Red 333

I've been good! Always reading the threads here, but posting less often. Thanks for asking. Hope you're well. Red 333

Wow, that's lovely. I hope it gives you lots of enjoyment! Red 333

Lovely. I hope you get years of enjoyment with it. Red 333

While this is mostly true from an historical perspective, the early TV versions of the J-45 and SJ are braced (and topped) differently from one another, the J-45 TV having red spruce and Advanced bracing, with the SJ TV having sitka and the standard x bracing. At least that's true of my two from the mid/late 2000s. Red 333

That is fascinating. I have an interest in the Japan-made Orvilles and Epiphone Elite/Elitists, and that catalog contains some models I'd never seen. Thanks for the link. Red 333

I was unaware of Mark's and Folkways' series of videos on vintage Gibsons and their construction quirks until now. I binged them all last night and today. Fantastic. It's great to learn from someone who has taken apart, measured, repaired, and recreated so many different rare guitars and guitar parts, and so many of each that he can present plausible theories as to why Gibson may have built the way they did with such consistent inconsistency. If anyone is aware of any similarly excellent videos and truly informed presenters, please let us know. Red 333

That was fascinating. Full of well presented, great information and history. Red 333

I'm a big Red Spruce fan myself. I have four Gibsons with it, and seven with Sitka. The Red Spruce topped guitars are my favorites. The differences are not earth shaking, though, but pleasing to me. If I had to choose between Red Spruce and Sitka without playing them, I'd as a rule of thumb bet on the Red Spruce. But certainly, if you can audition them, let your ears and hands be your guide. Red 333

It looks like it could be a 1931 L-00 (or reissue). These had 12 frets, black finishes, white pickguards, single bound tops, black pins, unbound fretboards, and stenciled white logos, which all look like features seen in the photo. Red 333

That's a beauty. Enjoy!

Couldn't say it better. Red 333

Gibson always uses hot hide glue to set necks. It is not always used on top or other braces. When it is, it is called out. Red 333

Guitar and bass inventory of all types is low right now. Perhaps what I should have said was maybe Epiphone thinks a Rivoli will cannibalize sales of the JCB. If it doesn't result in more overall sales, the expense if tooling up for it may not be worth it. Casady sales continue to get more profitable each year as the investment in tooling up for it was made long ago. That keeps the price lower for players, too. It's virtually the only Epiphone product widely used professionally, so perhaps they want to ensure its continued use and resultant exposure in media for the good of the overall brand. I'm not saying that's good thinking or not, but having worked in corporate environments for many years, I can tell you that is certainly an argument a marketing exec would make. Epiphone had a Rivoli reissue planned five or six years ago. It was on their press site, but it was canceled for sone reason. Again, I'd love to see a Rivoli reissue. I'm only an occasional bass player, have a JCB, but would like to have a Rivoli just for kicks.

I'd love to see a nice reissue, too. My guess is Epiphone probably doesn't think there's much of a market for a semi hollow bass outside of the Jack Casady (which is virtually the only modern era Epiphone one sees being played professionally with any regularity). Red 333

I believe RANGH stands for Rosewood back and sides, Abalone binding, Natural top, Gold Hardware. Beautiful guitar. The early Masterbilts (those made in the first few years of the modern line, like yours) were exceptionally well made. Red 333

When you were a kid, the jeans you wore were probably made from "raw" denim, the dark, stiff, shrink-to-fit variety that had been sold for a century, and could be worn just about as long. Since the seventies, though, most jeans sold are sanforized (preshrunk), and manually and chemically distressed and softened to take on the characteristics of raw denim jeans that had been worn for years. The process for aging and softening that denim has a huge environmental impact: jeans industry experts estimate that 18 gallons of water are polluted by five ounces of heavy metals (like lead, mercury, cadmium, and chromium) per PAIR. This has resulted in rampant river pollution in jeans producing regions of China and India. In the USA, we buy an average of four pairs of jeans per person per year. Five to six billion pair are manufactured and sold worldwide every year. Levi's latest campaign argues their jeans are well made so will last longer (so you'll need to buy fewer pairs of the polluting garment), but also the efforts Levi's has made to reduce pollution in their manufacturing processes, like using more sustainable hemp-cotton blends, and much less water and fewer chemicals to soften and age their jeans. Levi's is also actively selling pre-worn jeans on their website. How about that? Producing jeans using more sustainable processes is not only a Levi's initiative, by the way: about 35% of world-wide jeans production is now done this way, with some processes using as little as a glass of water per pair. And of course Levi's advertisings is targeted at young people. Who wears and buys more jeans, or has a more hyper focus on either the environment or their future? Red 333 Also somewhere in Texas.

My guess it's that it is a business decision. If they made a reissue today with authentic vintage specs, they would not be able to justify a higher price in the future on an artist model with authentic vintage specs. Red 333

The Elitist acoustics serial numbers all start with T, for Terada, the facility in Japan where they were made. All Elite/Elitist acoustics (and hollow body/semihollow electrics) were made there. The solid body Elite/Elitists have serial numbers that start with F for Fuji Gen Gakki, the facility (also in Japan) that made them. All Elite/Elitist guitars were made by one of those two Japanese makers. None were made in Korea. Red 333

Yes. If you have an inspection mirror to look inside the guitar and under the top, you will see AJ (indicating Advanced Jumbo) on the bridge plate (with "short" for scale length). The bridge plate is a small piece of wood that reinforces the underside of the top where the ball ends of the string rest. AJ bracing was designed for the Advanced Jumbo reissue, and then much later employed on the True Vintage line (and is probably the defining feature). AJ bracing is wider than the other pattern of x bracing typically employed on other Bozeman made J-45s. You might also find the AJ designation on the two small popsicle stick braces on either side of the soundhole. Red 333

Maybe yours is a reissue of a Banner J-45 that had a replaced bridge, lol (replacements often forgo the bolts and the pearl dots that cover them)! I believe (but it's impossible to know) that all Kalamazoo made J-45s had pearl dots to cover the mounting bolt holes in the bridge, as use of the bolts seems consistent throughout the years of production there. Except for a few short years in the nineties, Bozemam did/does not use bolts to mount bridges on the J-45, adjustable bridge models excepted, so the dots (which functioned to cover said bolt holes) were mainly a cosmetic nod to tradition. Bozeman has built many J-45 models over the years, and I don't really know if they eschewed the (non functional) dots from time to time. Wait, I do know of one model--yours! Maybe some other J-45 owners will chime in if they have a dotless bridge. Red 333

That used to be the case with Kalamazoo made J-45s. Not with Bozeman-made models, except for a brief two or three year period in the nineties. Red 333

Yeah. Like seal skin.

If memory serves, when the True Vintage line was introduced in 2007, the J-45 had a sitka top as a standard feature. They also released a special run that year with adirondack tops tops, however, so your 2007 could have either. In 2008, Adirondack tops became standard (while the Southern Jumbo retained Sitka as the standard). Besides the bracing. other features that distinguish the J-45 TV from the J-45 Standard of that era include the script logo and Banner decal on the True Vintage; the Standard had a peal inlay modern block logo. The True Vintage had strip or single white button tuners; the J-45 Standard had Grovers . The True Vintage had an orange label (some said True Vintage, some TV, and some simply J45); the J-45 Standard has a white label. The True Vintage had no serial number or "Made In The USA" impressed on the back of the headstock; the J-45 Standard did. The serial number is on the orange label and the neck block on the TV. The True Vintage may have had a Custom Shop decal on the back of the neck. The True Vintage headstock is the more slender vintage shape; The J-45 Standard had the modern shape. The True Vintage had bone nut and saddle; the J-45 Standard had Tusq. I believe both The True Vintage and Standard of that era had Honduran Mahogany sides and back. The neck profiles were both slim taper. Red 333

I have a James Bay Century that came in the grey repro 50's/60's case with the blue interior. I don't fancy much the texture of the exterior, but it's a well made case. I don't think you should worry about that. The hardware is nice, it latches easily, and it seems solid. I like the welded construction of the seams on the exterior covering. I have cases from Gibson Custom and Gibson Acoustic (so TKL) that have all these little dangling threads coming off of the exterior material's seams, or else the material is lifting off the body of the case, so that is a welcome construction detail. The grey case's interior seems to be a good compromise between the extreme plushness of some modern cases and the Epiphone cases from the fifties and sixties which inspired the look of these cases, but were even stingier with the padding. I have a Gibson Legend 1942 J-45 , which is about as spendy as J-45s go, and it came with a repro of a 1942 case. For the cost of the guitar, you'd think it would come with something better than what amounts to a chipboard case, but it's true to the original, like these grey, vintage-inspired Epiphone cases. Red 333

Yes. My Legend has the two pearl dots.