QuestionMark

Sounds like the guitar just needs a set-up. I would think a Guitar Center or a San Ash Nusic should be able to help you obtain a set-up if there are no other luthiers in your region to bring it to for a set up. The fact putting medium strings on your guitar changed the buzz means it could be something minor like a truss rod adjustment or a partial or full set up. All routine matters. Hope this helps. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

Yep, the one I have on n my 1933 KayKraft is stenciled. It also has the initials HKK or HK (I’m too tired to go and look if it’s two or three letters) stenciled by the design, which may or may not stand for Henry Kay Kuhrmeyer, the catalyst for the KayKraft guitars from that era and later Kay Guitars or it could stand for ? (not sure). QM aka “ Jazzman” Jeff

I have a 1933 KayKraft arch top in my collection with the same (or substantially similar decal). Very cool. QM aka “ Jazzman” Jeff

On mine, I left the whole stock pickup mechanism in place, including the piezo thing under the saddle, even though I don’t use it. I like the way the guitars sound, so I’m not tempted to remove the under saddle thang. I doubt it has any significant effect on the sound as so many guitars these days have the under saddle piece. If it was a major issue, we’d have heard of a major amount players constantly complaining, although I’m sure there are some who feel in principle that it might slightly take away from the sound. I personally am of the opinion that a tight fitting saddle helps the sound, but by tight fitting I’m referring to how the saddle fits into the two sides of the slot…as sound translates not only from the bottom of the saddle to the guitar but also from the two sides of the saddle to the two sides of the slot to the bridge. And, if the bottom sits tight against the wire, the wire sits tight against the bottom, so there’s a sound transfer taking place in that tight place. On one of my square neck resonator guitars, I have a cut sixth string stuck under the saddle in the bridge to slightly raise the action…that I did about ten years ago as a temporary makeshift way to raise the saddle. It sounds so good with it under there that it’s still there after all these years. So I can’t really conceive that a little piezo wire in there can be detrimental to the sound. Just my opinion. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

All this is good to hear. Thanks for sharing. I too replaced the stock saddle on my EL-00 Pro (in sunburst), only I replaced it with a tight fitting and dense tusq saddle that, like your bone replacement saddle, made a significant difference. I also replaced the 12s with 12.5s and like yours the heavier gauge strings also made a big difference in the sound/tone. (I have a dwindling new old stock of discontinued Martin 80/20 Bronze SPs in light-medium gauge. When my dwindling stock of 12.5s runs out, I plan on going to 13s on it.). I too also replaced the stock bridge pins, in my case to ebony (wood) pins that I fit quite well with a little bit of sanding. Those too made a difference IMHO. The only thing I didn’t change was the nut, which I plan to leave. I also made similar changes to my Ltd Edition EL-00 Pro in Natural Mahogany with similar good results. These EL-00 Pros are good guitars…and as you experienced, with these minor changes, really become REALLY good guitars. On both of mine, to mic it, I use a Fishman Humbucker Soundhole pickup (with the cord hanging out) instead of the stock pickup in the guitars, although I’ve left it in as a backup pickup. I find the aftermarket soundhole pickup I use is superior to the stock built in pickup. Again, thanks for sharing. Good to hear your improvements made a big difference. QM aka “ Jazzman” Jeff

May her memory be a blessing. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

Sal mentioned contacting Gruhn Guitars in Nashville. I suggest the same. They are the experts on vintage guitars and usually love to talk about specific models and model years for free over the phone. They can give you a lot of background in the phone. They have a great reputation. They can also do an appraisal via photos you send them for a reasonable charge, which can help you to insure it with your family insurance agent. It’s sounds like quite a vintage guitar! There is also a book called The Vintage Guitar Price Guide that can provide you with its pricing guideline and its materials. FYI. Just so you know , this particular forum has a few vintage guitar fans on it, but also has many newer guitar buyers who seem to quickly dismiss anything vintage as basically always falling apart…which of course, as vintage guitar fans know is not the case as many have been well cared for and/or well built so they are withstanding time and use quite well…although, of course, there are some out there in need of repair. Just like today’s newer Gibson guitar owners love and cherish their instruments, the original and later owners of now vintage Gibsons felt and feel the same about their instruments. The main thing is keep your instrument in its original state or if you do change its tuners or anything swappable, retain the original bone the less as original equipment guitars always retain their value better. On the other hand, if a guitar is not playable because of a part, get the part replaced as a non-playable guitar is always worth less than a playable guitar. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

The only suggestion I have is you might want to contact the manufacturer of the pickup to obtain their input or a solution. The Sonic is made by Fishman I think, But, you might want to double check on the internet if that is so, in case it’s a different manufacturer, before you contact them. Another option is to have a luthier change the pickup to a different one or a different brand if it’s drawing batteries for no apparent reason. Or, purchase a soundhole pickup to use rather than the stock pickup, leaving the stock one installed but with no battery, rather than removing it FYI. I use an aftermarket Fishman Humbucker soundhole pickup rather than stock installed pickups on my flat top guitars. Many on this forum like the aftermarket KK soundhole pickup. Or, some have a Baggs pickup installed in place. I hope this helps. QM aka “Jazznan” Jeff

I’ve had a bone saddle break one time. Never could figure out why, but one day a piece on the end cracked all the way through. I put on a new one. I guess it can happen. Regarding saddle height, some guitars have saddles that seem higher. I have a 1994 Gibson where the saddle seems to sit higher, but the action is okay. What matters is the action being appropriate, not whether the saddle looks too high IMHO. Some guitar’s tops are not flat, it’s just the way they are made. Although it is possible a top can get sunken, which maybe from a broken brace, which would necessitate a higher saddle or a repaired brace. As others have suggested, a new saddle can be put in by a luthier along with a good set up, if the owner doesn’t want to mess with it. A good luthier will also be able to assess if there are any issues. Regarding the broken saddle, it can just happen, I guess, although it’s not an everyday thing. There is a lot of pressure on a saddle from string tension. QM aka “ Jazzman” Jeff

Congrats on getting the guitar! I’m a big fan of 00 guitars! QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

My understanding is that conventional wisdom is to lower the saddle by sanding from the bottom of the saddle. This is what I generally do. However, I’ve also carefully sanded some off the top of the saddle to get the shape of the saddle to my liking, especially on a rounded fretboard like on Gibsons/Epiphones. As well as if needed to make a good break angle on the saddle for a string to rest on. Or, for cosmetic reasons. I’ve also superglued a very thin sliver shim of wood onto the bottom of a saddle if it is just slightly too low. That’s my experience. QM aka “ Jazzman” Jeff

I like it, the look of the grain. Let’s the viewer and player know it’s real wood and a unique individual instrument at that. Just my perspective. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

My suggestion is to contact Gruhn Music in Nashville. They specialize in vintage instruments and should give you some background on the instrument. As well as do an appraisal using photos. Gibson banjos have a great reputation. Gruhn Music is very reputable. Hope this helps. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

My advice is to do whatever works best for you. That’s pretty much what everyone else is doing. No sense to do what works best for someone else if it doesn’t work best for you. Do whatever makes you perform your music the best…is my advice. If you perform your music the best you can, there’s not much anyone can criticize other than blowing plain hot air. Different things work differently for different musicians and sometimes those things change over time and age, too. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

I own a 2006 Custom Shop 1964 J-45 Reissue with an adjustable bridge. I’m glad it came with an adjustable bridge. It’s one of the things that made that model year special. The only change is it came with a tusq saddle rather than a ceramic one. I liked the tusq saddle but found that out in the marketplace there were now also bone saddles for adjustable bridges. I tried and used the bone one for about ten years. However, in the past few years I went back to the tusq saddle that came with the guitar as to my more current ears, the tusq one actually sounded better. But, I had learned a few things from my experience with its adjustable bridge since I purchased the guitar new. Those things being, 1) Just because the guitar has an adjustable saddle doesn’t mean it should be in its lowest height. The guitar sounds a whole lot better and fuller and louder with the adjustable saddle doing its job of raising the strings a bit to put some added tension on them and establishing a break angle with tension. What’s nice is its easy to adjust that tension with a couple of screw turns. Lowering the strings so they have not enough tension, but are super low, is not optimum for the guitar. Adjusting the bridge so it has the right amount of tension and string height works and tension break angle does wonders for the sound. 2). I switched to Medium strings. This in itself added a bit more string tension and coupled with adding a bit more tension via the string height being easily raised to a sweet spot, did wonders for the guitar’s sound. And made the adjustable bridge a true enhancing tool to the guitar. That higher tension makes the top vibrate whether it be the tusq or a bone saddle. With the correct height and tension and optimum break angle I found the tusq sounded better for my fingerpicking style. 3) With the string height not being as low as possible, the guitar’s break in period sped up to a fixed bridge’s timetable…when it was adjusted too low because it could be adjusted too low, the top just wasn’t vibrating. Lesson learned,…raise the height and tension to where the guitar plays optimally sound wise. Use Mediums, too. This is a workhorse guitar and is meant to be treated like a workhorse. The rest will take care of itself sound wise. The adjustable bridge is great in my Custom Shop J-45. Regarding the screws being too high when I rest my hand on the bridge. That goes away too when the bridge is raised a bit to add the correct tension and best height needed for the strings on the guitar. I mention that I primarily fingerpick on my guitar. But, I also run a bluegrass jam and do a lot of strumming and flat picking on it. It handles both quite well with the saddle being raised for volume and tension. I think users get too caught up with the adjustable saddle being too low because it’s easy to make it too low, without tension or enough height. Setting it up to maximize the sound and tension and height and break angle is the key. Just my experience. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

I agree. Gibson could have an economical and eco friendly high quality mahogany topped guitar as could Epiphone, if nothing else. Mahogany topped guitars have a certain warmth to them and amplify very good, and a certain well focused sound spectrum to them. And, they look good. I had to search high and low to find a used Ltd Edition Natural finish solid top Mahogany Epiphone EL-00 Pro (although there were plenty of sunburst mahog LTD Editions to find), so it was pretty clear that Natural finish solid mahogany topped ones had a demand. Plus, Guild and PRS and Martin and Waterloo/Collings have their own line of solid natural finish solid Mahog topped guitars which get good reviews. Gibson (or Epiphone) should get into the marketplace. Natural finish solid Mahog topped guitars sound unique, are sustainable, and are an alternative to have in one’s collection…especially if they have Gibson-like necks. Just my two cents. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

Looks like a nice US made guitar. Martin makes some fine instruments. I just bought a Martin 00L X2E, their slope shouldered 00 made in their Mexico plant with a number of eco friendly substitutes, but with a solid sitka top. Quite a quality , well playing instrument for the money. (Though I have played guitar for 59 years, I really can’t tell it has a laminated hardwood fretboard.) Enjoy the new OMC 15ME! QM aka “ Jazzman” Jeff ps. I have no problem mentioning Martins and Gibsons in the same breath. If it wasn’t for Martin Guitars being the pioneer of acoustic guitars, we wouldn’t have Gibson acoustics as an alternative version.

Enjoyed your rendition! QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

Regardiing storage. I just keep my 1965 Gibson 125TC in its case or in its gig bag in my music room. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

At age 7 I had my daughter playing guitar. I taught her “ That’s Alright, Mama”. After three weeks of playing she handed me the guitar back and firmly said, “Father, guitar is your thing, Dance is my thing.” She is grown now and is now a professional dancer. True story. QM aka “ Jazzman” Jeff

I recall when the Pro version came out the advertisements stated it had a slightly wider nut and fretboard than its prior version. I first had played the EL-00 and really liked its Gibson-like neck and was worried the Pro version would be too different as I was in the market to buy an EL-00 but had not yet done so. However, when I found and it played the Pro I found it was only minimally changed, so no big deal. The Pro’s fretboard is slightly wider but only a small fraction wider. They’re both great guitars. As it us I use a soundhole pickup on mine rather than the Pro’s built in pickup. Enjoy your EL-00. They’re great guitars that it seems few seem to know about. QM aka: “Jazzman”. Jeff

I believe the EL-00 Pro came out right around that time. But, prior to the EL-00 Pro, there was a similar model with the same body that was just called the EL-00 that had no electric capability and had a slightly thinner neck, that to my recollection was around since around the early 2000s. Also, someone on the forum also once brought up that a very early version of the EL-00 had a slightly different shaped body than the one that is generally associated with the EL-00 and EL-00 Pro as we know it. I’m a big fan of the EL-00 Pro (n/k/a the Epiphone L-00 Studio) as well as its former incarnation the EL-00. I own a 2013 EL-Pro and a 2017 Limited Edition EL-00 Pro Natural Mahogany.) QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

Same thing happened to my 1965 LG1. The p/g fell off and there was absolutely no lines or discoloring where it was. An authorized Gibson repair person reattached it with double sided tape underneath. That was about 20 years ago. QM aka: “Jazzman” Jeff

It’s also a method that guitar techs used to do to extend the life of a guitar that was worn through or nearly worn through from strumming or touring wear , above the sound hole. This was the old school explanation given for many country and folk musicians’s guitars having double pickguards. Such as for Bob Shane of the Kingston Trio’s very cool looking double batwing Martin on their Decca albums. But even before him, the Everly Brothers previously had cool looking double pickguard guitars just because they looked cool. Today, it’s pretty much used just a cool looking thing. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff

The 1966 Gibson J-45 sounds like a great cool guitar and if it’s in near mint condition, an even better one, plus it’s a collectible guitar in the vintage guitar market whose value will appreciate over the years The J-29 is likely a very good guitar, but for some reason didn’t take off as a popular Gibson guitar. There are a number of Gibson guitar models throughout the years that were very good guitars, but for some reason never became popular. The J-29 seems to fall in that category. They can often be had at really good prices, too, but just don’t have the charisma of some of the other models. Good price can be a good motivation to buy a guitar. I once bought a Gospel Reissue as a trade in for a guitar I never played, because it was one of those non popular Gibson models. It played great and turned out to be a great guitar. It just wasn’t one of those wow factor models. I own a 2006 J-45 1964 J-45 Reissue in my collection, in faded strawberry sunburst. It’s not unusual when I’m gigging for someone to come up to when I’m playing it and exclaim, wow you have a 1960s J-45. Of course I have to tell them it’s a reissue model and that it’s not the real thing. But, that never happens with any other guitar I play. There is something about the 60s J-45s! Of course, that something is why I sought after and found that particular reissue model…because I couldn’t find a near mint actual one. If you can, try testing out the 1966 J-45 before you buy it or if you can’t, ensure there is a good return policy just in case. I think if you don’t buy it it, someone else will. Let us know what you end up doing. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff