Dave F

They're definitely great guitars and if you have the opportunity, try as many as you can even if they're a friends guitar that's not for sale. Knowing what to look for was very difficult. I've went through a few (maybe not as many as Sal 🙂 ) before I found a keeper. As far as J45's (and versions) here's what I went through and maybe I'm not done two modern J45 standards - both gone J45 Custom RW - gone 1954 J50 - gone J45 True Vintage - gone original 1940's Banner J45 - gone Kris Kristofferson SJ - still have Dwight Yoakam Honky Tonk Deuce - stil have J45 Legend The Legend won out over all the others, I look at the other two I have as artist signed collectables.

Good luck with the search. I have one but have no plans to sell it.

My wife stopped cold turkey 19 years ago. Says she still wants one every day.

No, it's not a new song that I wrote and performed, I'll spare you. Bought a used guitar last week and the case stunk the high heaven from being in smokey bars. In the past, I tried all the remedies such as baking soda and cover-up sprays but they had little long lasting affect and I usually just bought a new case. I thought I'd give this Bissell OXY STAIN DESTROYER a try since it's made for pet accidents and is supposed to eliminate stains and odor's. Worked great. I still have a case from the early '70's from my guitar I used back then. It was in the bars for about 5 years. It's next on the list.

Sweetwater for one, still shows the list price. The last few I bought were from Chicago Music Exchange, The Music Outlet, N Stuff Music, Rainbow Guitars and Bailey Brothers. All 5-star dealers. All great to work with. They always do 40% off list. e.g. J200 Standard list $6,792 - 40 % = $4,075.20 would be my offer. In the past I bought out of state or on line to avoid the taxes. I'm not sure if that works anymore. I know it doesn't on EBay. If it does not work, my local dealer would get the offer. They've done it before but they usually lack choice. Even the former manager at my local GC made the offer of 40% off.

I've yet to get my hands on a GIbson baked top but I've a few 70+ year old samples to compare. Some were better, some were not. I do have similar Martin's one with a baked top (CS-D41-15) and one without (D41 Special). I haven't A/B'd them. I'd rather have someone else play them while I listen from across the room.

Nice!

Happy Thanksgiving Sal! I too saw the earlier clip. So many of the ‘60’s songs are still very relevant today.

Nice looking!

I've owned three of them, all had bone. http://legacy.gibson.com/Products/Acoustic-Instruments/2018/Advanced-Jumbo.aspx

Just to play the devil's advocate, how do you think knowing the history of Gibson guitars would influence your buying a new Gibson today? Most of the members here who are into the vintage guitars will probably never consider buying a new one. I've never bought a vintage guitar and thought, "Boy, I'd like a newer version of this one!" I've done the opposite. I bought new ones, liked them and went searching for vintage. If you have a vintage guitar, it's nice to know any history attached to it. When I got the '42 LG1 I was shown in the ledgers where it had been returned.

A while back I bought a early banner J45 that had tuners that looked like these and I assumed they were just replacements. I had it up for sale on EBay and I received a message from a self proclaimed expert that swore it was a '46 that someone had doctored the banner decal based on the tuners. I removed the tuners and they each had a small paper sticker on them,"Made in Japan" and took a closeup of the decals for him. Afterwards, my expert did not respond. Nor did he bid.

No