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Jinder

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Everything posted by Jinder

  1. That sounds like a very solid deal to me. Buy it, love it and be happy šŸ˜Š
  2. J185s are lovely guitars but are surprisingly different to J180s. I owned a J180 for a while and found it a totally different animal to a J185, possibly because of the large pickguards. The 180 was a beast of a guitar for rhythm work and had an appealing tone for jazz comping as the shorter sustain gave it a response more like an archtop than a traditional flat top. It was a great guitar to sing with as it was rich and detailed but not overly loud or dominant in any particular frequency. Extremely balanced, and under heavy pick attack it would compress really nicely. J185s have similar balance but are louder, brighter and have longer sustain with a quicker response.. A little more brash (for want of a better wordā€¦not unpleasantly so) for rhythm work and with less of a sense of natural compression when played hard. I have found a J185 to be an excellent all-rounder and very good for fingerstyle playing but perhaps less well suited for vocal accompaniment than the J180.
  3. Very much a fake, sadly. Such a shame when people try to pass off tat like this as genuine. Itā€™s hard to tell how far back up the line the fakery goes thoughā€¦this owner, previous owner, original sellerā€¦
  4. I had an IBā€™64 Texan for several years and loved it. That one really punched above its weight cost wise and was a great live and studio guitar. I used to take it to overseas gigs I had to fly to-much less risk than flying with one of my Gibsons. I put 13s on it and tuned it to Eb, absolutely great tone. I sold it to make ends meet at the start of Covid but I should have kept it.
  5. I feel exactly the same. My main live guitars at the moment are my 2015 SJ200 Standard and a 1997 D18GE. Theyā€™ve got their share of battlescars but theyā€™re professional grade instruments and I know they will bring the good stuff whenever and wherever I ask it of them. They earn their keep and pay the rent! Wear is character, play time is tone, and frets can be replaced.
  6. I actually thought the Epi was sweeter and a bit more J45ish than the G45. Some more complexity and depth in the mids that is of course the J45 hallmark. If I was looking for a good quality gig hack that would be an easy choice. It sounds like it would really bloom with some miles on it too, whereas the G45 sounds quite thin and tight in comparison. The vid misleads slightly though, the IBG J45 isnā€™t the most expensive production Epi, the IBG J200, IBG Hummingbird, Masterbilt Excellente and Masterbilt Frontier are all more pricey.
  7. A J45 ā€˜60s reissue with the original super slim D profile neck as per ā€˜66/ā€˜67 would be nice. An AJ or Dove 12 string would be cool too. Maybe a J180 12erā€¦
  8. 1000% fake. Label is wrong, binding around birdsbeak is dismal, pickguard is wrong, bevelling on the edge of the bridge is wrong, body shape is slightly off around upper bout, sunburst isnā€™t right, case isnā€™t a Gibson caseā€¦plenty to avoid!
  9. I absolutely agree-I used a thin glass slide for some years and the thick blue glass Diamond Bottlenecks slide I use now absolutely sings in comparison. Much more sustain and articulation. Not sure what the physics are behind it, but it definitely sounds better!
  10. I have a ā€˜67. Love the skinny neck as it hurts my CTS less than any other guitarā€¦bit cramped at the business end of the neck, but worth dealing with that in exchange for no pain!
  11. I have a Boss tuner app on my phone which is accurate and handyā€¦I like the sound of a Peterson one though, I loved the Strobostomp units I owned in the past!
  12. I have always been led to believe that from the start they have been a 17ā€ Jumbo with 25.5ā€ scale neck. Iā€™ve played a handful of ā€˜50s and ā€˜60s SJ200s and have owned a 2003 and my current 2015, all of which have been the same size. Iā€™m intrigued to know more about this!
  13. Yep itā€™s an original issue Gospel. These are actually the gem amongst Norlin era Gibsons, Iā€™ve played several and really enjoyed each and every one. This one looks like itā€™s been ā€œrode hard and put up wetā€ but usually old guitars look that way because theyā€™re good and have spent their life being played!
  14. Ian has made various slides for me over the years-I use my Blue Cobalt all the time, sensational slide!!
  15. Not a genuine Gibson but very cool looking nonetheless! At Ā£50 you got a deal on that. Enjoy!
  16. Have you tried a J45? I have a feeling that the classic Spruce over Mahogany J45 may be just the ticket for what you are looking for!
  17. I havenā€™t come across a boomy J185 but I havenā€™t played them all of course! Generally Maple will give quite a tight and ordered bottom end. 17ā€ Jumbos such as SJ200s etc can boom a little more but generally 16ā€ guitars are very balanced. Iā€™d imagine you played an outlier. In terms of ultimate strummer though, youā€™d have to go some to beat your D35. A Sheryl Crow could be a good option though, theyā€™re superb instruments!
  18. The finest sounding guitar I ever played was a ā€˜73 Mossman Great Plains. The only guitar that has actually brought a tear to my eye with the sheer beauty of the tone. Just a standard Sitka over Indian Rosewood dread, but that thing had some deep, profound magic in that grain. I couldnā€™t quite afford it at the time and it hurt so badly to leave it on the shelf. It still haunts me. So many songs in that thing. In keeping with the topic though, one of the best guitars Iā€™ve ever owned is my ā€˜67 J45. Itā€™s had some work done (back replaced in the ā€˜80s, jumbo frets, fixed bridge conversion, maybe a replaced bridge plate although cannot tell for sure. Either way, it absolutely sings and is SO resonant and responsive. I use Martin Retro 11s on itā€¦as opposed to the 13s tuned to Eb I use on everything else. Itā€™s the one I pick up the most, especially at the moment given that itā€™s the only neck I can play without triggering CTS symptoms as I mentioned in my other thread. Just a gem of a guitar.
  19. Oh man!! That is such a great story and such a beautiful restoration. Stuff like this really gladdens the heart for me. The LG2 3/4 of course has the Arlo connection but recently Ryan Adams has been using one on his livestream shows and some bits on his last few records and they have such a sweet voice as you said. Small but very sweet. Yours is good to go for another 70yrs or so at least now, what an honourable thing to do!
  20. Not only a great performance, but you also gave me a songā€¦opened the forum and saw the thread title ā€˜Last Night in Paducahā€™, picked up my J45 and a song fell out of it called just that! I namechecked you playing ā€˜Train in my Mirrorā€™ in a verse too, Murph, by way of thanksā€¦hope you donā€™t mind! Iā€™ll record it at post it when I get a min šŸ™‚
  21. I canā€™t even recall what first brought me here, some 15yrs ago or soā€¦Iā€™ve been checking in pretty much daily since then though, and have learned and laughed plenty. Have made some stellar friends, many of whom Iā€™ve met in person and several Iā€™ve bought/sold guitars to or from, and whilst there is the occasional wrinkle here and there Iā€™d say far fewer kickfights than on most forums. This place is golden.
  22. Hi all, I have a line on a very tidy ā€˜66 Epi Cortez which is of interest to me due to its comfortable body size and slim neck. Iā€™m considering it as an alternative to the ā€˜60s Original J45 I was pondering previously. Itā€™s had the adjustable bridge converted to a fixed saddle (not that that bothers me either way) and looks to be in nice shape. I believe they were basically a Kalamazoo built B25/LG2 with a different headstock. Has anyone played one? Iā€™ve played and enjoyed various LG2s and B25s, but Iā€™ve never owned a vintage one or played a Cortez. Any thoughts would be welcome.
  23. I prefer a moderate to high action too (3.5/4mm at the 12th on the low E). I play with a thickish pick (.88 Tortex Flex) and like to pull certain dynamics from the guitar that a higher action facilitates. I use a variety of strings, from Martin Retro 11s at concert pitch on my ā€˜67 J45 to Ernie Ball Everlast 13s tuned to Eb on my SJ200. That action height seems to work well for me all round, but this is a real ā€œdifferent strokesā€ thing. Tommy Emmanuel tells everyone to lower their action, but no amount of low action ever made me play like Tommy! Go for whatever works for youā€¦there is no right or wrong here, just different flavours.
  24. A quick addendum to thisā€¦after expressing my apathy towards K&K, I spent the last weekend gigging with my K&K equipped ā€˜67 J45, didnā€™t take my pedalboard, looper, AD10 or anything else, just the J45 into my K&K Pure preamp and then straight into A) a Bose S1 Pro that was supplied by the host of the house gig I was playing on the Saturday, and B) my AER Compact 60 that I usually gig with on the Sunday. Iā€™ll be damned if it didnā€™t sound absolutely superb. Really dynamic, sweet and natural. Took a bit of EQ work to get rid of some midrange honk but once that was squared away it was a joy. It was particularly good through the Bose S1 Pro. The Tonematch system on those little beasts really jives well with any and all pickups in my experience. Had to pop a Feedback Buster into the soundhole for a few fingerstyle numbers which I had to turn the gain up for, but as more of a precaution than anything. Impedance matching seem to be a crucial factor with K&K as straight into my AD10 pre it sounds much more tubby and unnatural. Into an amp or desk via the Pure preamp is much better.
  25. Thanks Ken! Thatā€™s good to hear. Iā€™ve never minded an adjustable bridge, have owned a few with them. I converted my ā€˜67 J45 to a fixed bridge out of curiosity to see how it soundedā€¦made very little difference at all! It sounded great before and great after. I like the adjustability (obviously!) aspect, always handy for switching string gauges and dialling out seasonal action changes. I have several fixed bridge guitars so a little extra adj zing is always welcome!
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