Jinder

The machineheads are standard issue early ‘70s Japanese, which puts this guitar provisionally in that bracket. The intonated adjustable bridge saddle was commonly used by Kay around the same era, but doesn’t look original to this guitar as the adjuster screws don’t seem to match, so may have been ported over as an upgrade. The sunburst is very good, as is the attention to detail on the inlays and scratchplate. This marks it out as being likely either built by Kiso Suzuki or Terada, both Japanese manufacturers who were well known for their attention to such things. Kiso Suzuki guitars are excellent instruments-I have one of their classical guitars from the same era and it’s outstanding. Kiso Suzuki were originally a violin manufacturer and built instruments to a very high standard-I wonder if there are any traces of the logo on the headstock? If it’s a KS it will be a gold decal not dissimilar to the Martin logo, except reading “K. Suzuki & Co” I would absolutely put some time, effort and money into making it playable again-Japanese stuff is starting to make stronger and stronger money and with good reason, they’re often excellent instruments.

Hi all, I recently spotted a guitar on eBay for sale near me that I knew nothing about, but looked intriguing. Short scale, roughly the same size as an LG2 (15.5” lower bout, 12” upper), loads of lacquer checking and a kind of rudimentary ‘50s style sunburst. Bidding opened at £49.50, so I stuck a bid on at £55, expecting to hear nothing more about it. Two days later, to my delight I was notified that I had won the auction and there were no other bidders! It’s a Landola FL-55, according to the serial number it was made in 1953. I turned up to collect it, played a G chord and instantly fell in love with it. The neck is incredible, action just right, plenty of saddle height, no bellying or top distortion, one small repaired top crack but nothing to worry about. The sound of this thing is SO balanced and sweet, a dry and old tonality but with gorgeous harmonic overtones and intonation that is perfect right the way up the neck. It’s just right, and built amazingly well. Perfectly playable and useable at 69 years of age, with no work required! Has anyone else played one? They were made in Finland, or at least mine was. It appears to have an Engelmann Spruce top and what appears to be African mahogany back and sides. Looks and sounds all solid to me, but the thing sounds so good that I wouldn’t care if it was made of chewing gum and road dust. I genuinely feel immensely fortunate to have come across it and wangled such a lucky deal. Initially I planned to buy it as a fix’n’flip, but it doesn’t need fixing and I’ll definitely not be flipping it anytime soon! Pics soon…I have to put it down first 🤣

I run mine into the pre that has been my touring “Swiss Army Knife” for the last few years, a Boss AD10. I run from there into my AER Compact 60 Mk4, which does double duty for vocals too if I’m playing a small/medium sized venue, and for anything over 200 capacity I go into the house rig. I sometimes use the house system for smaller venues but if I can get it done with the AER alone I’d always rather go that way as I know how I want it all to sound, and the amp is set up for exactly that. The dispersion and projection on those little amps are incredible, and they are so consistent from room to room. I’ve run through a borrowed Red Eye before and really loved it with my K&K equipped ‘67 J45. I’ll have to try one with the Sunrise, I’m always keen to try different stuff. Having said that, the AD10 is hard to beat-a real corker of a pre!

Buc, you know how much I love Big Blue-such a beautiful guitar. And you also know how much I love Sunrise pickups since you introduced me to them! The Sunrise can’t be beat, for my style and ears at least. The unit you passed on to me has done hundreds of shows now and I’ve never even thought about any other pickups since putting it in. Great choice for Big Blue methinks!

Beautiful LP, Buc! An identical (bar the handedness) Lester was my first major guitar investment in the ‘90s. Cost me £1200 at the time and I played it for a long time, through most of the bands I was in and various projects. I wish I still had it. I always felt like a king walking onstage wearing that guitar. I had others, but always, always came back to the LP. I sold it to finance my first SJ200 when I went solo, as I recall. From one gamechanger to another!

I suspect that’s a custom order or an employee built guitar, I’ve come across a couple of those over the years. I can’t speak to the specifics of the exact guitar, but ‘70s Gospels were often superb, and I would imagine this one is, too. The bridge footprint seems larger than usual from the pics, and from the top wear I would imagine the pickguard that was fitted when it came to you was original, all of which points to either a custom order or a guitar built by an employee from odds and ends in the factory. I have a 1995 Dove with a ‘70s style bridge. These anomaly guitars are out there…part of the joy of Gibson ownership!

I’ve got to put in a good word for the new (well, recent) D’Addario XT and XS strings. I’ve generally used EXPs and Martin Lifespans on my SJ200, and DR Veritas, Newtone Heritage or Thomastik Spectrums as my go-tos on my other guitars. However, I grabbed a set of XTs for my SJ200 on Amazon as they were on sale and seemed like an interesting proposition as the successors to EXPs. They are FANTASTIC strings. Absolutely out-of-the-park brilliant. The XTs feel like uncoated strings but last and last (I use 13s tuned down to Eb on the SJ200 and I can get five two hour gigs out of a set, only changing them as the windings on the G start to go bobbly from fret wear). The XS feel a bit more slippery, halfway between an EXP and Elixir, but last perhaps even longer than the XTs. The XTs are my pick of the two, slightly cheaper and I prefer the less obviously coated feel, but both are great. Really superb and well worth a try!

Great song and great performance. A record that really changed my life was LL’s ‘The Road To Ensenada’ back in the ‘90s. He’s a class act. Fellow Sunrise user too! I like the Taylor, sounds just fine to me. I’ve always appreciated them. Fine, well built and very playable guitars. I’ve never owned one as they aren’t quite my thing as a picker, but it’s a pleasure to hear one so well played!

Oh yeah!! I love Gospels. The ‘70s ones and the reissues. Great snag!

I always thought the Hillman victim guitar was an SJ200, but you may we be right about the Dove. It did seem to disappear around that time, and Gram was seen primarily with a Frontier afterwards.

I like DR strings a lot. Veritas are my favourite but I like Rares too. Sunbeams are nice on Mahogany guitars but can sound a bit restrained on Maple instruments. Rares are nice hex-cores but not as striking as the Veritas and Sunbeams. The only real stinker in the DR line is their Dragon Skin coated strings, I couldn’t stand those things at all!

I’ve played fingerstyle with bare fingers on dreads and jumbos forever. Perhaps I have the “sporting right hand” that Rev. Gary Davis spoke of! For me, I want to be able to get a strong and strident bass response from whatever I’m picking, otherwise (the way I play at least) it can all sound a bit “singing nun” as Mark Knopfler put it. For me, that’s digging in a bit with the thumb and using the fingers for melodic exploration. I enjoy playing fingerstyle on smaller instruments, but for my style it needs to be at the very minimum a 000 size guitar to make fingerstyle really pop. I love playing 00s and so forth but I’m more likely to use that size of guitar for blues hybrid picking or similar. I always come back to my favourite songwriters, the likes of John Prine, Townes and Guy Clark…all of them fingerpicked dreads, although admittedly most of them had a thumbpick in the mix at some juncture. Volume isn’t an issue for me when picking a Dread or Jumbo with bare fingers. If I need something that projects a little more, I’ll fire up my Maple AJ, but in general my Dove, SJ200 or J45 are more than enough firepower to get the point across. Certainly in the studio in my experience, I’ve found few instances where I’ve chosen to pick a small bodied guitar over a dread or jumbo for fingerstyle. Of the twelve albums I’ve made, only two songs have been led by a fingerstyle part played on a parlour or other small bodied instrument. Different strokes for different folks though, it all depends what inspires you as a player!

I’ve always loved the look of these. Would like to own one one day.

I wouldn’t worry about it, looks fine to me and it’s in a spot that wouldn’t ever be visible to me as a player. Play on!

Thanks guys!! Yes the RW 45 is an absolute gem. Really warm but with great articulation. Bill Puplett, the chap in London who is guitar tech for Noel Gallagher and Johnny Marr (and also co-designed the Rare Earth and Mimesis pickups with Mike Vanden) does Gavin’s setup work and every time I’ve picked up the RW it’s played like absolute butter, effortless.

Neil changed my life. I’m extremely surprised that George didn’t “get” Neil’s music. The intensity and sheer emotional bodyblow of NY’s lead playing is something which I’ve never heard the like of elsewhere. It doesn’t matter that it’s “one string stuff”, he is absolutely wrangling his soul out through his fingers, into the strings, out through the pickups and into the world when he plays. There is a reason why Stephen Stills, another genius lead player, has spent so many years playing with Neil. I’m a huge Beatles fan and George’s legacy is beyond reproach, but that makes it all the harder to hear him trash-talking Neil. I wouldn’t dream of talking about another artist in that way.

I’d love that job. I was a Gibson endorsee artist from 2007-2009 when my former band was signed to Sony, and I had a hand in the concept of the “flubber” pickguard that was (is?) used in SJ200s for some years. Lovely people to work with. They are a great company and the London HQ in Rathbone Place (as it was then, not sure if it’s still there) is like a playground filled with amazing instruments. Here is a video we filmed there in 2008…I’m in the middle, the SJ200 Western Classic was Gibson’s, the Dove on the left played by my bandmate Simon was mine, and Gavin on the right is playing his trusty late ‘90s J45 Rosewood. He has owned it from new and still has it now, although it’s VERY road worn these days!

The weary, fragile folkie side of NY’s output has always been my favourite of his modes. This is as good a song as he’s written since the ‘Prairie Wind’ era, which must be 16yrs ago now. The thing that strikes me most is how old Neil sounds now. His voice is shakey (pardon the pun-I know some of you guys will understand!), his playing hesitant. I love the hyperrealism of recordings like this, but I also worry about him, I really do hope he’s okay and his advancing years are being kind to him.

I always enjoyed Dunlop Ultex .73 picks with my Hummingbird 6 strings. Warmer and slightly firmer than the Tortex, slightly less sharp tip and a slower attack. Really lovely for bringing out the nectar. Can sound a little dull with my usual Maple instruments but perfect to coax out the warm nectar flow of a Hummingbird.

It’s not a fake, that’s a genuine 2017 SJ. Enjoy it!

Whilst in no way wishing to infringe on any freedom of speech, I feel that this thread has fulfilled its purpose in answering the OP’s original query and should be considered for closure by a moderator.

It’s definitely not a genuine Gibson, but hey-it wasn’t exactly expensive, looks cool (most audience members would presume it was the real deal) and it sounds pleasing…reads like a winner to me. Enjoy it in good health 🙂

The magic is in what dances between the notes. Not the overtones, sustain, bass, treble, mids or anything else. That undefinable thing that connects the player to the guitar. I’ve had it with a handful of guitars I’ve owned. Both my SJ200s, a 1990 Hummingbird, my ‘96 Dove, my ‘67 J45 and my Hummingbird 12. Maybe my maple AJ, although not instantaneously-that has been a slow burner. A Martin OM18V and 00DB, both of which I traded away like an idiot. I don’t think it’s particular to a body style or even a particular model. I owned three Doves before I found the jewel. I’ve owned several Hummingbirds also, including a stellar ‘08, but the jewel was the 1990 that is also sadly now gone due to financial troubles during lockdown. It’s like lightning when you find it…rare and the most copacetic feeling. I think it’s why we all hunt for the grail guitar, the one that lights up the darkest corners.

My best guess is that it’s a “lawsuit era” Japanese copy, possibly a Greco, Terada, Suzuki or similar, that has had a replacement walnut headstock faceplate and label to make it look like a Gibson. It has a lot of the hallmarks of the ‘70s Japanese copies (garish and poorly applied sunburst, thick polycellulose lacquer finish, exaggerated yellow top staining, spec from a decade before such as the parallelogram inlays and belly-up bridge, cheesy thin printed pickguard) but has been cleverly doctored to appear to be a mid-70s Gibson. If we look a bit deeper on a forensic level, the lacquer on the headstock and upper neck area has been oversprayed recently-it has some stippling/orange peel effect which is a clear tell for nitro recently applied over old poly or similar which has been exposed to cleaning products that may contain silicone, such as household polish etc. This tells me that the incumbent faceplate is not original, as Gibson have only used Walnut as a faceplate material recently, and it has never been a stock faceplate material on a Hummingbird prior to the current Hummingbird Sustainable. The new Walnut faceplate has nice grain, and has been chosen well by the luthier who did the work, as it compliments the fretboard grain nicely. However, this is another tell about the authenticity of the guitar. This fretboard isn’t the Indian Rosewood that has been used by Gibson for Hummingbird fretboards since the Brazilian supplies ran out. The colour and graining indicate to me that it’s probably Jacaranda or Pau Ferro, both less expensive and more readily available tonewoods that were common in Japanese built acoustic guitars in the ‘70s. Likewise the bridge. The label, on a forensic level, also looks far too fresh to be genuine. There is no humidity-related peripheral ink bleed into the paper grain, no fading of the label or printed typefaces, no curling or deterioration at the edges of the label, no lifting of the periphery due to age related glue failure…I have 15-20yr old Gibsons with labels in a much worse condition than this one. The serial number pegs it as being between ‘72 and ‘75 and the label is simply not in the condition that a 46-49yr old piece of paper and the glue that holds it down would be. Also, the typeface of the “GIBSON” logo on the label looks squashed or distorted, which makes me even more convinced that it’s been faked. Cleverly faked, but not cleverly enough. None of that is to say that lawsuit era Japanese acoustics are bad instruments, I owned a Kiso Suzuki Hummingbird copy for many years and wrote a great deal of songs with it, used it on a couple of records and loved it. I had a Terada Dove for a while too which was a kind of junky but fun instrument. If you can bag this one for the sort of money that it’s worth as a lawsuit guitar, there is every chance you can fix it up and enjoy it. As it stands though, paying Gibson money for it would be a mistake in my opinion. I’m really shocked that Gibson Europe told you it was genuine. Whoever did the due diligence on it needs to do their homework!

I’d be very wary. Lots of issues around authenticity with this one…it look like an Epiphone Hummingbird that has been chopped about to look like a ‘70s Bird. Immediate bells that rang are: Serial number places it between ‘72 and ‘75, which means the bridge is wrong (this period of Bird had a larger belly-down bridge), the neck angle is wrong (saddle is too tall, typically Norlin era acoustics had an underset neck with a very low saddle, so unless this has had a neck reset that is a major tell), the pickguard is wrong (thin and printed not thick and engraved), the heel is wrong (not shallow enough) and the grain on the back looks significantly different on the outside to the inside. It also has the three-dimensional sheen of cheap Sapele laminate as used on Epiphones and similar. The headstock faceplate also looks wrong, and appears to be walnut with an Abalone inlay as per the modern Hummingbird Sustainable guitars. A genuine ‘70s Bird would have the slightly more rounded points to the logo and would be MOP set into an Ebony or Mahogany faceplate. The fingerboard-end top cracks indicate that the neck block has moved also, which is an expensive fix. In short (to précis the above nerdfest I just posted!) it’s fake and looks knackered.