gearbasher

Does anyone have an email address for Gibson in Montana? I have a few questions about my J-45 Flamed Maple LTD and I contacted Gibson's customer service twice. The first time was about six months ago and then again about a week ago. I never received a response. I'm thinking the people at Montana would be more responsive and more qualified to answer my questions. Thanks.

From what I'm reading, the two year warranty is for the Gibson Demo Shop and Mod Collection guitars. All other Gibson and Gibson Custom still have the lifetime warranty.

This is where the first stick pad on my '06 J-45 is placed. Upper bout/bases side. You can see where it is in relation to the volume control. I wouldn't know if they changed the placement over the years. But, knowing Gibson, the wire placement is probably random in every guitar. Here's the second one. Placed just passed the waist on the lower bout.

You reminded me of the a verse in David Allen Coe song, "You Never Even Call Me by My Name". (spoken:) Well, a friend of mine named Steve Goodman wrote that song, and he told me it was the perfect country and western song. I wrote him back a letter and I told him it was not the perfect country and western song because he hadn't said anything at all about momma, or trains, or trucks, or prison or gettin' drunk. Well, he sat down and wrote another verse to this song and he sent it to me and after reading it I realized that my friend had written the perfect country and western song. And I felt obliged to include it on this album. The last verse goes like this here: Well, I was drunk the day my momma got out of prison, And I went to pick her up in the rain. But before I could get to the station in the pick-up truck, She got runned over by a damned old train.

Not to take away from Paul AKA Rev. Tim, but on the other end of the spectrum, Ted Danson's character (a reformed demon on "The Good Place") is trying to learn to play guitar. Of course it's a Gibson.

If I'm correct in assuming the 50s models were built without a headstock veneer, I think they will all show the small cracks eventually as the nitro cures and temp and humidity get to them. If it really bothers you then my advice is to buy a different model and stay away from the 50s models.

A photo of a 1950 J-50 headstock. 1950 j-50 It appears there was no veneer on them in the 50s. I would guess to keep it close to original, there would be none on the new ones. Hence, the "wings" showing through. Photo of a new 50s J-45 for sale. Looks like the same thing on the bass side of the headstock. 50s J-45 headstock wildwireguitars.com

You asked about defects on a new guitar. I ordered an SJ-45 Deluxe back in 1994. I waited 5-7 months for it. Beautiful guitar, but the fingerboard looked like they started sawing the fret slots in the wrong place then move the saw over about 2mm. In other words, at every fret the rosewood had a groove about 2mm running parallel to the fret. I sent it back and I got the same guitar back. After the repair, it looked like the defect was never there. I've also seen a number of Guilds on show room floors with the bridges starting to lift.

To the OP: See post #3 https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=480291

Apples and oranges, but out of curiosity, I measured my J-45s side dots with a digital caliper and I get the 2.38 mm zomby mentions above. Disclaimer: My eyes ain't what they used to be.

Hope this makes you feel better. My J-45 I've had a few Gibson acoustics where the lacquer chipped off the side of the nut. Even had one where the lacquer came completely off and there was a small "crescent moon" of missing lacquer just under the nut on the wood.

Back in the late 60s early 70s, when my older brother played some Creedence, my mom would yell at him, "turn that noise off". Later in life, when she was in her 70s-80s, she loved Creedence. So, guess nothing is set in stone.

I had an ES-175 that I bought new in 1988 (sold it last year). I think I played the thing twice. It was stored in it's case in an attic closet that saw temps ranging from about 60 degrees to 100 degrees and humidity from 30% to 70%. When I sold it, the shop owner said he never saw a cleaner looking 30 y.o. guitar. The thing look as good as the day I bought it. Don't try this at home, kids.

I don't play this guitar very much. Hell, I don't play very much at all these days. At one point, I had 14 guitars ( 10 Gibsons) all in the same room. Nothing like this ever happened. As far as too snug. I just put a layer of plastic wrap over the tacky spot. Then I put a piece of polishing cloth on top of that. Because, I don't know if the nitro will react with the plastic wrap. The case closed easily. So, I guess it wasn't too snug. I don't think there was a reaction to the neck finish. It just looked like what I would describe as a thick "tape residue" on the neck. Some Gibson polish took it right off. There is, now, no evidence it was ever there.

Here's a photo of the case. The best I can do. I guess you can see where the tackiness is. I already cleaned the neck. As far as conditions. The guitar was out of the case maybe a month ago. I've kept it in the same room for all it's life. That room does see temps from 65 to 90 degrees depending on time of year. The only thing I can think of is about a week ago it went from 70 to 90 degrees in 12 hours. But after 15 years, you would think the glue has dried permanently. I guess I'll have to put something there to prevent this. I'm guessing some plastic wrap and a piece of polishing cloth.