j45nick

Of all the vintage re-issues, the rosewood SJ seems to be the one in short supply. None of the online dealers seems to have one right now, after perusing their websites. Wildwood has three of the 1936 AJ models, one with a stunning back that looks more like Madagascar or Brazilian than Indian rosewood. I need another guitar like I need a hole in my head. I wish Gibson and Martin would stop building such beautiful re-issues when I am trying to retire. (I know that means more time to play, but it also means less money to play with.)

I leave strings on until they get so many overtones you can barely tune them with an electronic tuner. The strings on my primary 1950 J-45 (Sunbeams) are now over a year old. You seem to be able to get away with this more on Gibsons than Martins. The older strings on my 000-28 EC just sound dead. Old strings on most of my Gibsons just sound different, old and funky. Of course, a lot depends on what style you are playing. I'm working up for a string-changing day. It's a lot of work, since guitars get a clean-up at the same time unless I am extremely lazy, which I am rapidly becoming.

ZW, those string spacing numbers can't be right, no matter where you're talking about on the fretboard.

I hope you come across that one again some day.

1959 would have and S-prefix factory order number.

You are only likely to find "real" PAFs on a guitar built no later than the early 1960s. Real ones are worth serious money. Fake PAFs are everywhere. I'm no expert on these, but you might visit Charlie Gelber's website for some further insights. He is an expert on vintage ES models and their bits and pieces. vintage ES models and parts

BK, you've got too many guitars for me to keep track of.

The label inside an original 1963 ES 335 will say "Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA " on it. A modern re-issue will either say "Nashville, Tennessee USA" or "Memphis, Tennessee USA" on the label. the labels are all the same shape and same color. All of the documentation you have there is for a modern re-issue guitar, not a 1963 ES 335.

BK can post what he wants because he puts his money where his mouth is when it comes to playing. His playing speaks for itself, whether it's on a Gibson, Martin, Cargill or (gasp) Maton..

Sal, maybe there's a J-50 lurking in your future.......

The AJ goes pretty well with Mark's playing style. Is that still Donovan's original J-45?

The one on his lap there is his 1946 LG-2, I guess. He played that early 50s J-45 to death, I think. Last time I saw it the thing was starting to look like Trigger.

As you know, that serial number could apparently be either year. The characteristics changed fairly constantly during the mid/late 1960s, as well, and aren't necessarily definitive Based on the rectangular adj bridge and trap tail, my guess would be 67 rather than 63, but I have nothing definitive to base that on. Several folks here have B 45-12s of various years, and may be better informed. I had an ES 335-12 from 1968, which ironically shared some of the basic structural issues as their 12-string acoustic cousins. Yours looks to be in lovely condition. A lot of people tune these down a half step or a full step, then capo up to standard pitch if they want to play with others.

Sean Watkins is best known for using a J-45--a well-worn early 50's model, and more recently a 1946--but like most other artists, his taste in guitars is fairly eclectic.

More often than not, Browne has been associated with a deep-bodied Roy Smeck, but I've seen him use several other guitars as well, including a well-worn old D-28. Gibson even did a JB re-issue of a Smeck model, but with walnut back and sides. Here is Browne playing the old D-28, one of his 1930s Roy Smecks, and a vintage mahogany small-bodied Martin. Like many artists, he has favorite guitars, but will often play the guitar he feels is best-suited to the setting or the song. Jackson Browne Tiny Desk

I'm not a big Eagles fan, but some of their songs really work for me. This is one of them. I love your version of this. Both the production and performance are first class.

No rattlesnake rattles here. I found plenty of dust bunnies inside one of my old guitars, however

Nicely done. Very much a 50's feel.

The V-neck on my Martin 000-28 EC is a slightly slimmed down version of the late-1930s V-neck on my L-OO Legend, with the same nut width of 1.75" (44.5mm). String spacing at the bridge on the EC is 2 1/4" (57.2mm), and a whopping 2 3/8" (60.3mm) on the L-OO. The Legend's V is carried almost the full length of the neck, while the EC's V is much softer, so that the neck is fairly close to round with only a hint of V by the time you get to the first position. The 30s V on the L-OO is a handful, but is really good for fingerpicking, especially with the wide string spacing at the bridge. I've been moving between my 1950 J-45 (nut just over 1 11/16 at 1.70" or 43.2mm), the EC, and the L-OO quite a bit recently. It takes a bit of hand adjustment to switch between them. I like the J-45 for flat-picking, the others for fingerpicking. The 1950 J-45 has that classic full round neck profile you associate with post-war Gibsons up to around 1955 or so, but it is no match in sheer mass to the 30s V-neck. The EC is somewhere between, but the feel is quite different from either Gibson. I assume the HD-28V has a neck similar to the EC. I would be curious to know how that neck compares to the one on the 1937 D-28 Authentic, if anyone has played that one. That Authentic has been lurking in the back of my mind for some time, since vintage is out of the question when it comes to the D-28.

That's an impressive number, and it isn't surprising.

Tasty, BK, very tasty. What are you using for strings? The 000 body size works well for blues. Totally different tone compared to L-bodied Gibsons, but really good for this style of blues.

whatever...

About 30 years ago, a friend of mine had a Tiger with a big freaking Ford V-8 putting out something like 350 hp. My '74 911 produced all of about 170 hp. He would completely blow me off in a straight line, but the weight distribution bias of the Tiger was so off that I could normally stay up with him or beat him on a timed road course, even though I'm not a particularly aggressive driver, having swapped ends on the 911 on several occasions. We had about a seven mile oceanside road course (Ocean Drive) where I lived in Newport, RI then. It was a lovely narrow road with sharp bends and sweeping curves, and with a decent surface. Early in the morning it was fairly empty of traffic, and rumor had it that cars would drive quite fast on it from time to time...

Those would be 1958-1962 models. One of my best friends in high school (early 1960's) had what I think was a '59. (Actually belonged to his older brother.) Turquoise, with white side inserts. Cool, but it was an automatic. I distinctly remember going to the Chevrolet dealership with my dad to see the first '63 coupe they had. Still love that one. Those wheels on Bruce's are aftermarket.

I assume that's a Danny Clinch photo of Bruce, although it's almost in Richard Avedon style. There are some nice Clinch photos of Springsteen with an old J-45 early in his career.