Lars68

I've always thought it would be cool if a guitar company just gave us, let say ten basic models to pick from, and that's it. ”We make these ten different guitars, and we make them to the best of our ability”. Then within each model, the customer could pick from a narrow selection of different neck widths and neck shapes. If they figure out how to make a specific model better, then those changes would be introduced as soon as possible without giving the guitar a model year. Enough of this ”vintage”, ”original”, modern”, ”mystic”, ”supreme”, ”deluxe”, ”legend” kind of thing. That's just how I see it, and I realize I will never work in marketing... Lars

If you had enough money burning in your pocket to spend on ANY ONE of the CURRENT guitars in the Gibson acoustic lineup, which one would you pick and why? For me it would be the 1952 J-185 Vintage in natural because: 1. It's body shape I have never tried before. 2. Maple is a tonewood I've never tried before. 3. I don't have a Gibson in blonde 4. I imagine it to record very, very well. 5. The look and the appointments are extremely classy and “just right” and I care about looks. How about you, just for the sake of discussion? Lars

Jason Isbell wrote this song for Bradley Cooper to sing in “A Star is Born”. Here is Jason's version, released today, played on an old Gibson. I love it! This kind of song and performance are proof to me that acoustic, singer-songwriter music, is alive and well in 2020, despite it not being on the radio much. https://jasonisbell.bandcamp.com/album/maybe-its-time-demo-b-w-alabama-sky Lars

I'm not a good guitar player or musician, and I certainly don’t need the extras a vintage guitar has to offer from a tone perspective. A lot of that gets lost in my hands anyway. Still I have a 1942 J-45. The main reason for that is history and heritage. I love music and things associated with it and owning such an iconic instrument is special to me. For just making music, a brand new J-45 would be the wise choice, in all honesty. Lars

Good post. To me a guitar is more than just tone and playability. I care about heritage, aesthetics, and mojo as a complete package. I think this is what your are addressing too, right? Gibsons and Martins are hard to beat when all adpects are taken into account. I have never been interested in Taylor, Collings, etc, but I could consider a Guild... 😀 Lars

The countdown to the next ding is always running...

That's is beautiful! Martin is not known for their burst, but that one is excellent. Lars

I agree with Em7, the album is good but not great. The gems have already shown up in other places. However, I still think Neil is making some good music in the present time too, but very inconsistently. The Colorado album has some really great tracks on it. Psychedelic Pill from a few years back was super. The song Ramada Inn is one of my all time favorite Neil songs. Lars By the way, most of my music listening is through one of Neil's Pono players. Strangle, but good little device.

That's a question none of us can aswer for you, but I guess you already know that. I don't know if I dare to say this here, but if I were you I'd get the Martin. There is no guitar type more classic than a Martin D-28, period. Then stay around this fine forum, and as soon as your guitar fund is filled up again, get the Hummingbird. Lars

The Original is closer to the TV in spec than the Standard. So in this case, I think the main question is if the warranty of the new guitar is worth $500 to you. Either way, you are getting a wonderful guitar, and again, there is absolutely nothing wrong with the Standard either. I have one myself in the honey color Gibson offered back in 2026, and it's great. Good luck! Lars

Me too, I did the same mistake. However, I would still lean towards the TV, but maybe not quite as heavily.

High humidity is very unlikely to damage a guitar, at least not as severly as lack of it. Lars

I would get the True Vintage and don't look back, especially if it saves you $500! Nothing wrong with the other Hummingbird, but the TV is a step up spec-wise. Personally, I also prefer the darker color scheme of the TVs. Good luck! Lars

Yes, same bracing as the historic AJ. So this is really the same guitar, but with mahogany. Nothing wrong with that, by the way, just confusing. Lars

So is this kind of a mahogany AJ??? As for the appointments, to me the pickguard doesn't look good when it covers the rosette. I know the originals were fitted like this, as on Tom's guitar, but the oldies were not as transparent as the modern counterparts. Also, I like the style of bridge much more on Tom's guitar. The current one is much too fancy for me on this kind of guitar. Gibson really needs to give more information about their products, in regards to specs and how one model varies from the next. It's not easy for customers and dealers to make sense of their offerings. Lars