sbpark

Hoping the conversion bushings get delivered today. It's been well over 2 weeks and the package wax apparently lost by the carrier, so StewMac sent out replacement bushings via 2-day FedEx. An interesting side note...I weighed all the parts I pulled out of the guitar (stock pickup and Rotomatic tuners) and weighed them. Then I weighed the Kluson tuners and the stock bushings that came with them (in place of the conversion bushings I'm waiting to be delivered). The difference was pretty impressive: Stock pickup & tuners: 13.7oz (387g) Kluson tuners 5.2oz (147g) Weight savings: 8.5oz (240g) That's a weight savings of over 1/2 pound. Now I'm just waiting for the replacement pick guard to be delivered. This guitar has the thick "flubber" guard, but I'm replacing it with a 50's style guard, so probably won't save any weight with that swap.

More accurate title should be, "Why is this guy losing Youtube subscribers?" Probably because he sucks and has lame content.

That does look like a very sweet EC Martin. The forums are always talking trash about Gibsons, saying they are some of the most inconsistent guitars out there, and buyer beware and to never order one sight unseen. I'm not a fanboy or proclaim any loyalty to ANY manufacturer and like guitars from several different makers. With that said the Gibsons I have owned over the last 7-8 years ranging from used and new, including several different versions/models of J-45s, an AJ and a couple SJ200's, they have all been absolutely stellar in fit and finish and all have been great sounding, aside from one of the SJ200's that really was not the greatest sounding (but the other SJ200 was heavenly). The Martins I've purchased (both used and new) have also been fantastic from a fit and finish perspective and all have sounded great. However they have had neck angles that were all over the place, and TWO of them needed neck resets in a very short version of time after I bought them new. My D18 I bought brand new maybe 2 years ago needed a neck reset after owning it for 6 months, and I bought it brand new thank goodness, because Martin covered it and had a local authorized Martin repair center perform a neck reset. Guitar has been absolutely rock solid since without any issues, and it sounded even better after the neck reset.

Who is this guy and why the heck should we be listening to him? Seems like he's just desperate for content and has no other real marketable skill to earn a living.

You might be pleasantly surprised and that guitar plays and fees like it has heavier gauge strings. Much more touch sensitive, responsive and resonant with a deeper bass than any other small-body guitar I’ve owned with out being muddy.

Let’s see some pictures!

I've owned two WL-14's, and agree they are great guitars. Also owned an LA Guitar Sales custom OM-15 with the 1 3/4" nut, but the WL-k is on a completely different level. It's tough to describe, but that guitar almost plays itself. It has a very big sound for such a small guitar despite it being strung with 11's. It's loud, incredibly touch sensitive, and probably one of the most fun guitar's I've played in a long time. BTW, looks like your pictures are now visible (great photos, btw). What did you change to get them to show up?!

I've also been having issues posting photos to this forum from Imgur lately. I don't think it's Imgur since the problem isnt happening on other message boards, just this Gibson message board. Have you ever tried a Waterloo WL-k? Seems like it's made for what you do.

Check out Sayulita..

Your rationales hold zero water here. There are plenty of things I can't afford and have to go with the cheaper option. In some cases it means you also lose overall quality. That's just the way it is. I don't blame a particular car company when I can't afford a particular model. Just sounds like you enjoy playing the victim here and placing blame on everyone else when someone can't afford the guitar they want. First world problems.

Why is this Gibson's issue? Are you going to go after Collings next, or perhaps Huss & Dalton or any of the other USA manufacturers? Plenty of options out there these days in everyone's price range. Doesn't mean that every company has a moral obligation to provide something for everyone in every price range.

Aren't these discontinued as well?

Well said. I just prefer the aesthetics and feel of the tuners. I've done this swap before and can say confidently it made zero change in the sound of the guitar, but gave me the aesthetic I prefer. The next guy might swap out the Rotomatics and gush over how much more open and resonate it made their guitar. To each their own.

Sure, whatever works for you! Not saying it does or doesn't, it's jsut that these days I don't really care as much and don't nit pick my tone. I just put more emphasis on playing my guitars and enjoying them and less into going down rabbit holes and being a tone junky. Dont really care anymore and what I've found over the years is the one consistent thing that had made all my guitars sound better is actually practicing.

Nice! I'm sure you've seen the thread I put up a bit ago about replacing the Rototmatics on a Standard with Klusons and how it came out. In all honesty I've never had any issue with the Deluxes, but randomly came across the Supremes for the same price and figured why not? Just get the StewMac conversion bushings, slowly ream the holes until you just have to use a little bit of elbow grease to press them into place and you're set. The Kluson 3 on a plate tuners cover the holes left by the Rotomatics and you'll quickly forget they were even there. Lightened up the guitar noticeably. Bob Colosi bone pins also arrived today. I'm not one to be a firm believer that bridge pins make a huge difference in tone, however I just don't like the look of the Tusq pins. They're also kind of flat/smushed looking and sometimes are a pain to remove. Have an appointment in March to have a bone saddle made to replace the black Tusq, again mostly cosmetic since the second you fret the note the argument of what nut material is better goes out the window. Guy is booked out a month right now which is fine and will give me time to get all the other things done myself first. Also have a couple pick guards coming from Greasy Groove. Ordered both the basic Gibson teardrop shape and the larger J-50 style guard to see which I like best. Never had a Gibson acoustic with that larger sort of batwing shape and this may be the time to try it out. Sort of bummed because I've made my own nuts and pick guards in the past, but between working and full-time grad school I just don't have the time to do all that right now. The Greasy Groove pick guards were very cheap even with shipping from Canada, so I don't have high expectations for them, but figured it was worth a shot to see how they are.

Never heard of the "Supreme" 3 on a plates and have always gone with the Deluxes. Just received a set of the Supremes in the mail that I will be using to swap out the tuners on another J-45 Standard. Just waiting for the StewMac conversion bushings to be delivered. The Supremes have an 18:1 gear ratio compared to the 15:1 ratio of the Deluxes. Aside from that and saying "Supreme" instead of "Deluxe" on the dust cover, they're identical. Once I get them installed I'll post some pics and give impressions.

Go lower in price why? Because a type of natural resource that's being used is becoming more and more scarce while the demand hasn't changed? Richlite is also an option. Gibson actually uses it on the J-45 Custom I think (which ironically does have rosewood back and sides). Nearly as dark as ebony and much more pleasing than streaky, light rosewood.

Don't think it has anything to do with the wood being "too dry". I think it's more about what's available in the world now. Dark rosewood is more desirable and is also become harder and harder to find. Since the darker stuff is in short supply it's probably being reserved for higher end models, custom builds, etc. Kind of the same reason Fender has, on some models and guitar lines started using pau ferro instead of rosewood. Conditioning the fretboard may only marginally darken it, but this would be analogous to putting pearls on a pig if aesthetically you just really like dark rosewood fretboards. Plus, the fretboard probably doesn't need to be conditioned in most cases, and when people do condition their fretboards they really overdo it.

Dig the pickguard. Not so much with the fake pickup covers. Kind of reminds me of some the modern Triumph motorcycles where in 2008 they switched them over to fuel injection, but still kept fake carburetors to retain the old-school look. If it was me I'd keep that pickguard and drop in some SD Seth Lovers and call it a day.

I guess I'm a moron because I really don[t think it's that easy to get it right. Contrary to what others have said, there's more to it than jsut buying a bone blank and some sandpaper. But then again, I'm probably a bit slower to learn and am a bit hard on myself and don't want the work I do on my own guitars to look like a home-brew, hack job. With that said, here are some pics of saddles made for an Advanced Jumbo I sued to own. Took several tries and quite a bit of trial and error and time to get to this point. Also, slotted saddles tend to be a bit tougher to make given that you can't just sand them from the bottom you adjust the action. You have to sand from the top while still maintaining the proper radius. [img]https://i.imgur.com/9QeOcNy.jpg?3[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/haMcH17.jpg?2[/img] [img]https://i.imgur.com/lvE9tVe.jpg?3[/img]

You can barely see the double fret dot markers just barely in the bottom right of the photo. J-45 Standards only have double dots at the 12th fret. Also, if that wear was at the 7th fret there would be a dot on the 9th, but if you continue up the neck, that fret doest have a dot, again confirming the wear is at the 9th fret, not the 7th.

I'm going to disagree here. If you've never made a saddle from a bone blank there's a learning curve and a trial and error. You're going to mess up several saddles (and even more nuts when you start learning how to make those). At first it's going to cost you more that it wold to have a pro do it, especially if you don't have the right tools (files, small saw for rough cutting blanks, small vice, different grits of sandpaper, polishing compound or steel wool, etc). But if its something you want to learn how to do it's well worth it. For a one-off/one-time thing it's not worth it and you'd be better served having a shop make you one.

OP already mentioned he doesn't wear rings. And who capos at the 9th fret?

Not ideal, but you could also just shim the stock saddle with a piece of rosewood. Bob Colosi sells a rosewood shim kit with various size shims, superglue and razor blade.