Gibson Artist
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Posts posted by Gibson Artist
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First time back in awhile and i was looking at some Gibsons on Sweetwater and they seemed to be cheaper than the last couple years, especially the acoustics! I swear the j200s were well over 5k and now i look on Sweetwater and they're 4500 and i dont see any special kind of sale, so they lower the 2020 models?
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I like the Dove better myself, but blows it away is opinion and personal preference. Their different tone woods and as such sound different.
I used to gravitate towards rosewoods because of the volume, especially great for fingerpickin. My Taylor and Martin both have rosewood, tons of volume, tho admittedly more on D-28, but the 214 is shockingly good for a laminate and the profile of the cutaway is extremely comfortable. Ive heard people say Maple is a bright sounding tonewood, but the Dove does not sound bright to my ears, not at all. It sounds mellow, smooth, and balanced.
When i said blows away, i meant for my particular taste. Ive been really missing my j-50, the guy who had it drilled a hole in it and when i asked to trade it back, wanted my bass amp, my les paul special, and wanted my taylor. When i had sold it to him for only 1k, he wanted 2500 worth of gear back, and this was after he drilled a hole in it!
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That may have been a small run from the 1990’s.
The most common dove finishes have been: cherry back and sides with natural top or cherry sunburst (orange) and the Elvis Presley Dove model was all black.
I’ve seen very few Doves in “classic” tabacco sunburst.
One can be seen here:
JC
While i am not a fan of the tobacco colour, the sound of that Dove blows the Bird away here. Sure, the bird is loud and a cannon, but the subtle beauty of the Dove and its smooth, mellow feel just sounds like heaven to my ears.
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I'm getting old so I grew up in the Norlin era.
They made some crappy models (just like today) but overall the guitars were just fine.
I recall reading about the ES line back then and what stuck in my head is "they pretty much just left us alone", all of the screwing around was with the solid body electrics.
Acoustics, I have no idea but I've seen some strange stuff from back then.
They fudged up a number of acoustics. I love the slim necks tho, it sucks because today you gotta pay a small fortune to get a vintage reissue for a slim neck. Everything gibson today in acoustics is 1.725 nut width, the 70s had 11/16th slim necks and they played like butter to me. Today, i have to pay thousands to get a neck a like in the Gibson brand.
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I have a 75 sq. shoulder Southern Jumbo 2x bracing and giant bridge plate ……….. but it sounds just fine and always has, so I've kept it. BUT! It's scary when you look inside the sound hole with a mirror and see all that extra wood. Also have a 78/79 The Paul I have hung onto cause it plays and sounds great. BUT! It's a basic slab and no more. Too late to let them go now anyway!
I have heard people on Craigslist swear the 90s Gibsons are 10x better than today and the quality control was much better then, on the rhode island and mass CL 90s gibsons have a Cult like following, people say dont buy new! Well, i bought es 335 new and it was flawless, i even had a friend in a band try it. He loved it, and said it was perfect. The 2010 goldtop i got was played by the guitar guy in the beaver brown band, he said that its a very good one, he loved it. So, maybe sometimes quality control isnt great, and i know Gibson did some mistakes on their acoustics of the 70s, like they always cracked because of something to do with when they sprayed the nitro over the pickguard or something.
Still, if i see a gibson of 70s or modern day, i play it, look at the neck, if its straight, i dont feel any dead frets its usually a keeper to me. I try to judge each guitar on its own merits, rather than disdain an entire era.
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Ive played about 6 norlin era instruments, to be honest, only had 1 bad experience and it was on a country western acoustic that needed a neck reset. The les pauls, (deluxe and custom) both played flawless, and the sg i played looked and sounded great also and i owned a j-50 was spectacular and like a dummy i sold that when i needed cash and not my taylor ugh. Am i missing something here? Ive heard the quality control was very poor those days and that gibson was trying to save money, but nearly every example ive played be it electric or acoustic was great save the one git that needed a reset. Is there any chance these may be collectible one day? So is all the norlin era a little overstated? Will collectors ever come back around on them?
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I got me 2004 Martin D-28 and i believe it has a Bone nut, but couldnt find on the spec sheets what the Saddle is made of? I dont feel like joining a Martin forum just for one question, seems kind of silly. Was wondering if anyone here knows? I think its plastic and i believe some kind of bone saddle should be in its place. Also wondered do the nut and saddle need to be the same bone material? Id like to get the most out of my high end git, and tho ive never replaced a saddle on a guitar, this is probably the one time i would. Here is a picture.
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It may sound good but is it 80's butt ugly.
Hey fz, the Natural one is actually pretty sweet looking. Btw, i tried a 1970 d28, holy @#$% that thing was a cannon! i made an offer to the guy but so far hes keeping it, but told me if he ever wanted to sell i was first in line.
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Larrivee. Very under rated.
Those are Canadian right? Ive seen a few on Craigslist, never actually played one but i tried a Cedar Seagull and it was actually pretty nice.
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I've had many, many guitars pass through my hands in the last 50+ years. I've boiled my herd down to 4 keeper acoustics and two keeper electrics. I'm currently gas free.
2013 Gibson Hummingbird MC - It is hard to say any such iconic guitar is under rated. Based on its iconic status and reputation, I expected it to be sublime. I've wanted one of these my whole life and landed this beauty a couple of years ago. It has delivered everything I had hoped for and more. A wonderful instrument. Certainly not over rated IMO.
2001 Taylor 410 - my first really good guitar bought new at Harry's Guitar shop in Raleigh. There doesn't seem to be much Taylor love here but this guitar rocks. A very versatile workhorse that has gotten better with age. I wouldn't say under rated because the Taylor "brand" ( they certainly work the marketing hard enough ! )screams quality, tone and playability.
2006 Guild F47M - This guitar blows me away every time I pick it up. It is warm, meaty, clear, subtle, etc., etc. I know Guild has a very fanatical cult like following, although certainly not the broad adoration enjoyed by Martin, Gibson and Taylor. I would say Guild guitars are a little under rated although they get lots of love on most forums.
1997 Alvarez-Yairi DY62C - I've got to believe guitars hand made by K. Yairi are, IMO, the most under rated guitars on the planet. I walked away with this beauty for $700. I would put it up against any Gibby, Taylor or Martin I've ever played. A very impressive instrument. Did I say I picked it up for $700 !! If any of you ever have a chance to pick up and play a Yairi guitar, you will most certainly be impressed
As far as over rated, I will echo what a few previous posters have said. Boutique guitars just don't deliver for me, especially measuring bang for the buck. Maybe my ear is just not sophisticated enough to appreciate such fine instruments. Here in Durham, SoundPure Guitars has two walls full of Collings, McPherson, Santa Cruz, Goodall, etc guitars. I've got to tell you, I get nervous as hell when I pick up one of these up. They do sound great, but no better than anything I own. Again, maybe I'm "blessed" with an unsophisticated ear. That said, SoundPure is a great shop to visit with very knowledgeable people to chat with. Anyway, IMO, any guitar with a price tag north of $3 K is over rated
Rob Chapman said Duesenberg and PRS are so technically overengined they seemed almost lifeless in his hands. They were so precise there was no give/take and bend or variation, he actually didnt like it. I wouldnt know, ive never tried either brand. But i would like to try a prs sometime.
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Over-rated, under-rated, according to Who? IMHO, it's more about personal
preference, for whatever reason(s). It's the reason I always play any model
guitar (brand, model, electric, acoustic (especially acoustic), etc.) as much
as possible, before making any final purchase decisions. I think, too often,
people tend to get on Marketing's bandwagons. And/or are overly influenced
by what their favorite "stars" are playing, etc. That goes, for any brand, really.
As to my personal (acoustic) favorites. Martin, Guild (12-strings, especially),
Gibson, in no particular order. But, I've played some fantastic Epiphones, and
Seagulls, as well as Yamaha's that were very much to my liking.
Taylor's, not so much...and, in all honesty, I'm not at all sure, "Why?" They're
a bit like PRS electrics, to me. By all accounts, and with their fit and finish,
and beauty, I "should" love 'em, but I don't seem to, at least, not so far.
So...???
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Oh Charlie i LOVE 12 string Guilds!! The D-212 might be the best Guild i ever tried, Tom Petty raved about his. My camp counselor had one when i was 13 he let me play it and it was magic. Everytime i seen one on Craigslist the seller didnt want to trade for what i had or what i had was more expensive. Being from Rhode island i get a lil nostalgic for Westerly made Guilds, maybe a lil too rosecoloured but had some pride knowing my own state made them.
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Greco! That's another name, with Kent. Yes, cheap alternatives. When we were in 6th grade we had Kents and Silvertones and stuff, and we couldn't wait to get "real" guitars!
rct
Greco made literally tons of guitars, the early 70s ones probably werent great. But in the late 70s, they made some gems. This is only a middle of the road Greco i owned a year ago, not even a high end one, and it was pretty killer for what i paid.
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This is a quote from you:
"Let's not forget ibanez made Gibson copies so good that Gibson sued them."
That did not happen. You can not sue someone because they make good copies of your protected work. PERIOD.
You sue somebody because they are copying your headstock shape, your logo, your script, the things that identify your guitar.
Let's not forget that as soon as Ibanez, Tokai, whomever, as soon as they were served that they could not duplicate the big American guitars they suddenly stopped making great strats and teles and les pauls. Why? Why is it that if they couldn't look just like them they wouldn't make them? Why is that? Because they weren't that great to begin with.
I have no doubt they were good guitars, I remember them very well even though I never used one, I was in bands using my Teles and Strats and Les Pauls right next to Love Rocks and the Ibanez with the I script that looked exactly like the F in Fender. They may have been good guitars, but they weren't so good they kept making them after they couldn't duplicate the originals. By the time I was married in 1980 nobody around here, and that was a lot of guitar players, was using them at all.
rct
Im not old enough to have seen what people played in the 70s, i wasnt a musician then, i was a toddler lol. But if you say they stopped using them by 1980 i believe you. People probably used them because they were cost efficient, well made clones that did the job and other then some wiring or pot issues, usually played very well for the price they paid. Not surprised people went back to Gibson when they could afford it, but Greco and Tokia and Ibanez really had some sweet numbers back then. Those are my three favorite, but Orville gets snubbed by American players too and a surprising amount of Gibby players dont even realize that was orville gibson making them. The orville les paul custom was the best les paul ive ever owned, hands down.
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I have to chime in here on this here debate.
The "lawsuit" guitars, that's really rumor only. It's mostly just a legend created to make those old Japanese guitars seem better or more interesting than they were/are.
Sorry, not saying they aren't cool or suck, but this idea that they were all that great also, well...
Here's the truth: the "lawsuit" never happened. They just said "knock it off" and they did. I don't think there is even a story, but I have yet to hear a story worth writing that is/was true.
A lot of OLD Japanese "copies" were OK, and fine guitars, and I have played some. But not until YEARS and years later, did anyone think or claim they were really that good. The TRUTH of THAT is, Japanese guitars are better now than they have ever been. They were better in the 80's than they were in the 70's. and better in the 00's than in the 90's.
So, really, where does the idea that 70's Japanese "lawsuit" guitars being so good come from? I think it's EBAY. The only thing "better" I have personally ever seen is the prices.
Just my opinion here, but I think one would find the exact same thing and better value in buying the current "made in Indonesia" or Korea of China stuff available right now as we speak. And I bet if one is honest and objective, they are better than what Japan was making in the 70's/80's.
But, I can't think of a good rumor to go along with that right now.
I bought a chinese Tokai by accident a year and half ago. Biggest mistake of my life, they were HORRIBLE quality, i mean awful. they have sharp edges on the frets, buzzing strings, dead spots in the frets and ive seen a couple of the other made in china tokai and all 3 had blemishes in the finish. Epiphone offers much better quality for the same price as what some clowns on eflay charge. So being made in china hardly makes it a good guitar any more than made in japan.
there were plenty of duds coming out of japan in the 70s, but none as bad as many of the china/indonesia junk. But, i maintain that the people who claim japanese guitars werent great, most of them never played a good super real or reborn.
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I'm sorry bud, that just did not happen.
The lawsuit of the 70's was a joint effort by American guitar companies to stop people from duplicating their guitars to such a degree that they could be mistaken at a certain distance. "so good" was never part of it, and never will be.
Pee in a can, put a red and white label with a gold circle in the middle, call it Kambulls, you will get sued for making cans of urine, not cans of good soup, because "good" has nothing to do with it.
It's a tired story, often repeated by people that (usually) weren't even born at the time, and even more often are selling something from that time. It's pretty interesting that guys my age are not the people buying these so great copies.
rct
I am 46 years old, i lived thru the lawsuit era, tho i did not learn guitar until 1983 at camp. SO good will never be a part? Anyone who says that has never tried the higher end Ibanez or the Super Real or Reborn Series, this is someone who most likely tried the cheapest clones and assumed they were all crap. I am a massive trader, have played and owned many of these and i can say with absolute certainty that some of those clones were in fact better. In fact, a couple of the 59 clones are still HIGHLY sought after collectible items. Plus, the norlin era guitars had many design flaws like on my j50, i havnt seen many that didnt have a giant crack right up the middle! and their QC wasnt great then either. But, i dont care, i like oddballs regardless.
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Before I choose mine songwriter I was looking Taylor 214dlx sb like yours. It plays great, even sounds great, its beautiful guitar but 1350€ (price at that time) for a laminate, mexican made guitar it was little bit too much money. Thats just my opinion. 😊
Let's not forget ibanez made Gibson copies so good that Gibson sued them. In fact, some of their copies were flat out better than the real thing in that era. Friend of mine runs a guitar store and he has sold ibanez les pauls from that time for 3k each. The japan factories have made some great guitars thru the years and we yanks snub our noses at them, well some of us lol. the same could be said for mexi guitars, but ask yourself this. Do you like mim Fenders? I have never felt the urge to buy an American Strat or Tele, (tho i have traded for one) mainly because the mexican ones were made so fantastic.
Still, trade valuewise, people will snub their nose at them. It is something to consider if you trade a lot which i do, but i cant see me selling my taylor right now.
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Takamine, Epiphone and ibanez. They have some of the best guitars going and people often pass em by.
Overrated? Martin. I know many here may disagree but read why and you will understand. On the high end sure Martin has some great tones. On the low to middle well, their guitars really undperform. In fact, if you spend 1500 on a Gibson j15 or even 1200 on a Taylor 214ce like mine, they completely dust em. Martin uses cheap mats on their under 2k gits, you dont even get real wood fretboards and their cutaways are just awful, i mean BAD BAD BAD! I had a pair i recieved in trades, a omcpa4 and a dcpa4, both underwhelmed in comparsion to my Taylor and Gibsons i have owned.
My Taylor has real ebony fingerboard and bridge at 1200 bucks, plays chords, fingerpicks and has the most comfortable neck ive ever played on an acoustic, the only neck close is on my j50. Several guys i know raved about the 15 series martin, i tried one. One trick pony, could pick but couldnt strum, my Taylor completely owns it and so did my j15. You literally have to spend thousands on a Martin to get a top quality sound, that to me screams overrated.
Taylor impresses me, they put ebony on many affordable models and they play like butter. When i looked at baby taylor and lil martin i knew the taylor would dust it just from the specs sheet, still i gave it a chance and i wasnt wrong. Taylor owns martin all the way up to 2000 dollar models. Imo you really have to get a D28 before martin starts to even compete with Taylor and Gibson. I just traded away a DCPA4 Martin, it just couldnt do a decent F bar chord, i couldnt justify keeping it so traded it for a J50 and am very happy since.
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Buying safely during corona season
in The Gibson Lounge
Posted · Edited by Gibson Artist
Ok, i've been away for a long time so please forgive me if i have not read any recent updates. My mother lives close by and visits often, so i am desperately trying not to get this virus as she is in her late 70s and the last thing i want is to get her sick with something her immune system may not handle well due to age. There are a couple made in China guitars i am currently interested in and i was wondering does anyone know how long the virus can survive on cardboard, and in guitar wood, strings and paper?
Can't believe i even i am even asking this but i have thought about purchasing the git and putting it in a closet for two weeks? Would that be an adequate amount of time to kill the virus? Has Gibson or any other major guitar manufacturer discussed this scenario?