BluesKing777

Is there a reason they decided to put a soundhole in those archtops instead of the usual arch ...err.... top? (My 35 Gibson Black Special #4 has that kind of 78 rpm sound - better drag it out on the weekend - fantastic V neck!!!). BluesKing777.

The torrefied tops will only get you a bit of the way - the rest of the guitar is brand new! (I have the Martin OM-18 Authentic.) Nothing for it really but to buy the old one if you think you are getting too old. The only torrefied mahogany top that I have heard of is the recently de-listed Martin 00-17 Authentic, and only a few torrefy the whole guitar. I had the Waterloo all mahogany based on the Gibson L-0 like above in my hot little hands a few years ago .and...didn't have the cash! Should have traded in a kidney - they have become as scarce as the Gibsons... Anyway, being a long time L-00 fan and buyer, I have it covered pretty much! I keep buying versions of the same guitar. BluesKing777.

Buy that one above, then! BluesKing777.

Further on the 'dry' sound... The video with the F/S 1930 Gibson L-0 mahogany above has what I would call a dry sound: BluesKing777.

Both my Waterloos were born 'dry', thin finish that broke in very quickly...I have said it a few times here - they sound older than my old guitars. Don't know how Bill did that.... (For me, 'dry and woody' is better for fingerpicking blues, even better with the Waterloo ladder braced - but I don't mean the guitar is physically drying out - I mean the sound.) BluesKing777.

A pawn shop that had lots of guitars when I was a kid had a big sign : "Lovely to touch, lovely to hold, but if you break it, consider it SOLD". Yikes! BluesKing777.

Ha ha ha, my Ole L-0 is....1937! Now the love is because the 37 is so dry, woody and......dusty? Did Ren make ‘dry’ or ‘damp’ or even ‘wet’? My Waterloos are both dry, for example, while my Cargill custom 00 in ebony on Italian Spruce is full wet dripping with overtones! Where does the L-00 Legend sit? BluesKing777.

So not really a Gibson L-00 problem, you just want a 32.....😁 Just buy this one: https://thenorthamericanguitar.com/products/gibson-l-0-mahogany-pre-owned https://reverb.com/item/47628801-gibson-l-00-1932-black or this one: https://reverb.com/item/48754937-1933-gibson-l-00-untouched-sunburst or this one: https://reverb.com/item/53206059-gibson-l-00-1933-small-sunburst-fire-stripe BluesKing777

In 68, I was 12 and taking my first guitar lessons after playing bongos for 4 years on an acoustic that was given to me by my dad’s boss’s wife when she bought a new guitar! Guitar lessons were in a large class that dwindled weekly until it was only a a couple of serious ones and a babysitting job left. The teacher made us learn music as we learned the fretboard, tough, tough, tough at the time but I still thank him today.....this morning I played through one of the many music books I bought with a Christmas voucher - the ‘100 Most Beautiful Songs For Fingerpicking’ in music/guitar tab.......don’t have to learn the songs, just play the music! I also bought the ‘100 Most Popular Songs For Fingerpicking’, ‘Blues For Fingerpicking’, ‘Country For Fingerpicking’, the ‘Ultimate Fake Book’ with 1200 songs, the ‘Country Fake Book’ with 750 songs..... I have plenty of tunes to play!😁 Don’t have to do it, sometimes I just ....play.....but I am still thankful I can! (No idea what the teacher’s name was, but...THANKS!)..... BluesKing777.

Congrats on the best shape guitar made! Sorry, I am a little unclear which model you bought - the 1932 L-00 reissue? - no pickguard. Big difference in specs between that model and the standard models. The L-00 'Vintage' model is another beast all together....torrefied top etc. BluesKing777.

I am not laughing, ZW - someone found an old busted LG1 years ago, glued it all up and sold it to me on Ebay! BluesKing777.

If it is in a skip, it is probably a Hummingbird or an LG1........😄 BluesKing777.

Perhaps a little wood guitar is a bit ‘delicate’ for you, everyone is different......but I have a couple of guitars that DO need finger strength and worth a bit of time learning perhaps.....my National resos. My National Tricone black steel is a beast at 9 1/2 lbs with nut width of 1.82”, fat strings with 16 on the 1st for wonderful.......bottleneck, which also needs finger strength distilled with some finesse and control. Once learned, the tricone can make one note ring out and sound incredible, pretty impossible on wood guitars....so you need to play less or it can get out of control like an electric guitar. Worth a go.... BluesKing777.

The $50 cheaper is another mystery...why $50? Both models are identical except for the tuners, also the same approx price on StewMac. Got me. Perhaps the J45 Standard is getting phased out...slowly, and they don't want to tell anybody? 😁 Do they both get the same case? BluesKing777.

No way around it but the guitar shop demonstration videos are usually brand spanking new guitars just de-boxed and unwrapped........I listened to a couple of videos with brand new J50s and I would rather my pawn shop 2002 that was mistreated and maybe even had a relic job! I had the tea dipped relic look wrongly cut nut and saddle exchanged for new high density bone pieces.....superb but need a few months to settle. Only disappointment in what I had done by my luthier is the Anthem pickup, just not much for fingerpicking and probably famous for strum sounds.....cost me a bomb. My lately preferred K&K Trinity system is expensive too, but I love them.....so, double loss coming up. BluesKing777.

I had a quick listen, thanks, using my iPad speakers, but this will be a good video to replay tomorrow with headphones while I am working.... But so far I pick the 3rd guitar, 2001 J45 Rosewood as the best to record with....fuller sound. ........But that may not he the best guitar to play in a room... BluesKing777.

I would love to play the 50s Original J50 (new) - I just bet ya my 2002, pic above, is identical...chunkier neck, bone nut and saddle, 3 on a plate Kluson style tuners. They never get J50s Originals here, plenty of the 60s Originals. Back when my 2010 J45 Standard came out, a lot of people ditched the Rotos and plastic nut and bridge for bone ASAP. And the awful pickup soon after - my J50 has the full Anthem installed, very good so far. BluesKing777.

Ha Ha Ha Inexplicable! 🤪 BluesKing777.

No, I got the same impression from other forums PLUS I thought my J50 above to be a superior guitar to my previous Standard J45, probably because of the chunkier neck, bone nut and saddle, Kluson style tuners, lighter finish like the new J46 Original instead of the “piano finish” dark stain of the Standards. So I also maybe assumed the new model would replace the previous model, like cars....new car comes out, old model gone. BluesKing777.

Never thought you criticised anything, JT, you must have read me wrong... BluesKing777.

Yeah, did the mic in front of me for reso and vocal for years and years, and it can sound great out front but getting consistent foldback that I could actually hear properly was.......hopeless! Which is why I am so pedantic about getting systems that sound like my acoustics but enable easy handling and foldback. Hard work! Maton systems do it, plug the soundhole and play it like an acoustic instead of it playing an acoustic that sounds like a Telecaster with the usual pickups. Don’t matter anyway here, most are triple vaxed but bars and clubs pretty empty - 3 people for the blues night probably but 84,000 at the football! BluesKing777.

I suppose it is foolish of me to ask why they still make the Standard J45 when most seem to prefer the older look of the Original? Does the Machine keep spitting them out? I prefer my 2002 J50 pic earlier - Kluson style tuners, bone nut and saddle, cream binding (matches my old LG3!). I also just noticed there is no “Historic Series” J50, but 6 versions of the J45. BluesKing777.

TE is playing a concert stage with guy on mixer full time and the AER is his guitar foldback. He also has in ear mic/monitors. You wouldn’t necessarily do things like that at the local bar playing your Maton 808 pickup system, which will sound sensational plugged direct to a little line/stick PA. In a small cafe, plugged direct to an AER is THE classic Maton sound at local gigs. Put the soundhole plug in and run the internal mic as high as you can get it, fabulous, really, and the onboard mid sweep is what makes it all so smooth. The current Maton pickup system, the AP5-Pro is the best production setup you can get without going custom triple source pickups etc. Playing mine has been a real revelation....I have 4 Maton 808s of different budget and woods but if I was a kid going to gigs today, the basic Maton cedar top SRS808 or the blackwood top EBW808 would be a million times better than anything I started with! Mine have never needed more setups than factory and quality control is good. After all that, someone will say.......the usual.....”Which is the best pickup system?” And then someone will say to get that thing from the 80s that makes your acoustic sound like a .......Telecaster! Just watch some live TE......same pickup in every current Maton. I’m talking about fingerpicking live here.......strummers do your normal things - most stuff is designed for you! P.S. You can put the Maton system in any guitar BUT it needs a big slot cut into the guitar top to insert the bridge pickup with 6 individual piezo pieces and another hole in the side to put the preamp with controls and mic on boom arm........unlikely with your best guit..... BluesKing777.

I suppose Tommy Emmanuel gets a lot of stuff given to him - like, “Here take this will ya, ya may as well have it, cos I aint gonna bother!” 😐 SRV probably as well when alive - his right hand just turned into a blur live - I was second row - close. Others? BluesKing777.

Yep, the 70s and 80s can keep their heavy! Everyone got busted woofer valves from carrying too much. A guy in a band I joined owned a concert PA for pub circuit hire, double four way with all Phase Linear etc. and we rehearsed through some of it every week for a dreamy period there. Then we had to do gigs and.......yikes, carry it all. Felt like I was playing my guitar with my elbows after that! Then we got a roadie that could carry most of it on his shoulders! Except he was a nutcase....and on it goes..... AER rules! Little mixer rules! Taking just the Maton and plugging in someone else’s PA, even better! BluesKing777.