j45nick

I played a maple banner J-45 a few years ago, and it was startlingly different from any 'hog J-45 I've played from that or any other period. I wasn't a fan of the quick decay and lack of overtones, but man, it could cut through. Good guitar for a flashy flat-picker. The only maple acoustic guitar I've owned was a 1947 L-7. It had the classic archtop honk, and once again a very quick decay which was good for big chunk-a-chunk chords. Could never quite bond with it, maybe because I was too lazy to learn how to play it properly. Ross Teigen set it up for me, and in his hands it sounded great, but he started out as an archtop player.

That's a good point. Provided the neck set was good enough--and at least some of those guitars with adj bridges had over-set necks--you could set the adj saddle up pretty high and still maintain a good break angle. The one adj I have is from 1968, and that neck was quite over-set. The ends of the original rosewood adj saddle split from excess leverage on a cranked-up saddle. That bridge happens to be a belly-down, so direct comparisons do not necessarily apply.

Except, of course, for the SJ's with a belly-down bridge (Martin configuration), which is common on vintage Banner SJ's. My Fuller's Vintage 1943 SJ re-issue has the belly-down bridge, but I believe Fuller's did the specs on those runs.

I just pulled out the semi-official J-45 plans from Stewmac. They show a 1942 bridge (rectangular), a 1950 bridge (belly-up, slot-through), and 1954 bridge (belly-up, drop-in). All have the pins at 3/16" centers (5mm) from the back edge. I also re-checked my all-original 1950 J-45 (belly-up, slot-through), and the pins are at 3/8" (10mm). My other 1950 J-45 has a new bridge by Ross Teigen (belly-up, slot-through) with pins at 5/16" (8mm), but of course that bridge is a repro. I then looked at photos from 1966 of that guitar's original bridge, and I would say the pins are much closer to 3/8 than 3/16". My two 1950's have FON's that probably date to within a few weeks of each other. Let's face it: it's Gibson. For the record, I don't think this pin placement matters much. Most of the "meat" of the bridge, and the gluing surface, is on the proper side of the pin holes from an engineering perspective.

You can't count on the nut width by year in that era. Got to get out the calipers.

That's probably a 1969, which may well have the very narrow nut. The guitar doesn't look bad. Unfortunately, the distinctive Dove pickguard is starting to out-gas, and will have to go before it damages everything around it.

That's a Sennheiser MKH 418 or 418-S, depending on whether it's stereo or mono. Here's an article on the mic's they use: Tiny Desk microphones

While her music isn't really my style, she's got a lot of talent when it comes to songwriting. It looks like all the NPR employees under 30, plus all their friends, were in that little room.

Reminds me of the Dylan video of Subterranean Homesick Blues with flashcards.

Love it! Some Dove goodness, and Jinder finally blows his own horn at the end. Really, really nice.

"Historical accuracy" and "vintage specs" for Gibson are moving targets. My 100% original "new" 1950 J-45 has the pins centered just under 3/8" (actually 9mm) forward of the back edge of the bridge.

I have one Gibson J-45 belly-up bridge with the pins almost as far back as the ones in your photo, and another (vintage) J-45 with the pins closer to the saddle. the only disadvantage of the pins being close to the back edge of the bridge is that it may give a lower string break angle at the saddle. It might also be dictated to some extent by the size and location of the bridgeplate. My J-45 with the pins closer to the saddle has very small bridgeplate. I'll have to dig out the J-45 drawings to see where they show the pins.

There's plenty of saddle there.

She's a classic, Sal. Enjoy!

Looks like the real thing to me, and a very nice one.

Looks really nice. Congratulations. I'd be curious to see a "before" picture of that top to understand exactly what he did for the cosmetics. It is very tricky to buff or polish a badly checked and flaking finish. Virtuoso says not to use their products on checked or damaged finishes, as the polish residue is impossible to remove from finish cracks. I can vouch for the truth in that claim.

If you only have one Gibson, and it's not a vintage guitar, a modern J-45 TV is as good a choice as you can make. One thing that seems true is that J-45's are enormously sensitive to string choice. Finding the right combination can be tricky. The good thing is that the J-45 can sound almost anyway you want it to sound, depending on string and pick selection. It's as versatile a guitar as you can find. But you know that from the "wandering" J-50 you had.

JC, you are right. In that era, the 'bird and the CW were basically the same guitar except for the pickguard and the fact that most 'birds were cherryburst. I mistook the pattern in the pickguard material for a worn 'bird guard.

She played a 'bird in a performance of this I looked at today. One Gibson or another is fine with me.

He's a man of constant re-invention, who has given us an incredible amount of great music over the 55 years I've been listening to him. I distinctly remember the first time I heard one of his records, as a 17-year-old in high school, thanks to a very hip English teacher. My first reaction was "WTF?" My second reaction was "oh, yeah!" I still react that way to him.

Thanks for posting that, JC. The 'bird has the typical late-60's ultra-thick pickguard and adj bridge.

A word of caution on this process. Gibson pickguards have been a number of different materials over the years. On older guitars, they are celluloid (nitrocellulose-based plastic) which is both highly flammable and prone to shrinkage and curling as it ages. Not sure I would use this process on an older pickguard, and I would want to know exactly what the material is on a new pickguard.

Two great songs! Really nice, Doug.

They need to make a J-45 model, or a banner logo model. Put me down for one of each. It would be an easier way to tell my phones apart.

I believe bluesking here has one just like this. With luck he will chime in with more details. I believe it's an L-50, but the black versions have a special name. Yours looks really, really nice!