Twang Gang

I think I can help a little. (and I agree Gibson models and descriptions can be very confusing). From the serial number we can tell that it is a Custom Shop Guitar built in 2018 for the 2019 model year. It is a recreation of a guitar built in 1961 in Kalamazoo. Before they closed the plant in Memphis all ES style guitars were built there (regular and Custom Shop) the Custom Shop in Nashville built all other custom shop guitars that weren't ES style. Les Paul Customs, SG Customs etc. were all built in Nashville's Custom Shop, but anything semi hollow was built in Memphis until they shut Memphis down. Memphis Historic just means they were trying to recreate a guitar from the past by finding an old guitar and then carefully measuring everything and trying to use the same materials that the old one had and copying it very accurately. So, the big question - Are you going to buy it?

I agree with Steve. That is not a serial number on the back, it's a 2 which stands for Factory Second guitar. One that didn't pass quality control for some reason and was sold to an employee for cost. Doesn't mean there was anything major wrong with it, just didn't pass for some reason. Looks to me like an early ES125 model maybe, probably from the late 50s or early 60s. If you post over in the "Acoustic" or "ES" forums you'll probably find someone who can identify the model. Depending on how it plays and sounds it might hold a pretty good value.

I had heard of the Dodge Brothers and their starting of Dodge Motor, but never heard the connection to Ford prior to that. My Dad was a Plymouth guy as I was growing up. He had a '48 Plymouth 2 door coupe until '58 when he got a four door hardtop Belvedere. Then about '62 or '63 he moved up to Chryslers. He bought my Mom a Barracuda in '66 which I drove a lot in high school. But my first car was a Pontiac and I owned a lot of them through the years until they stopped making them. I think the last one I had was in about 2005 or '06 a G6-GT 2-door coupe with some V-6 in it. Comfortable car, not too big, and handled well.

He can play alright, but are we trying to set a record for most notes played in one measure? It gets tedious after a while. And where I come from it is against the law to use a capo on an electric guitar. 😜

There is one L-5 for sale by Gibson, it's in their "certified vintage" program. Just became available today, it's a 1978 in wine red and they only want about $15.5K for it. Apparently it's used but has been locked away in a vault for a long time? You get a new guitar warranty with it.

I've heard that M2M guitars can take a long time, but it seems like the retailer that placed the order for you should be able to contact Bozeman and at least get a rough idea rather than just sitting and waiting for them to tell you when it's coming. There is no one on these forums that can tell you - we are all just consumers like you and Gibson does not monitor these forums or respond to questions that we pose.

You made the right move. I used quite a few jobbers over the years when we had a gig that one band member couldn't make. I never had to pay them to come over on a weeknight and rehearse. I was never a big fan of digital drums until I played with a guy that really new how to use them, and then I couldn't imagine ever going back to acoustic ones. You can just get such a nice well balanced high-fidelity sound. 👍

I've done a few myself and one the shop I bought from installed on a very expensive Collings guitar. I did one in position 2 and the guitar did lean forward a lot, but since it was a big jazz box that I played sitting on a stool the tilt could be compensated for. On all the others I have gone with position 5 and that seems foolproof as far as playing position goes. All other precautions noted above are good advice re: pilot holes, depth, etc. My two newest Gibsons came from the factory with buttons installed in position 5.

Maybe it's my imagination, but it seems the great majority of these cosmetic issues are on guitars shipped out of the USA, either to Europe or in this case Canada. It gives the impression that maybe since returning the guitars (due to customs etc.) is more difficult that is why they go over the borders instead of to US retailers. I have bought 2 Bozeman acoustics in the past few years (from Sweetwater) and they are both cosmetically perfect as far as I can see. So Bozeman is capable of doing an excellent job. Usually, the buyer says the guitar plays and sounds great, but the workmanship is shoddy - these seem to be the ones designated for shipment out of the country.

Well I guess that's why we never see a body with the grain going vertically. Makes sense when you think about it but the sort of mistake I could easily have made. Going back to the video on the sanding for the carve, the guy in the video I believe is making an all mahogany body with no maple cap. So what happened to his channel routes for the wiring from the pickups to pickup selector and to the volume/tone controls. Unless he already did them and has a mahogany cap that he it sanding?

Back to the Grog. My significant other for about 20 years was Norwegian and her family had their own version of Grog that they made themselves. It was wine based but spiked with some other liquors like vodka and scotch. Also had a lot of fruit added (oranges, orange peel, apple etc.) and she mixed it in a big pot on the stove. The fruit was strained out and then it was bottled and aged for a while. Usually drunk hot, we used to take a thermos with us cross country skiing and have a warm drink on the trail. I never really liked it but had to keep my mouth shut and it was potent. So, I guess "Grog" can be many things to different cultures.

Good to hear from ole Digger. Getting into that vehicle must have been hard, and not sure you could ever get out!!

Wow carving that top with an orbital sander takes way more patience than I have. I could see myself trying to get all the steps smoothed out in one area and then never being able to match all the other areas to it and it would be a mess. My cousin has a machine shop with a couple of CNC machines and I think I would have to call on him to help me. The fellow in the video, his top came out really nice and I guess you have done this before so I look forward to seeing how yours comes out. I was surprised that while he was sanding the top he didn't have the piece of wood fixed in place, he just let it float around on the bench and constantly repositioned it. I suppose that allows him to get all sorts of different angles to make the curves smooth. But I would have mistakenly clamped it down and then tried to move around the bench to get all the angles I needed. One of, if not, THE best video I've ever watched on this forum!

Terrible to have a NGD and not be able to share pics. Worked for me, Imgr, click copy on direct link and then paste to your post. Closest I have to a J35 - my J29 just a test.

Surprised there wasn't a little more difference in how the two sounded. The Dove sounded more muted and compressed to me which is opposite of what I thought they'd be. I don't own a Dove (no longer playing longer scale guitars) but I do own two Hummingbirds - one mahogany and one maple. My maple bird is a little brighter and crisper sounding than the hog yet in the video comparison to me it sounded the opposite. As mentioned it is the difference between these two guitars and not necessarily all.

Interesting discussion, but the original question was is there a difference in "TONE" between trapeze tailpiece guitars and those with a stop tail. I've owned several of both (although not identical guitars except for tailpieces). I don't think the type of tailpiece has much effect on tone. I believe the pickups, and settings you use on the guitar and amplifier contribute most to the tone, those are followed by the body of the guitar (tonewoods, semi hollow, hollow or solid), strings used (flat or round wounds) all contribute to the tone, but the tailpiece very little. I believe there is a difference in feel of strings going to a stop bar and those going to a trapeze, and the difference in feel can cause a change your attack of the strings as you strum or pick. That difference in attack will have an effect on the "sound" of the guitar which of course might include tone. But if you had two identical guitars lying flat on a table, one with a stop bar and one with a trapeze, and you strummed them with some sort of mechanical device (so they were strummed exactly the same) I don't think you'd hear a difference in tone.

That isn't a function of retirement, but simply of age. When we were 4 years old a year was 25% of our life. At retirement of age 65 a year is only 1/65th of our life.

Since this thread started there have been some new ES336 and 356 models come up for sale, so they are making those again, at least for a little while. But those models are a different type of construction from an L5. But maybe there is hope that in the future the archtops will come back.

I think a lot of how you feel after retiring has to do with how well you liked your job. I started working part time when I was about 14 (summers, vacations etc.) and retired when I was 62, so that's 48 years of working. I had probably around 15 different jobs in that time mostly as a commissioned salesperson. I never really had a job that I looked forward to getting up and going to in the morning. I only forced myself to do it to earn enough to live and pay the bills. As has been mentioned if you love what you do then you never really work a day in your life. I didn't love it, and I think that's what made retirement so easy for me.

Good to see you back in the shop and cranking out some guitars. Glad your hands aren't too sore. I think the cuts and bruises just come with the territory - I used to work with my dad in his shop behind his garage and if I didn't bleed a little each day there was something wrong. 😜

Sounds to me like you don't really want this part-time job all that much if completing a resume for it is too much of a hassle. Also sounds like they are trying to suck you back in with the generous pay and if you go back "one or two days a week" pretty soon it will be three days, and then we really need you all of next week for this special project etc. etc. Play more guitar, take up golf or fishing. You've worked probably all your life so stop and enjoy retirement already. By the way the adjustment after retirement can be trying. It must have taken me 3 or 4 hours to get used it once I quit working.

Sorry Marley, this is a guitar forum. We don't like DJs they take away business from real bands who play guitars.

I'd say that is unusual, but I guess not since this is the third time you have had a problem. I've owned quite a few guitars with similar tailpieces and it never occurred to me that it might snap. Is there extra tension due to much heavier gauge strings than what the guitar normally would use?

Glad the Taylor worked well at the open mic, and as usual they perform very well just plugged direct to the board. I listened to the A/B samples and I like the clearer high fidelity sound of the Taylor. The Gibson sounds a little muffled in comparison. We have to remember that what we hear holding the guitar and sitting behind it is quite different from what the audience hears. I think you made a great choice and it will do the job you want it to.

Not Lyle playing - his hands don't look like that, he almost exclusively plays Collings guitars, and uses finger and thumb pick. As to who it is - I have no idea.