j45nick

I doubt that emigration is a cost-effective solution, whether to the US or Canada. You might talk to lars88 here about buying through Willi Henkes in Germany. The last thing you want is to have a guitar questioned and seized by an over-zealous customs official, anywhere in the world. They have been known not to listen to reason.

1946 appears to be unique in both the script logo without banner, and the absence of an FON. That should make them fairly easy to identify by year, although when during the year a particular guitar was made may be impossible to determine.

The neck width in 1946 may well be 1 11/16", not 1 3/4". This one is tricky if it means that much to you. Note also that a lot of sellers may not appreciate the small difference, and may accidentally misrepresent a slightly narrower neck as being wider. By 1948, the width at the nut on all I have looked at was definitely 1 11/16, not 1 3/4". The pin spacing at the bridge may be equally important to some people. Sometime between the late 1930's and late 1940's, the typical Gibson flat top pin spacing went from 2 3/8"(60.325mm) down to 2 1/8" (54mm). 1946 models aren't necessarily that easy to find, depending on the condition you are looking for. I've been looking for a good 1946 SJ or J-45 for several years. I've seen some rough ones, but that's not what I'm looking for. Proving the build date may not be that easy. We associate the script logo (no banner) with 1946, but it isn't clear exactly when the change-over took place, so be prepared to do some background if you are going to try to import into the EU or the UK.

I thought that might be the case, but wasn't certain. I contacted ebay during the sale, and reported it as a sale of counterfeit goods. I got an acknowledgement of my contact, but that was it. No response on the substance. So where do you stand now in this process? It seems like you've undertaken a certain amount of risk here, so I assume you have a plan. Did you bid multiple times, or go in and snipe at the last minute to make sure you would win? If you bid multiple times, you may inadvertently have encouraged others to believe the guitar was real, and to continue bidding.

Someone will be (or should be) seriously upset when they realize what they have bought. My guess it will ultimately get returned to the seller, and may show up again in some way, perhaps advertised as a "replica". The serial number, by the way, was clearly visible in the photos, and was in a format never used by any Gibson division.

I saw a piece on e-commerce yesterday that stated that up to 30% of the transactions on ebay, Amazon, and a couple of other platforms I was not familiar with involve counterfeit goods. It is clear that the operators of those platforms have zero incentive to police this, since it would obviously result in a significant reduction in profitability. It's a pretty sad commentary on the times.

And has been mentioned before, the buyer of this guitar is likely to be a bit uneducated about counterfeits. He will get a POS guitar, and will go online and start bashing Gibson for producing junk. That's not good for Gibson, and it's not good for those of us who own Gibson guitars. The seller's attitude seems to be that since it says Gibson on the headstock and Gibson on the label, it's a Gibson J-200. But then he says an authentic J-200 would sell for thousands of dollars, so somebody is getting a bargain. Clueless, amoral idiot.

That makes no sense. The seller, knowingly selling counterfeit goods, makes a lot of money, and the evidence gets destroyed. I find this whole episode discouraging. A seller who seems oblivious to the moral and legal implications of what he is doing, and a commercial platform that seemingly couldn't care less.

Before you look at any characteristics of the guitar, the serial number is 2016015421. Uh.... At least they didn't steal a valid Gibson serial number.

So, here's the reply I got back from the seller, through ebay: New message from: tikerkma0 (18) You are a moroon..it is not a crime to sell a guitar. The guitar is Gibson brand and is a J 200. Authentic Gibson j 200 guitars sell for thousands. This guitar is fairly priced. If you don t like it don t buy it.

Done.

That's mind-blowing to me. Is this guy in the US? Please report the guy. There is nothing in the listing that suggests it is not a real Gibson. Stuff like this makes me sick. He knows it's a fake, and is selling it as real? edit: I contacted the seller, and told him if he knows it is fake and is representing it as real, he is committing a crime.

There are a whole bunch of details that are wrong, but all you have to do is look at the serial number, which is not in the right format. After that, the incorrect details simply confirm what was already apparent.

That's pretty depressing. If you don't know what you're doing, you'd better buy from a reputable dealer.

If the guitar has a ink-stamped FON on the neck block inside the guitar, we should be able to date it for you and put it in context of what was going on at Gibson at that point in history. Pictures would be helpful in any case, particularly of the headstock, the tuners, and the body. Just pictures of the guitar, front and back, would probably be adequate.

Pretty unambiguously 1966, between the serial number, double ring rosette, serial number embossed on the back of headstock. J-50 in this era (and J-45) would not have had a label inside. If it were 1958, it would have the serial number ink-stamped on the neck block. The serial number would have a T prefix. It should have either "J-50" or "J-50 adj" ink-stamped on the back centerline cleat, visible almost in the middle of the soundhole. That can be hard to see, as it can fade if the guitar has been left exposed to uv rays.

Fuller's does custom Gibson runs to their own specs, often fine-tuning specifications to more accurately reflect the period the guitar represents, compared to "stock" versions. My 2006 Fuller's '43 SJ re-issue, for example, has a slot-through belly-down bridge, 5-ply top binding, dark centerline back stripe, 19-fret neck, serial number ink-stamped on neck block, firestripe guard, etc. The two "non-period" characteristics are bound fretboard (post-war), and the Luthier's Choice (wide modern) neck profile. They do a nice job.

The price you pay over there is pretty close to extortion. I pay about $6.75 for them here from juststrings.com, and shipping is a flat rate of about $6 no matter how many sets you buy, so it pays to buy in bulk. D'Addario EJ16's are about $5.50 from the same source, so there isn't that much price difference. For some reason, you guys seem to get gouged pretty badly on most things associated with guitars.

I'm down to three mahogany/spruce Gibson flat tops (J-45, SJ, L-OO), and I use either MB Premium PB or Sunbeams on all. I've been using up a bunch of MB Premiums that have been sitting around, but am just about to order a new batch of Sunbeams. I'm lazy when it comes to changing strings, and find the Sunbeams give me the warmth and clarity I crave far longer than other strings. Even when they finally die, they've got a funkiness that is appealing. I literally have a two or three year old set of Sunbeams on my L-OO, and I'm sort of reluctant to change them. The slope-J's, on the other hand, benefit from new strings, so they're first in line when the new Sunbeams come in. Still searching for the right strings for my 000-28 EC. I'd like a contrast to the tone I get out of mahogany guitars. Something a bit more sparkly to go better with a mid-sized rosewood guitar. Suggestions? ( don't like coated strings.)

Interesting. It may be that you got some bad ones, or it may be that we like very different characteristics in our strings. I like the Sunbeams a lot. To my ear, they sound a lot like new Masterbuilt Premium PBs, but they retain that "new string" combination of warmth and articulation for a much longer time. To each his own, I guess.

More information, please Grunt?

Turned this into an active link: scratch repair

Bomb-thrower! It will just re-establish the guitar's equilibrium, which has been upset by the scratch...

That's my thought as well. An experienced luthier or repair tech might thin some lacquer way down, and depending on how the far into or through the finish the scratch has gone, drop fill or overspray slightly, then buff it down. It's magic what an experienced guy could do with this, probably at reasonable cost. In any case, the first thing is to get all the polish residue out of that scratch. I've had reasonable success using cotton swabs (Q-tips) and naphtha, but it will take a bit of effort and patience to get it out.

Nah, that was fake news.......