ponty

My 93 J45 was played by Elvis. Cant prove it, but thats why its only $80,0000. I suspect this eBay listing is genuine. The pick-guard is not original - at least the pattern markings are not the same as they were. There are at least 2 photos showing that there were undesirable holes in the top. The only suggestion of a repair comes with that dark strip across the top. £125,000? I just cant see it. Incidentally, the twelve string shown with the Springfields is a Stan Francis (Liverpool, UK) model, upon which Pete Seeger had a copy made by Francis and then later by a US maker, Bruce Taylor. and much later CFM produced a Seeger model paying homage to this model.

J-35 for me. Mahogany all the way.

Oh yes....This is for me! Here is more

That's the one...quite something it was.

I have just returned from a trip home to the UK. I visited Coda Music in Stevenage, and have to say I don't think there is another store in the UK like it. Wall to wall acoustic guitar paradise! The Gibson range was not disappointing- except they are still waiting for the original series to arrive. However, one outstanding playing and sounding guitar was the L-00 studio. It's in store price was £1299. An absolute fantastic guitar.much more than I expected, The studio Dreadnaught was also a wonder- though square dreads and I parted company many years ago. Can't stump up for Gibson? Sigma have a very impressive copy line. I don't know how they look so similar without raising rights infringement. These guitars run In the 3 to 6 hundred pound range. Then a third 'knock off' which will make you sick with envy is England's own Atkins guitars. Gibson pre war and early post war replicas. Again simply stunning guitars - but for these you pay more than a modern Gibson equivalent. So if you're near by Stevenage pop in and indulge. Anderson's in Guilford also knockout stuff. I hear voices saying LG-2.....

You got the right guitar!

Thanks all. Very good info.

Having not bought a brand new guitar for years.....21 years, I am curious to know if manufacturers and retailers still use MSRP, MAP and store best price? The new 'original' series from Gibson is killing me - I have never seen so many guitars I want in one go! When I enquired by email to one major Gibson dealer, I was given the MSRP as the asking price. is this standard?

https://www.vintage-guitars.se/1995_Gibson_J-45_92145037_head.jpg The 'Western' was then the standard. It followed the pattern of the 1994 100th aniversary model. I have 2 1993 J-45s which are broadly identical but do not have the headstock banner logo of 'Only a Gibson is good enough' The Gibson logo was in block letters not script.

Absolutely.

You may be interested in this from JJB. At $49 you cant go wrong. I have 2 J45s, one fitted with KK and the other JJB. Both do the same job. http://www.jjb-electronics.com/prestige-330.html

Ebay used to have a set up where by you could actually mail the bidders. This no longer is the case, so they cannot be warned.

Remember, that Ralph McTells famous Gibson is a 45, not a 50. At some point it had it top refinished. RM says... "My Gibson J-45 that I have had since I was 20 years old. I traded it in against a Harmony 12-string and £45 at Pan Music on Wardour Street. It was the best trade-in I ever had, and my hand and fingers grew round that instrument. "90 per cent of all my writing has been done with that guitar and, although I rested it for several years, i t will be with me till the drop. I now have at least six more J-45s and only one of them gets close to this beloved guitar.

Larrivee. Very under rated.

B-25 reissue.

Thankfully a demo of a L00 which wasn't the Blues! Very nice guitar.

My linkS @ G got this song from Martin Carthy in the UK.

Where in the UK did you find that? GuitarGuitar or Guitar Village or somewhere else? It is very nice, and I am pretty sure I would have got it over the Blues KIng.

Bobouz...My error. It is just the sides that are laminates on the new custom B-25. Solid back and top.

I cannot say this for certain about Gibson laminates, but was certainly the case with Asian imports. The laminates on an Asian import had a very thin top of say Mahogany, underneath was simply poor quality ply wood, A better laminated guitar would have multiple layers of the same type of wood eg mahogany. So not all laminates are born equal. By the way, the B-25 reissue has laminated B&S.

Dont throw the baby out with the bath water they say...Laminated b&S was looked upon as inferior, and often associated with guitars from the far east. However, there are some very nice guitars with laminates. The Gospel reissue is one. The back is a pressed parobole, and as such has no bracing. This was like the original gospel of the 70s the J-55 of the 70s and of course Guilds well known D-25. Not bad sounding at all.

I know this subject has been covered before, but the position of the pickguard after it has been moved is much better. Why don't Gibson just do this?

Here is the StewMac solution

Another Early J-45 owner...well did. I bought mine in 98 in London and sold it in 2006. Another bad judgment call! It did not however, have a 1 3/4. It was a nice guitar, but didn't quite live up to my 93 45s. Still, I wish I still had it.You can never have too many J-45s. One of the interesting things about it, in contrast to my 93s, was that the bridge, apart from being glued had was bolted too. This is something I have seen on may Gibson s since. The screw heads being hidden by a pearl dot.

Thanks Nodehopper. Update...... I took the pins off the 000-28EC, and have temporarily put back the TUSQ pins.The reason is I cant live with the bone pins sticking up so much!! So, I put the pins on my J-45, and a new bone saddle, restrung it and a great result. I am going to get pins for the 000-28 that seat lower down. All in all, I am sold on this minor modification which to my ear has produced a major change.