j45nick

The rosewood SJ is incredibly powerful. I'm glad you bought it.

L-OO Legend. Fantastic fingerpicker with 1 3/4" nut, 2 3/8" string spacing at the pins. Big, fat 1930's V-neck. More treble and bass focused than the LG-style bodies, which makes for a great fingerpicker. While I have the Legend version, there are other L-OO models with most of the same specs, but without the all hide glue construction of the Legends. They are more readily available, and a bit less expensive. Highly recommended.

Yep, S prefix is 1959. Welcome. Flatwounds may or may not be the way to go on this guitar, but you won't know until you try. The 10's you have on now are probably too light. A set of 12s might be better. Archtops are known for a very quick decay, and flats may accentuate that. Try them on for size, since you've already ordered them. The tuners can probably be salvaged, so don't throw them away even if you replace them. The buttons might end up being destroyed in the process of straightening the bent worm gear arm, but those are easily replaced. In any case, welcome aboard!

Thanks. For whatever reason, it seems like those were the tuners they were using then. Nothing wrong with them, they're just different from what would have been used in the late 1950s.

I'm curious as to why the saddle was replaced.

JT, seriously cool! The SJ That Went To War is an iconic instrument.

BK, do you reckon those individual closed-back tuners are original, or is there any evidence it originally had the typical three-on-a-plate version of those? The tuners you have are the same ones that are on my '06 1943 SJ re-issue. I love the look of your J-50. It looks more "vintage" than a lot of vintage guitars. The fact that it has some bumps and dings only makes it better, and you don't have to treat it like the Precious.

The J-160 had an ADJ bridge when it came out in 1954.

It's interesting that they've gone to the 1 11/16" nut with this 60's model--which would have been standard up to about 1965--but they are also using scalloped top braces, which Gibson stopped doing about 1955. Neck profiles in the 1960's were pretty thin as well, so it would be interesting to see how the "rounded" neck profile on this one compares to the originals. There are a fair number of original early 60's models around at somewhat rational prices these days.

He was definitely one of a kind. Elton John said the first time he saw/heard him, he knew what he wanted to be,

Tune down, capo up

Stewmac sells conversion bushings to convert the larger Roto peghead holes for use with 1/4" stringpost tuners. The existing hole spacing should be OK, but verify with the dimensions of your new tuners. You will need to drill new mounting screw holes for the new tuners. These must be drilled, since the tiny mounting screws will shear off if you try to force them. Plenty of folks here have done this conversion. There are several brand variants of the original Kluson-style tuners. Stewmac carries most of them. conversion bushings

Sal, that is an incredible job! It's a great song by JD, and you do it really well. Great vocal, great playing. (and I really like your desk.)

Nice! Looks like you're multitasking on a very nice oak desk there...

Not sure that is right. In 1962, nut width should have been 1 11/16". Never seen one as narrow as 1 1/2", and 1 3/4 disappeared in late 1940's. Skinny nut of late 1960's should be 1 9/16".

The odd thing is, if the serial number were 80624, it would unambiguously be 1962 which is what the guitar looks like. The "1" is even offset vertically. I haven't seen the embossing machine used for these numbers, so it isn't clear if this might have been a serial number mis-strike.

Ouch! Nothing new you can buy is likely to get close to the sound of an 83-year-old AJ. There's just no substitute for old wood. The new Historic '36 may be as close in spec that you can find today , but it's hard to imagine it will be as good tonally. As far as the sunburst goes, the dark one shown on the Gibson website appeals to me, but may or may not be consistent with a 1936 AJ 'burst. However, Gibson sunbursts have never been exactly the same, even in the same year and model. I have two 1950 J-45s made within a month or so of each other, but the sunbursts are quite different from each other. I believe Tom Barnwell here (tpbiii) has several vintage AJ's, and maybe he'll post pictures for comparison.

Those oldies obviously have some worn gears and a different gear ratio compared to the Golden Age models, but they are a good find. You have to be on a lookout for others you can cannibalize for parts such as gears and string posts. The Antique Acoustics replacement buttons are the most accurate around, and you can get them in both black and cream.

That was pretty much what I was seeing as well: subtle difference in the upper bout. It's certainly not dramatic. In some ways, it takes it a bit towards the old L-series shape, which is really pleasing to the eye.

That '59 looks really, really clean. I bet yours has scalloped braces, unlike the '59, and that's going to give it a somewhat different voice. I would need to play yours and the '59 to know which I like better. 1959 was probably the last year of a pretty full neck profile. You hit the jackpot with yours, any way you look at it. I'm still mystified why you put pickups on most of your guitars. I thought you didn't play out much these days.

I'd like to see the two shapes overlaid to really see the differences. At the least, four key measurements (body length, lower bout width, waist, upper bout width). The BK's J-50 is seriously good-looking. I know it's fairly recent, but it looks like a perfectly-kept 50+ year old guitar. And I mean that as a compliment.

None, if I had the chance to change strings and do a set-up. Bozeman-built guitars are consistently good, if not always equally good.

I recall paying either $10 or $15 for a Gibson-braded chipboard case (black) for my J-45 in 1966. Five years later, I got a non-branded generic dreadnought hard-shell case for about $35. When I bought my one-owner 1950 J-45 last year, it came with a smooth brown chipboard case with brown felt lining. The case was in perfect condition, so I wanted it, but did not want to take a chance on shipping the guitar in it. I shipped the owner a spare modern Gibson hard case to ship the guitar in, and had the chipboard case packed and shipped separately. It seems a little silly, but what the heck? I have more money tied up in that chipboard case than I had in my first 1950 J-45 plus a new chipboard case back in 1966.

They apparently still make that same pattern of case covering material. My custom Cali Girl J-45 case made by G&G for Norman's Rare Guitars in LA used that same material on the outside. Cedar Creek has an exterior material they call "Epi Brown" which is very similar but may not have the exactly the right pattern. They also will do the interior in "Vintage Pink Sky Velvet", which is a dead ringer for the original Cali Girl lining. ZW is right about the primary shortcoming of modern cases being the hardware. The Providence Forge hardware used by Cedar Creek (and used on the Redline case that came with my L-OO Legend) is pretty good compared to most of it. You get what you pay for.

That was cool. Pretty nice recording studio in there, too. And the Epi sounds great. What model is that, and from what era?