?
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What I see in the photo looks like a crack maybe in the side of the nut? Is that what you are talking about? If so, are you sure it’s a crack? Could it be excess lacquer that got on the edge? Just guessing.
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I have an ES137, and old (1970) Ovation Tornado which is not the round back, its semi-hollow body and also an 81 Les Paul Std. I just keep them all in the case in the same room with my acoustics. The Ovation is in excellent condition despite spending time my dorm room. Never done anything special to any other than making sure they were not exposed to temperature extremes. Of course LP is built like a rock so nothing to do there really. I bought the LP at a music store here in Raleigh that is no longer in business called Audio Light and Musical. Went in one Saturday morning and a kid had just traded in on some other guitar that had a tremolo on it because that’s what Eddie Van Halen had. Les Pauls were a little bit out of favor at the time so I got it for $385.00. Probably the best guitar purchase I ever made. Just an interesting aside.
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You can schedule a 15 minute zoom call with Gibson Repair and Restoration and they can give you opinions on the extent and cost. No obligation either. Really nice service Gibson is offering now and yes, of course they are hoping to get more business from this, it’s a business!
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No matter whether you guys feel you need to be thanked for your service or not, I say thanks to you both and all who served. By the way Sgt. Pepper. My cousin is running around Hampton Rd’s playing his mother’s pre-war D18. He goes by Chip.
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Not the exact comparison by any means but i had a Sitka/Koa J185. First, one of the most comfortable guitars to play a you will ever pickup. That body shape is great. Mine did not have the volume or bass that my J45’s have but did have a wonderful, refined sound. Seems to fit with what you described as your playing style. I have two guitars with red spruce tops and red spruce does add another dimension of volume and complexity to the sound so that could be real interesting. If you do get the opportunity to try it I would love to hear what you think. Of course everyone needs to have at least one J45 and a complimentary guitar😊! Best of luck with your decision.
House-on-fire guitar....
in Gibson Acoustic
Posted
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.”