j45nick

That car last sold for a bit over $6 million. Nothing like the sound of a V-12. I prefer mine in the form of a Rolls Royce Merlin or its Packard equivalent, tucked into the front end of a P-51 Mustang. That will only set you back about $2.5 million, and it's a lot faster than the Ferrari. It's a long way from a guitar, however. I don't have to worry about crashing a J-45.

Ha! I did that as a 40th birthday present to myself (30+ years ago), about a week after my divorce from my first wife was finalized. Talk about a conjunction of midlife crises.....

Jinder, Hang in there, buddy. We're all pulling for you.

That pre-war 000-42/45 is going to set you back a few bucks. Might as well go the whole hog, for a pre-war D-45. I played one of those, and it was absolute magic. Of course, the mystique around it didn't hurt! Needless to say, I played it very, very carefully.

That's a nice one from the same batch as the sister guitar that Tom Barnwell owns. His does not have the skunk stripe on the top, but the grain and color of the back and sides of the two guitars are very similar. The rosewood from both guitars may well be from the same tree. Tom's also doesn't have the white heelcap. That's a pretty good choice, Lars. I might take that one or a 1936 AJ.

I don't carry it around all the time. It sits on my desk. Pocket versions of the Constitution are quite common, and readily available free from a number of politically-oriented organizations on both sides of the political spectrum. It's the size of a small pocket calculator or notebook. Twenty seven pages of easily-readable prose. Mine happened to come from the ACLU, but the Federalist Society also publishes one in case you don't want to be tainted by association with a liberal organization. I don't care who it came from, but I do care about the words.

It's not that long, and it doesn't take that long to read: only 27 pages in my un-annotated pocket version.

I trust you realize there have only been 27 amendments to the US Constitution. The amendment you are referencing is actually the first amendment, guaranteeing such things as freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of assembly, and freedom of religion. Some of us actually read and respect the Constitution. Maybe you should, too.

Chance in a million.....

There are worse ways to spend a winter. I assume you at least get out to walk the dog and do other essential chores. Take care of yourself, and give the dog a scratch for us.

Sal, It's so good to see you. That was great!

Some replacement pickguards come with attached adhesive sheets. Others do not. Sometimes they give you the option. In any case, they generally tell you whether or not they come with attached adhesive sheets, separate adhesive sheets, or none. Since the advent of transparent double-sided adhesive sheets, their use has become common, almost to the point of universality. In any case, the removal of an old pickguard and how it is done is the responsibility of the person installing the pickguard, since the manufacturer of the replacement pickguard has no idea of the material of the old pickguard, or how it was originally installed, including what adhesive might have been used. Likewise, they don't know what the finish of the guitar is, and how that might be impacted by different solvents. Their job is to supply a new pickguard. Everything else is your responsibility, for obvious liability reasons. There are probably plenty of videos online about pickguard removal and replacement. There are plenty of aftermarket pickguard manufacturers out there, using a variety of materials. Classic real celluloid is getting harder to find, but it is available. Finding the right pattern for a vintage guitar isn't always easy. I had the luthier (Ross Teigen) who works on my guitars make a vintage-correct pickguard for one of my 1950 J-45s about 10 years ago, using celluloid sheets he has had for years. We picked one of those colors and patterns based on old black and white photos of that guitar, and my memory of the original one, which Gibson replaced with a batwing guard when they re-topped that guitar in 1968. It turns out that the celluloid teardrop pickguard I made for that guitar in about 1971 to replace the 1968 batwing was put on (by me) with rubber cement, which I had entirely forgotten. The new celluloid one he made came out great, and is a close match to the original guard on the other completely original 1950 J-45 I bought last year. The two 1950 J-45s were made within a month or so of each other by their FONs, and presumably would have originally come with very similar pickguard colors and patterns.

Me too.

I think yours is gorgeous. Play it, and enjoy.

You do realize that a lot of high-end builders already do that, don't you? Examples: Martin, Pre-War Guitars, etc. This is not a new thing or a new idea. It has been discussed here over the years ad nauseum.

You need to understand that guitars in the Historic series are meant to look like (in this case) well-cared-for 60-year-old guitars. They are not meant to look like a brand new guitars. This is reflected in things like the finish, which is not a buffed high-gloss finish like a standard Bozeman guitar. If you want a modern "new" guitar look with a perfect finish, do not consider buying one of the Historic models.

Dave, Where did that firestripe material come from, and what is it? It's really nice-looking compared to the Gibson ones I have, which are just wrong.

Those aren't really the L-OO shape, though. A teardrop isn't right for an L-series.

The more common type looks a lot better to me.

Dude, I hope you're joking. it's a Fraulini. Follow the link. They even discuss that particular guitar.

The specs on that guitar make it pretty much a Fraulini interpretation of a Nick Lucas. Pretty interesting, really.

Also, be careful removing and tightening the screws, as it is easy to damage the plating and slots on these tiny screws.

Nice, David! What ya gonna do for a pickguard?

Stinker mahogany? I hope you mean sinker mahogany, or I'm not in a hurry to play any of your guitars.

Hah! Tommy E won't like that one.