j45nick

That's a totally different consideration, and I understand why you have the preferences you have.

You get what you pay for. It's not that hard to order from him. Are you trying to replace what you have, or what?

That looks like a dent in the lacquer, not a crack.

Welcome to the forum. There is nothing special about Gibson-made bone nuts, saddles, or pins. Not sure Gibson even supplies bone pins. Lots of folks here buy them from Bob Colosi, who will custom-make whatever you want from a variety of materials. He can also custom age bone for an older look. I have bought many sets of pins from him over the years. Here is a link to his website: Bob Colosi

This one might be right up your alley, ZW. It looks pretty nice. Sovereign

Below is a link to the video of the entire February 2020 acoustic Who concert. In some ways it's a shame that it's just something shot from the audience, but in other ways it give a great feel for a small-venue live concert. These are almost never as refined as the "real" recordings, but they have an energy and feel all their own. God but I miss small live concerts like this! A couple of highlights from my perspective: about 24 minutes in, a nice version of Behind Blue Eyes. And right at 54 minutes, Townshend switches from fingerpicking to flatpicking, grabbing a new pick off a special fitting attached to his mic stand and loaded with spare picks, like an ammunition belt. What a great arrangement! I bet he goes through a lot of picks during a concert, with his playing style. You can also see in some shots how the finish is worn away on the top of his J-200 along the bass side of the fretboard extension. Daltrey actually plays an Everly Brothers J-180 at some point during the film. The Who at Pryzm

Yes. The video quality is terrible, but listen to Townshend's J-200 in this solo version of "Won't Get Fooled Again". What guitar would you pick for this: SJ-200 or J-45? Acoustic Townshend Now throw this into the electric mix of the Who and ask the same question, especially when you have to mix with Thunderfingers Entwhistle on bass. Or, this acoustic version of "Pinball Wizard" from what remains of the original Who (Townshend and Daltrey) today, from a concert just over a year ago and just before the pandemic cancelled everything. (skip to about 2 minutes in if you want to avoid a bunch of talk.) In this video--poor sound quality, but good enough to get the effect--you get two Townshends (Pete and younger brother Simon) and two J-200s. You can drive the big Super Jumbo box a lot harder than you can the smaller slope-J box without the tonal character washing out. Admittedly, Townshend is an extreme example of an acoustic rock guitarist. But he actually started out as an acoustic guitarist, which is why so many of his songs sound like they were written for and on an acoustic guitar. Pinball Wizard 2020 Buddy Holly, of course, played a J-45, and Jorma played a J-50 for many years, so there are plenty of examples of the J-45 being used for acoustic rock. But I would say the SJ-200 really rocks for this purpose.

That was much better than most comparison of these types. First off, that J-200 is a TV model, and I can't tell if it is rosewood or maple. I sounds more like rosewood to me, but I don't have a good frame of reference for the J-200 tonally. The J-200 has a big, bright voice, and you could understand why an acoustic rock guitarist would choose it over a J-45. It's hard to imagine Pete Townshend or Jimmy Page flailing away on a J-45. Different guitars for different purposes. The J-45 is mids-focused, the SJ shines at the top and bottom. Both are really nice guitars.

JT, that is about as cool as it gets. Probably more fun than teaching law students.

Nah, they're just egging folks on. It's sort of a sport here, since a lot of folks seem to want that enabling. If I have to make the choice between another guitar or dockage for my boat, I really have first-world problems.

That's interesting. Basically similar to a first-generation B-45 12 string from the mid 60s. Many of those have bitten the dust. I wonder how it's braced? The neck looks pretty wide. We've seen modern Hummingbird 12s here, but I don't recall seeing a modern slope-J 12. ZW might have some thoughts on this one, since he knows more about Gibson 12s than most folks here.

Realistically, I have the 'hog slope-J bases covered. The only thing that might change that could be something that made me part with my '43 SJ re-issue (hog). I sort of want to keep one modern slope-J as a reference point. Vintage ones seem to vary more than modern ones, so the modern SJ is a bit of a constant for comparison. It is also a damn good guitar.

Yes it was. It's a miracle my first 1950 J-45 didn't end up that way until after it was re-topped and turned into a cherryburst by Gibson in 1968. That was a bridge too far for me, so it became a J-50 for a long time.

Can't be sure without a look inside, search for overspray at the soundhole edges, or the centerline J-45 stamp. Both of my 1950 J-45s have that centerline stamp, but it is badly faded in both case, in one case to the point you would never see it if you didn't know it was supposed to be there. It would not be easy to strip a J-45 so thoroughly as to remove all stain traces on the back, sides, and neck, particularly around things like the neck joint to the body. By comparison, the top is relatively easy to strip., provided you remove the pickguard. It can be done, but it is a lot of work. Trust me on that one.

They are strikingly similar in coloration and general patterns, but not identical. I don't know how Gibson was making pickguards back then, whether they were re-sawing large blocks of celluloid or cutting out of pre-sawn sheets. Part of the glory of real celluloid is that no two pieces sawn from the same block will be identical, thanks to the way celluloid is made.

So, I was browsing Reverb, as you do, and came across this "1949-1950" J 50 from Reverend Guitar Man, who sometimes gets nice guitars. This one is player grade--body looks to have been stripped and refinished at some point, although the unstained mahogany back and sides would be typical on a J-50 in this period. Top like wise oversprayed, but the pickguard is almost identical in pattern to the 1950 J-45 I bought a couple of years ago from the original owner. Some cracks repaired, replacement bridge, re-fretted, a lot of the things you see on a 70 year old guitar. There is a really good sound demo in this listing, showing off the exact same cracking up-front and articulate voice of a good J-series from this period that my recent 1950 J-45 has. Then I looked at the FON, and it was strikingly familiar. Sure enough, it is the same FON as my J-45, with a rack number only three away from mine. This guitar and mine sat on the rack on the same day, have the same pickguard, and the same voice. Siblings, if not identical twins. It was spooky, and for a minute I thought about buying it. But then I thought, nah, I've already got two 1950 J-45s, including one that lived life disguised as a J-50 for almost 40 years. I hope this one finds a good home. Price seems fair for the condition, and the guy seems to describe them pretty well. Once again, listen to the sound clip. 1950 J 50

That was a really good comparison. His "real" banner J-45 is in remarkable condition. The new guitar is a little tighter, but really well balanced. The vintage guitar has a penetrating top end and mid-range. It's amazing how good the new one sounds at this stage, compared to the vintage model. Nice to see guitar evaluations that are something other than shred and crash. That guy is really talented. This shows once again that Bozeman can build great guitars.

Sorry. I missed the irony font.

The forum of life.

I've spent a lot more money for a lot less reward.

Here ya go: vintage white spray lacquer

Maybe the victim of a directed-energy attack that resulted from an aggressive Em7 chord on the Firebird. Blew her right out of the soundhole.

That seems like a reasonable trade to me.

The actual saying is "only a Gibson is glued enough", a parody of the wording of the banner logo.

Every one I have seen from that period has white lettering. My L-OO Legend, however, has the same logo in gold. Maybe they were out of white paint that day.