zombiewuff

I watched the video. I think the LP sounded a little more beefy, the Tele a little more twangy, pretty much as expected. They both sound good. My only ‘native’ P-90 instrument is a ‘59 Gibson EM-150 mandolin. Not a guitar, but it truly screams! On the other hand, I pulled the humbuckers out of my SG to replace them with P-94s (basically a P-90 that fits an HB cavity,). It also screams! To come full circle, I put the 498 humbucker from the bridge position of my SG into the neck position of my Fat-Tele (Fender Texas Special at the bridge). Guess what, it screams, too! (Although it does need some dialing in, the 498 is really hot at the neck.) Do I have a point that’s relevant to this video, no, not really. Maybe it’s just that screaming electrics that also sound good clean are GOOD. I like single coils.

I necro-ed a months old thread recently and was pretty embarrassed by the newb mistake. I’ve been registered on the current forum since ‘07, but have been away a long while. With the pandemic, I’ve had time to play more, and have been reading and posting a little.

I know his Bluesbreakers recordings, and the early Fleetwood Mac material, but nothing later than that. I’d welcome recommendations for must listens after that period. It’s funny now, but when I was a young punk, I thought “The Green Manalishi (With the Two Prong Crown)‘ was a Judas Priest song. It was years later before I discovered it was a cover.

Buke, congrats on the pickup! I just scored a 2005 SG bass myself. I’m mostly a guitar player, but actually picked up bass first. I had an Epiphone double-scroll as a kid back in ‘81. It was on loan from my school’s concert band. It came with an Ampeg tube head (pretty sure it was an SVT 300) and a 4x10 cabinet. I remember it was a monster! More recently, I’ve mostly been doing modeling. I had been using Native Instruments’ Guitar Rig from the beginning, but that has been abandon-ware for several years, now. I still keep an older MacBook Pro on hand, paired with some studio reference monitors. The bass amps and presets in that still sound good to my ear. I just received (finally) the Positive Grid Spark ‘smart amp’. It has bass models, too, but I don’t have enough time on it to offer an opinion yet.

There seem to be several recommendations here for both the J-200 and the L-00. I would not argue with either, but I’m going to go on a little side-tangent. About 15 years ago there was a very nice new J-200 in the ‘select’ room of a local guitar shop. I had played it enough on multiple visits to know that I really, really liked it. Finally, I was ready to pull the trigger. I was in the shop with the cash in my pocket. I played it again, and it was everything I remembered. As I hung it back on the wall my eye caught on another big maple Gibson. It was a J-185EC, with beautiful flame maple sides and back. I thought I may as well do an A/B comparison, you know, due diligence and all. I went home with the J-185EC. My recommendation to the OP is to try and find a used J-185EC from the early to mid-2000s, the ones with the mustache bridge and abalone inlays. The cutaway gives easy access to the upper frets, and the tone is amazing. Moreover, Gibson labeled this one the ‘Blues King Electro’, right in your wheelhouse. I have an L-00 Blues King that sits on a stand right next to my desk. I probably play it more than any of my guitars, and love it. That said, nothing puts a bigger smile on my face than my big, bright, maple J-185EC.

I have one of the short run of GA-5 Les Paul Junior amps that Gibson put out in the mid ‘00s. I bought it new, but it has been gathering dust for years. I had switched to modeling mostly, and then stopped playing as much as I once did. With all of the stay at home time because of Covid, I’ve been playing a lot more lately, mostly acoustic. I finally got around to cleaning up and restringing a couple of my electrics. I dusted off the little GA-5 and rediscovered what a gem this little amp really is. My SG with single coil P-94s and my 335 with ‘57s both sound absolutely fantastic through it! Best of all, I picked up a 1959 Gibson EM-150 mandolin with a P-90 back in May. It’s tone through this little GA-5 is simply amazing!

@derek R, I know what you mean about trying to capture the maple figuring in photos. I have the same problem. My '06 Beale Street Blue 335 looks much nicer in real life.

With the bridge placement of a 12 fret you might expect a somewhat deeper voice with greater projection. That is one sweet looking instrument, though. --

I'll second the J185EC suggestion. It's a fantastic all-round player. I was actually on the hunt for a J200 when I found mine. --

I'll never let go of mine. Also, you might want to review this thread from a few months back: http://forums.gibson.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=17197 Cheers.

I wouldn't. A 'bird from that era, even without a label, can have it's provenance reasonably determined from other factors. If on the other hand you add a non-original label, you simply introduce doubt as to the veracity of it's authenticity.

Very nice. What year is it? In the current incarnation Gibson has done away with that mustache bridge (a mistake in my opinion, but they didn't ask me.) Post a pick of the back if you get a chance.

If my J185-12 were a sports car she'd be a garage princess. For some reason I play this one rather infrequently. Maybe that's just the nature of having a twelve-string; nevertheless, it may be the most satisfying guitar I own. It's only every couple of weeks that I'll pull it out, but it's always a brilliant rediscovery at that moment - more so than for any guitar I play. A quest-worthy grail indeed! I wanted to post to this thread the other day, but didn't have any photos. Had a moment for a quick few this afternoon. Poor lighting, camera set to auto - I'm afraid that they really just don't do the subtle flame maple justice.

I'd detune if I was shipping or traveling long distance with a guitar, but usually leave them tuned at 440 Hz in a controlled environment. On the other hand, I generally keep my J185-12 tuned down a half step. Even though I have read that the Bozeman guitars don't have the same bridge pull/top warp problems of the old B-25's, you can never be too careful. That's a lot of strings! Side note: zeebee, I've admired your avatar for a while now. Interesting to note that a family member was the artist.

This one seems to have varied quite a bit over the years. Most have maple sides and back, but I've seen rosewood models as well. They have changed the bridge on the most recent incarnation. Mine is the old-style mustache bridge like eots'. The specs on the current model list double A sitka spruce top and curly maple side and back, but mine is solid AAA flame maple and sitka. I haven't seen a laminate back, but will bow to shrimer's expertise on the old Nashville edition; however, I have come across specs that included a four-ply spruce top for the model. Given all of the variables, I guess the J185EC might be hit or miss, but mine's definitely a keeper: great projection without being too bright, seductively playable neck, and spot-on intonation - drop dead gorgeous to boot.