fortyearspickn

Even Dr. Pepper knows the SJ (Southern Jumbo) is a J45.

Woody Guthrie would be in the Top Ten - if you want to go back that far. But, based on your nom de plume, I'm guessing you knew that.

C, Welcome and Congrats! Some of the better known models are what they are today because they gained a toe hold decades ago at periods when the guitar market experienced groundswells of people buying and playing guitars. The Hummingbird is a good example. Like the automobile - after the market became defined and solidified, there were only a few makers and each only had a few models. There was a quote, true or not, attributed to Henry Ford's Model T - "You can have any color you want as long as it's black." years ago, With changes in manufacturing processes and marketing it became possible to produce a dozen models instead of just three. The 'late to the party' models are not less 'desirable', from a standpoint of tone, playability or appearance. They just have history working against them. The J45 is probably the most commonly seen acoustic guitar on stages - so that implants and furthers the message of it being more desirable. The Songwriter is a stellar guitar and variations of it - like yours, are as well. Post your New Guitar Day message, including what song your play first on it!

SBP - very impressive: classy, classic, iconic even !

I think the therapists are all booked into next year. We're going to have to take up Goat Yoga.

Our 12 y/o Lab had a stroke earlier this year. Stopped eating. Vet confirmed he could not live any form of a decent life - I sat with him. Could barely see with the tears in my eyes to find my way to the car where my wife sat crying. Four days later, our 9 y/o German Shepard started passing blood and stopped eating and drinking. Different vet - an ER Vet. Said we shouldn't even think about bringing her back home because she was going to start suffering bad quickly. Cancerous tumor on the spleen burst. I stayed with her too. It makes you numb. Easily the worst week of my life. One thing I learned - they cried and whined so much when we brought them to the kennels before going on trips - I'll never do that again.

I think we're exempted from Lent once we get to our age.

Read somewhere guitar techs cleaning up gunky fretboards will use super fine steel wool. So, I think an only 95% cotton cloth would be ok - probably better than 100% . That said, I only use flannel on my guitars. What'd I do today? well, yesterday - I held a 'field day' on my banjo - metal polish imbued cloth on the chrome parts: getting under the brackets, etc. Might have brushed up against the maple rim a few hundred times - but I'm sure it's OK.

I think, if I ever played/won the lottery, that 'Vette would be The One I'd look for. Not take it out on slushy, salty roads in Central Mass, where we use to live. More of those classics probably died of black ice syndrome. The ones with 427s and 454s tended to not make it to old age - too fast for the average driver! My friends brother had a mid-60s one with those coves. And the local Chevy dealership had them lined up out front. Different colors - looked like Matchbox toys. Later, with eyes bigger than my wallet - I bought a 15 year old '75 StingRay for $5K . I spent that much keeping it running. No AC in Houston, remove the T-tops in summer and it got much hotter. The transmission was hot enough to turn the outside of your right leg red if you leaned up against it. I loved that car: "Speeding Ticket Red". That was my Second Childhood... patiently waiting for my 3rd to kick in. Or, to win the lottery.

Really. isn't the Internet wonderful !?

Safer is not a 'relative concept'. Whether it is tap water, vaccines or firearms. And, it has been demonstrated that oil pipelines are safer and 'greener'. You are conveniently ignoring the carbons spewed by those millions of truck and trains.

"Its sad we can no longer go to a beautiful country like Mexico any more an feel safe on vacation." So true. Very sad. (Second time this year I've agreed with Dr.P - I'm going to put myself in time out now. ) Does Mexico still have a war on drugs, or is it the other way around? Maybe they should legalize all drugs. Then the cartels' business will dry up.

HEY !! COOL - THE NEW FORUM UPDATE PUTS A LITTLE NOTE IN THERE WHEN SOMEONE IS REVIVING A ZOMBIE THREAD '3 years later' ( Seems some of the old members posting above have been gone longer!) Janko, Nope - I don't know. It's probably within a gnats whisker of some of the specs noted above. Bozeman sends their guitars out with action on the hi side, because it's easier to lower than raise. Just get yours to where you like it. A new guitar should always get a set-up.

Amusingly, in another thread we have critics decrying the prices of exquisite guitars being made by Ren, while here we have a round of complaints about the elimination of a model on the other end of the price spectrum - and a few digs at Gibson's middle of the road iconic workhorse. I guess Social Media / forums lend themselves to this. (Funny how no one on this forum has ever been asked to join the Board of Directors at Gibson. )

It pains me to agree with the good Doctor on this one.

Took covering off tangerine tree. 3 years old, 8 feet high: Dead as a doornail. Three sheets and a string of Christmas tree lights can't protect you from 14 degree temps. Plumeria dead too. Insanity is repeatedly doing the same thing and expecting different results. Good news though, local Double AA Minor League team released their schedule - 60 home games starting in mid-May. Last season was a non-starter. All new people in the back office, hoping I can get my regular Season Ticket Holder Seat, with the creative 6 foot social distancing seating assignments. 7th Largest US cities, cases dropping significantly - zero deaths yesterday.

Unless you can draw perfectly straight lines freehand - 10x, when you do this, you'll find your hand, wrist, elbow move and cause you to lean the blank piece a little side to side. So you'll find the bottom edge isn't rounded and it doesn't sit perfectly flat in the saddle slot in the bridge, even though you were sanding it on a perfectly flat surface. I build a little slotted guide to slide the blank back and forth in to make sure there's no wobbling. Whether a raw blank, or fine-tuning a Colosi saddle - something to consider. YMMV.

SBP, How did you determine the wear was at the 9th fret? I can't tell from the one photo, but I'm probably missing something. Fret markers at 3, 5, 7 and 9 usually.

Oh, and I don't know if my SJ200 is 'quieter' than a Martin J40 - because I don't have one. But it's quieter than my H'Bird and my J45. Or maybe more 'mellow' would be a better way of putting it.

Sarge, ComeOnMan. Even you have to admit that you go overboard about your Martins 10x more than anyone else here. You post several times a day about your Martins. Complain about Gibsons, don't own a Gibson Acoustic, and make comments like the one above without having been prodded or poked. As has been said here - "Do you go on a Chevy Lovers Site and bash Chevys and praise Fords daily? " It's sort of disrespectful.

Do you wear rings on your fretting hand?

Format improved here on my laptop also. Functionality seems to have been improved too. Thanks Gibson!

Congrats on a NGD that can't be beat! I can see why folks rave about the old LG-2s now. Wonder if the extra-hi humidity in the South Pacific affected it when it was 'new'.

I agree - a big ugly washer on the face of the headstock can be, well, ugly. Especially detract if you have an upgrade there - like the flower pot inlay or an abalone Dove... but the advantage to the washer - I would assume - is to provide stability to the tuning post. So, like a lot of things in life, a trade-off.

IconclastTX - you've got yourself an icon ! Beauty-full. The grain in that spruce is exceptionally amazing ! Welcome Aboard !