Hogeye

Wow !!! I thought I was the resident jerk. I bow to your expertise. I guess your name says it all.

I didn't know that Gibson had a J-45 12th fret in production. Is it a custom run for a dealer? How much? Does anyone here have one? I would love to see a photo of it if possible.

I don't know why they don't just make the wood dowel that the fills the hole 1/4 inch longer and maybe put a little dome shape to the end so there is no hole left. Seems like a easy fix to me. If you remember back when this first came up Music Villa's repair guy made a little plug to fill in the hole in Dan's guitar. No hole? Less of a problem. Just sayin'

OK! The "Homecoming is over and the folks are leaving. It was a great time and the folks had a good meeting with the Acting Gibson G.M. and Jeremy Morton. They asked all the right questions about the bridge plate problem and I'm sure they will respond as soon as they get home. There were a lot of folks this year and Music Villa had a big handpicked selection of great guitars as usual. Jeremy Morton and several others played in the store and Gibson had their "Gibson Days" team there. A "Homecoming" favorite, Carl Tosten even stopped by as he was playing at Ted Turner's restaurant. I was hoping John Mayer would be in town but never saw him. We went to Ted's to listen to Carl and have dinner and Ted Turner showed up. It was pretty cool as he is a big fan of Carl Toston's. I would encourage anyone here to go to You-Tube and look at Carl's work. He is amazing. Carl is from Seattle and likes to come out to Montana and fish. Lucky for us as he is a good friend and we enjoy his music and I know you will as well. If any of you out there have ever thought of vacationing out West and had a hankerin' to go to Yellowstone Park the Homecoming would be a great time to fit in your plans. I hope your problems work out for you.

The "Homecoming" is off to a great start. RAR hosted an informal "meet and greet" in his room last night. Lots of familiar faces and Dan was there as well. He says he will try to get pictures and understand the process for the "pilot hole". He probably won't post anything until he gets home. I believe they will get their tour today. I hope that during their meetings with the Gibson folks they will ask the right questions and with a little luck we will all get the answers we need. The weather has been spotty up here. Rain then sun and back to rain again. At least there is no snow in the forecast. This is such a fun event for all concerned. I hope others out there will take advantage of this event in the future. If nothing else you can meet the world famous Tony at Music Villa.

The "Gibson Homecoming" is going on this week. Several of the folks are already here in Bozeman as they like to get first pick of the guitars offered for sale at Music Villa. I will make an effort to have some of them bring up all of the bridge plate concerns and get some of them to take photos of the entire process so that we can all see the exact reason for the problem, and this mess is a problem. This has gone on long enough and someone needs to step up and explain why they can't fix the issue. Well this is the week and we shall all have a better idea of how this will all work out. I will try to see if Gibson is going to consider this a warranty problem as it is obviously a problem generated by them in the building process. They will be asked about solutions to the problem. Just so you folks know. Just because it's being discussed here on the forum doesn't mean that Gibson/Montana knows about it. There can be a disconnect between customer service based in Nashville and the production team in Montana. I don't know if this is the case but rest assured. The solution will be at hand.

The Star and The Starburst in 7 colors were big sellers for Gibson in 1992. 1993 saw the introduction of three models. The Starburst Studio in antique natural-Cherry and Ebony retail $1,599.00 Starburst Standard in Antique Natural- Amber and Vintage Sunburst. Retail at $1,899.00 Starburst Elite in Antique Natural-Amber- VS. Retail $2,299.00 They made a bunch in 1992. 946 is the total for all models and colors.That is a huge number. 1993 saw the numbers drop off. Why? It's really quite an amusing story. The Plant Manager promised the General Manager that he had secured a source for High Figured Quilted Maple and they could have uninterupted production. Well.... When they placed the order for the wood in 1993 they were told it was all bought by Paul Reed Smith. The same for all other suppliers. There was no "Quilt" available and Gibson had lost out because of poor planing. The Plant Manager lost his job and Gibson lost one if it's most popular guitars. No one bought one for it's fine acoustic properties. They were stage ready and flashy as hell. This was way back in the dark ages and country acts were looking for a great looking guitar that they could use on a busy stage. Gibson learned a vaulable lesson and moved on. The folks that have them keep them. They are really that good.

I have a 1962 LG-2 3/4. This is just after they went to the cherry sunburst. Yes it is, of course, ladder braced. I have been playing this guitar for many years and it has become one of my favorite guitars as it can be kept on the couch for a little late night playing with no fuss. It will even fit in the overhead on most planes and is the perfect traveling guitar. It measures 12 11/16" at the lower bout and the body is 17 1/4" long. It has a 23 inch scale neck. I string it with light gauge strings and it has a wonderful voice.

Sorry for the cheap shot Bob. I just thought someone had to say it.

I agree with you on the dealer requesting a special model. Yes a lot of cool guitars indeed. I think the best example of cool would be the Sparrow. Yikes. Guess I will stop there. Everytime I think of this "new" model I fall off my chair laughing. Guess it just about defines the limits Gibson will stoop to. I'm sorry for hijacking this thread. I remember seeing the wood when Ren came back from India. I bet the guitars are really special. It's great to see the photos of the guitar and I hope that we can hear it soon. These are very special instruments indeed.

Stunning guitar for sure and I bet she sounds wonderful. What do the luthiers think of it? Bozeman has no luthiers. A luthier should be able to build a guitar. They now have many people that can make parts. They have many machines that can make parts. They have many that can put parts together. They have no one that can actually build and entire guitar from scratch. Most of the employees in the engineering dept. Don't even know how to tune a guitar let alone play one. Someone once said you don't need to be a pilot to build and airplane. Maybe not but it sure can't hurt. The problem with this is that Gibson has to take existing models that they have computer programs for and make variations of these models. Variations of scale lenght and wood selection and body trim. There will be no new models coming from this plant. They have no one that can design new models and no new ideas. The unfortunate thing is that they will keep on churning out the guitars that seem to be a bit odd for the model. A J-45 is a slope shoulder short scale Mahogany guitar. The AJ is a long scale, Rosewood, slope shouldr guitar and most of the newer folks that post here don't know that because they have only seen the variations.It's kinda like G.M. building a Corvette pick-up truck. As to the two and three ply guitar bridges? I certainly don't approve but seeing the problem with the government and Gibson I choose to look on the positive side and yes, I decided to make lemonaide.I would rather have a guitar with a 3 ply bridge than no guitar at all. I'm thinking that a three piece bridge isn't as radical as a short scale AJ or a Rosewood J-45. Look it's just my opinion and it doesn't mean much here and I have no problem with that. I'm sure if you try you can come up with something more damning than my opinion of a laminated bridge. But.... If that's all you got. I'm doing pretty good. I'm pretty sure I will get a lot of heat over this revelation but what the heck. I've actually been to the plant. I know what's going on. If you want to know the rest of the story why don't you just come to the "Homecoming". You can see for yourself. I would love to see all of you there. Until then I'll try to keep you posted for a bit longer.

Just so everyone here knows.....There is no such animal as a short scale AJ. Gibson just doesn't get it. They have the need to take everything original and make a joke out of it. They even made Mahogany short scale guitars and called them AJ's. If you have one ounce of pride in your heritage and history you would never do something so foolish. Having said that they obviously don't. I don't know what the guitar with the beautiful Rosewood is but it isn't a J-45 and it isn't an Advanced Jumbo. It's pretty as hell and I bet it sounds great. It's just not a J-45.

Music Villa has a all Koa J-45. It was one of 25 made in the early 90's. It looks new and has a solid wood bridge and fretboard. The price is a steal... I played it and it has and amazing soft, rich sound. Not for you rockers out there but definitly going to make someone a wonderful guitar.

I think there are a lot of good clues here. If the plain strings are crisp and clear and the wound ones aren't then there is a problem with the strings. The clue here is the wound strings are dead. Why you ask? The windings could be bad or they could be dirty or a thousand other reasons. If the guitar was a dud then the whole guitar would sound bad not just certain strings. If you had the opportunity to go to a Gibson Homecoming you would know that Gibson dries each and every piece of wood it uses to 6% moisture content. This is very easy to do and very easy to measure. Why 6%? Because the wood is stable at an enviroment of 42% humidity. Why 42%? Because all studies point to that being the average that folks like to keep the houses. Any drier and your skin dries out and your dog scratches. Any higher and your hair get frizzy and you get mold between your toes. It's all very simple, really. Now if a guitar goes to a place drier that 42% the top cracks. If it's any wetter then 42% the top gets heavy and the guitar sounds heavy like it's full of socks. In this case the plain strings sound fine. The top and the wood are just fine. If the wound strings sound dead it's 'cuz they are.

This was a designation that was put on the guitar by the marketing dept. The dealers needed to have a reason to buy the next years models so Gibson changed the name of the instruments. Basically the same guitar different name. There was never a single guitar that was speced. Gibson never x-rayed any guitar and they never got any specs from George Gruhn. Example of the different years of J-45 1990 and 1991 J-45 1992-93 PRO-Series J-45 1994-95 Western J-45 1997-98 Early J-45 1999-2000 J-45 2001-2002-2003 2004 J-45 2005- Historic J-45 2006-07 J-45 and the list goes on. You give Gibson too much credit for work they never did. They changed the name and a little cosmetic feature here and there. When they did make a change it was for all the wrong reasons. It was just plain silly to change the J-45 TV bracing to the advanced system. Gibson NEVER did that in the past and now they put it on a True Vintage guitar??? I don't think so.....Not True Vintage at all.

Just so you know. Gibson produces the bridge saddle slot on a CNC machine. There is no variance from bridge to bridge. The saddles are bought from a company that manufactures them for Gibson and they are very tightly controlled and there is no variance among them. If there was a bad fit it was because the original saddle was replaced with a non spec ill fitting replacement. Just so there is no confusion here all Gibson parts are produced on CNC machines and they are assembled by hand. There is no variance in the part sizes or fit. CNC machines are by their nature consistent.

Back in the 92 and 93 The dates are close but I not sure and will find it in my records at some point.All Gibson acoustics had a double action truss rod.The G.M at the time was trying to leave his mark on the company and thought this was his answer to his legacy. Well it is. For the bad..... The Guilds had two actual truss rods and they had two adjusting nuts under the truss rod cover. The idea was to be able to counteract the pressure of the 12 strings. The system was wonderful. No more twisted necks. The Gibson's had one rod that would give the neck relief when turned to the left and add tension when turned to the right. The adjustment was done by a fixed nut and the entire truss rod was turned to activate the adjustment when they worked. Mostly they didn't. They are common on banjos ( shudder).. Most guitar technicians have no idea what they are or how they work so care must be exercised when adjusting. Use very small turns. 1/8 turn and let the neck settle for several days before attempting to adjust again. It takes time and patience and many guitars have been ruined by incompetent folks trying to crank on them. If it breaks don't expect too much in the way of warranty. Most of the rods won't turn at all due to glue from the cap that covers them. I can go into detail if you want.... There is no nut and washer on the end for adjustment just a nut fixed to the rod itself. Make sure your wrench is the right size. If you round off the nut you are done... It's welded to the rod so by turning the nut you actually turn the whole rod. Very difficult process and it requires a lot of pressure. Too much pressure and the rod snaps and you have killed it. Most people think it is better to leave the strings tuned up to make adjustments. The rod is inserted in a channel routed into the neck. Then a wood cap is placed in the channel and glued in place to secure the rod in place. If glue got into the channel, and it did, then the rod will not turn. A note to all you would be repair techs. If it aint broke don't fix it. In this case let the sleeping dog lie. I can just see all the truss rod covers coming off at this point. Just leave your guitar alone. If you think you need to adjust your neck take it to an authorized Gibson repair station. Pay the price.. It's cheaper than paying for a new neck.......Don't assume that they know what they are dealing with either but.....If they break it they will have to fix it..

There was a small discussion a little while ago. Guild has or had been installing them on their 12 strings to help sort out some of the problems of the extra string tension. Gibson acoustics have never had them. Gibson did however has a double acting truss rod. They are a nightmare and there are plenty of them out there. Most folks that have them don't even know it. They are pretty easy to spot.

We all know that Clarence White damaged the soundhole on his guitar. The pick hit the bottom of the sound hole and just plain wore it out. To cover up the damage a bit they just enlarged the soundhole to remove the damaged wood. The same for the Guild fretboard. He wore out the old one and the only thing they had laying around was the Guild so..... No big mystery here. The secret in his sound was in his fingers. The guy could play..It's all sorts of fun and I bet that someone will gouge a hole in a classical and try to get the Willy Nelson magic next. Gibson uses many specs to get the desired sound. Long scale/ short scale. Mahogany/Rosewood. Square shoulder/round shoulder. They have different sizes of soundholes for X braced and ladder braced guitars. The Arlo Guthrie is only 3 1/4 inch. I guess Arlo has a little one. Yikes. Sorry Arlo... I would encourage you to get out a saw and attack the J-100 and report back. You may be on to something. There is a point in diminishing return and you should be careful. Probably void the warranty.This debate has gone on for many years so the only way for you to resolve it is to start sawing. Like most things in life you may want to leave it alone and get one of the many copies of Clarence's guitar. I was amused by the plastic gadget that folks were buying. It's a piece of rubber that fits into the soundhole? Hmmmmmm Well if someone were to want his equipment smaller he could just get one of those. OK.. Let me see the flames now. This should open up a real debate. It's alright I'm a big kid and can take it.