Alex_78

So non scalloped bracing? That would be an interesting twist...

Yes those that have it develop bridge bellies after two years or so. Actually similar guitars with non adjustable bridges were available for other sellers. And again for me a CS guitar is a custom ordered guitar like Martin or Fender offer. Thus, perhaps the old limited edition decal would be a better choice.

Still have to understand why some Southern Jumbos have the CS and others don't, I have been told by Gibson: "All of our guitars that were not planogram models were considered Limited Editions due to the fact that they were onlyavailable for that model year. " I wonder if I add a CS logo I am "faking" the guitar...I remember ten years ago they had a "limited edition" logo similar to the CS logo, I think it should be reintroduced as the Gibson Montana CS acoustics aren't "custom shop" guitars IMO. The main characteristic of a custom guitar is that's it's made to order with different specs from regular production ones, and my understanding is Gibson Montana doesn't get custom orders.

Pretty sure they are Tusq, pins, saddle and nut. Older models had glossy plastic pins, now they look different. As discussed previously Gibson's acoustics are well priced guitars and they prefer to invest in solid wood than bone pins, then the owner can decide to upgrade or not.

Hello I'm Alex, I am a guitarholic, 40 years old, now I am trying to reduce the herd but regarding the acoustics this is my current "collection": Martin HD28V Gibson Sheryl Crow (old model, square shoulders) Gibson J45 60s (the one that made me write here after a long time) Ovation Balladeer 40th Anniversary These are my three favourite (plus the new entry that I still have to assess), then I have two 12 strings, a Guild JF30-12 and an Ovation Custom Legend 6759, both excellent but as 12 strings they are a little delicate. My other acoustics are an old 1974 Ovation Folklore, a BC Rich made with brazilian rosewood and a sunburst D25. I generally like Gibsons, Guilds and Ovations, and I mostly play acoustic rock like Led Zeppelin, Queen, some Black Sabbath acoustic tunes, Boston, Guns'n'roses...in short I don't think I am the "average" acoustic player because of the music I play.

Here there are my opinions on the matter: 1) Generally the denser and more homogenous material for nut and bridge is the better it is...I use fossil ivory (I don't want any elephant killed for my guitars) when available on my good guitars. TUSQ is IMO better than soft bone. 2) Pins have no influence whatsoever on the sound, but the string angle has, Ovations don't have pins and some like the 40th anniversary Balladeer are excellent guitar on the level of my Martin HD28V for instance. However I like fossil ivory because they look cool on Martins while as Gibson usually have rosewood bridge I tend to use rosewood and they look better IMO. Yes I usually source them from Colosi and I like my pins as low as possible on the bridge, so I usually make countersunk collars. 3) Strings: I don't usually like PB unless the guitar is very bright, my favourite make is John Pearse, caliber 12-56. Unfortunately they are hard to procure and they last not too long, one of the few guitars I like with PB is my 1981 Guild D25. I also tested the new nickel brass D'addario and they are quite good, a sort of middle ground between PB and 80/20.

I agree with most of your points but I've to say that the neck of my JF-30-12 isn't too deep, but broader with a sort of U shape to accomodate the two parallel bars. I bought the guitar three years ago and I never needed to adjust, and I always keep it in standard tuning. Old Guild are VERY sturdy so neck reset is not always necessary but you have to care about bridge bellying...

Double truss rods were standard on 12 strings Guild until the demise of the Westerly production, today they are not used anymore because graphite reinforcements are the standard but before that technology Guild was the only maker who could build effective 12 strings at concert tuning. Gibson never used them, the first Taylors had them because they were basically copies of the Guild design.