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sbpark

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Everything posted by sbpark

  1. It’s not as much work as you think, and yes it most likely will create a noticeable difference. What will also determine how much of a difference you’ll hear is what material you decide on for the new saddle. if you stick with the stock Tusq material or go with bone, etc. You could also just use a hardwood shim. Bob Colosi sells a shim kit that has rosewood shims, but honestly, shimming the bottom of the stock Tusq saddle is almost as much work as just buying a pre-shaped saddle and fine tuning with some sandpaper. It’s a pretty simple job that might take an hour or two. Benefit of getting a new saddle is you can keep the stock saddle and return the guitar it to its original condition later on if you decide to ever sell the guitar or if you want to put the stock UST back in, etc. I’ve replaced the stock Tusq saddle on a couple J45 Standards and have always preferred the sound of removing the UST, regardless of if I used bone or Tusq for the new saddle, sans UST. Both yielded a noticeable improvement to my ears with the UST removed. My J45 Standard I have now has the UST removed, installed a K&K pure mini pickup and a bone saddle, bone nut and Kluson 3-on-a-plate tuners and have no regrets. I’ve also owned a J45 True Vintage and newer Vintage model and still prefer my modified J45 Standard.
  2. Geez, some of you guys are pretty harsh. I’ve never been much of an R.E.M. fan (and that’s putting it nicely), but I’d never say the pretty crappy things others have said. I mean, some of you post links to songs that apparently meant something to you or moved you in some way, and when I listen to it I think to myself, “this is total garbage”, but would never post that. Songs mean things to people for many different reasons, and just because you’re not s fan doesn’t automatically discredit its importance to the people who it holds value and meaning for. I still think this particular version is crap because of the guitar sound. The Jools Holland version with he pedal a steel player is much, much better.
  3. Obviously a great song, but damn, it’s hard to get through that one with all those awful UST’s!
  4. I haven’t played any AJ’s other than the 2012 “Standard” I personally own, and it has the standard 1.725” nut width and mine has a very slim/low profile neck. It plays really fast and is a monster of s guitar. My 2016 J45 Standard has a chunky neck by comparison.
  5. I’d also like to add, given the OP lives in the Bay Area, he’s lucky enough to have some amazing shops nearby. As already mentioned, Gryphon, Gary Brawer, Eric Schoenberg, etc. you just cannot beat The reputation and quality of work these shops are known for.
  6. And I’m sure their prices reflect their reputation, which is justifiable. OP is looking for cheap prices with high-quality, speciality service. Ain’t gonna happen. Plus, the price paid to ship back and forth would pretty much cancel out any possible savings sending it to a part of the country where prices are a little lower, and you have to worry about the guitar getting lost, damaged, etc. during shipment. Another thing to consider when shipping a guitar out for repairs, is if you get the guitar back and something isn’t to your expectations or needs tweaking, fine-tuning, etc., you’ll have to shell out to ship the guitar back to the shop again. Basically there’s no free lunch here. Pay now, or pay later.
  7. Try re-seating the saddle, make sure the pickup element is sitting flat/flush with the bottom of the saddle slot in the bridge, make sure the pickup element is covering the entire bridge slot (it can sometimes slip back and that high E is at the end of the saddle element). Also make sure the bottom of the saddle itself is flat/flush so it’s making even contact with the pickup element and putting even pressure across the element. If it’s the stock pickup it’s most likely an LR Baggs Element and one of the fixes mentioned usually fix the issue.
  8. I’m sorry to be the stick in the mud, but why did you buy a guitar that needed that much work, knowing that you couldn’t afford (or simply don’t want to spend the money) for the work needed to made it playable and do it justice? Never really understood people who buy old guitars, vintage amps, etc., who either don’t factor into the budget the cost of bringing the guitar back to life or don’t want to shell out what the item needs to make it usable/functional/playable. I’ve had Gryphon do a neck reset, refret, plane the fretboard, fix a couple loose braces, new bone nut and saddle, and made s new pick guard to the tune of $1,200 on an old Martin D28. Without the work done the guitar wasn’t playable. After the work was done the guitar was a dream to play. I ended up selling the guitar and breaking even on what I bought the guitar for and what I spent on the work done to it, and thought I was a great experience. Either way, dare I say if you try to cheap out and try to save a few bucks you could really be disappointed in the end, and potentially end up spending more having to pay someone else to fix the problems the cheaper shop made, or didn’t do properly, when you could have just bit the bullet and spend the money getting it done right the first time. You’re actually asking for a “Gibson specialist” but don’t want to spent specialist rates to fix a vintage guitar? Good luck. A wait list is usually a good indicator that they are a busy shop because they do good work. I waited 3 months for Gryphon to be done with my D-28. It’s like tattoos...the reputable guys who do good work are going to be in demand, and worth the wait for something that’s going to be on your body forever. Or would you rather get something from a guy in a shop who has no clientele just to get it done right now? Also, shipping and insuring a guitar isn’t cheap, and you run the risk of the guitar getting damaged, lost, stolen, etc. in transit not once, but twice given you have to send the guitar to he shop and then hey have to send it back to you. Jut the rush of it getting damaged in transit kept me from sending the D28 out to a shop in another state, and preferred to just drive the hour-plus each way to Palo Alto or deal with the he bridge traffic and take my other guitars to Gary Brawer. Yes, Gryphon in Palo Alto or Gary Brawer in San Francisco are expensive, and they have a potential wait list, but there’s a reason, and these are arguably some of the best around and well worth it. It also takes time to steam off a neck, refret a guitar, etc. These aren’t repairs that can be done over a day or two. Have patience. I’d go to Gary Brawer any day of the week before I took my guitars to SF Guitarworks. They specialize in and are also an authorized Gibson repair shop, and I’ve taken a lot of guitars to them and have nothing but wonderful things to say about that shop.
  9. Exactly, so it’s an Element Active. The one with two thumb wheels was used several years later, called the Element Active VTC. VTC stands for Volume Tone Control. .
  10. In that case I’d also disclose its a garbage pickup! Ha! All joking aside you could just unscrew the endpin jack and pop it out and you can see what it is.. I’d bet it’s this one...
  11. Doesn’t really matter, because it most likely sounded like garbage. Was probably an Element pickup.
  12. sbpark

    NGD...

    I apologize For this not being a Gibson NGD, but I included a couple Gibson’s in the pictures to make up for it. A few weeks ago I picked up a brand new D-18 Standard. I have to say that this thing is the best “all-arounder” I’ve ever owned. Of course you can play any guitar for any style, and there are no hard and fast rules, but I tend to favor my J45 for e singer/songwriter type stuff and my AJ for flat picking. The J45 doesn’t really cut if for me with the shorter scale and lighter gauge strings for playing fiddle tunes, and the AJ is such a beast it can be a bit much for the quieter stuff. The D-18 pretty much sits somewhere right between the two and does everything equally well. The J45 still has the low end growl that no other guitar can touch, and the AJ cuts like a knife, but man, this D-18 is such a sweet guitar. Of course it’s voiced differently than the Gibsons. All three sound different, and I can’t say that one sounds better than the other, just different. J45’s and D-18’s are always being compared, which has always surprised me. Sure, both have spruce tops and mahogany back and sides, but the difference in body shape, scale length,, and the difference in string gauge (although you can string either with whatever gauge you want) along with different body shapes, etc. make them very, very different from each other. (For what it's worth I’ve found J45’s sound better with 12’s and Martin dreads sound better with 13’s). The D-18 is also a “bigger” sounding guitar for sure, but that doesn’t mean the J45 is inferior, just a slightly different tool for a slightly different job. I’m just happy I’m fortunate enough to own one of each as they really are VERY different from each other and compliment each other.
  13. Hold on to the original pick guard even though you’ve replaced it. In the event that you ever parted ways with the guitar, sold it, etc., it would be nice to be able to return it to its original state or pass. It along to the next owner. It’s not like you’d be able to fetch a ton for that particular used pick guard, so just hold onto it.
  14. Sort of reminds me of an Eastman ES-20SS I had for a hot minute. Great guitar, well made, etc., but obviously had its own sound and although it looked very similar to a Gibson slope shoulder dread, it sounded nothing like one, which depending who you ask could be a good or a bad thing.
  15. Did you work for Billy Bragg when he did the Tiny Desk concert when he was playing the J45 Standard?
  16. Some are good, some are bad and some are great sounding. You just have to get out there and find one you like, or roll the dice if you order one online that has a good return policy, but know that many online vendors will not only charge you return shipping, but also charge you what it cost to send you the guitar if you decide to send it back simply because you don't like it and there's nothing wrong with it structurally.
  17. I also said I have a fire/tiger stripe guard on my AJ and it doesn't look like that. And the tort guards I have are actually translucent in spots. I even have a few spots on my "OEM Gibson "Vintage" J45 pickguard that I installed on my J45 Standard (after 2 of the OEM rubbery pickguards failed to adhere) that's downright clear in a few spots and have also made my own and never had this issue or have seen it on my AJ with a stock fire/tiger stripe guard.
  18. The stock fire stripe pick guard on my 2012 AJ doesn't look like that, and I've replaced quite a few J45 pick guards (tort, not fire stripe) including one that was an OEM Gibson pickguard that is sued in the "Vintage" models and a couple of the thicker, rubberized pickguards that are used on the "Standards", and have even made my own from blanks and applied a 3M adhesive sheet to it (the blank and adhesive sheet bought from StewMac) and have never had any of them come out looking like the OP's. I've never had any pattern like that under the pickguard. To me the Op's doesn't look right. Looks like either air trapped between the pickgaurd and the finish, or even wood/finish that was ripped off when the previsions pic guard was removed, but I doubt that's the case given the uniform pattern.
  19. I never liked the "newer" J35's. I played several, and owned one for a hot minute. Too bright for my taste. I think the combination of the bracing pattern used (same as the AJ I think) with the short scale neck and mahogany back and sides just didnt work for me. Now, my AJ with the same bracing pattern, long scale neck and rosewood back and sides is a beast. I also have a J45 Standard that I love, and felt like the J35 was just a weaker, thinner sounding and less complex sound compared to the J45.
  20. I just leave my J45 out on a stand all the time in front of my bass amp.
  21. I don't know why the guy in the video is complaining. If there really are that many horrible new Gibsons out there should be backlogged with Gibsons that need tons of work and he should be a rich man by now. If that really was the case though he'd probably be way to busy to take the time to film and edit a video complaining about Gibsons. Obviously I am a Gibson fan. I also like Martins and I've had "issues" with both new models from each company, usually minor. With the Gibsons it's been the "flubber" pickguards they put in the J45 Standards. I've had two that have peeled off, but both times Gibson has come through and covered sending me new ones under warranty. Also bought an SG that had a cracked tenon cover and cracked pickup surround. Again, Gibson came through and send me replacement parts free of charge. I had a Martin that was less than three years old that Martin even admitted needed a neck reset, but they wouldn't cover it and instead only authorized that the bridge be shaved down by an authorized Martin repair shop. But with all that said, I do tend to agree that I've come across more new Gibsons in stores that have HORRIBLE factory set-ups compared to Martins, that seem more consistent. Of course the setups will be a tad on the high side because everyone has different specs that they prefer, and it's MUCH easier to lower action and nut slots than it is to raise them, but man, Gibson for the life of them just cannot seem to cut nut slots properly. They really do have horrible factory setups.
  22. I have a 2012 AJ that's my #1 (and currently only acoustic, as I recently sold my Waterloo WL-14 and J45 Trie Vintage). AJ is kind of the jack of all trades and in an interesting combo with the long scale neck and rosewood back and sides. Mine has been through the ringer a bit with a previous owner as it's reported to been on the road a bit, has a few battle scars and a repaired broken headstock, but I love it. Has a lot of the warmth of a traditional rosewood back and sides guitar but without the muddiness and still retains a crisp, clear high end. Shines as a fingerpicker and is just as good strummed. More projection and louder voice than a J45 but even though it has warmth, it does sacrifice a little compared to the J45TV I had. Mine has a very slim/low profile neck that I usually don't go for, but this one feels great for whatever reason. It can be a pretty loud guitar, but I just dial it back while playing and it can sound sweet and delicate as well. If I want a little warmer sound I use a 1mm nylon pick. Really great all-arounder. One thing worth mentioning though...the stock Grover open tuners absolutely suck! They get worse and worse over time, and have had these same tuners crap out and just not work very well on other guitars, and have been meaning to pull the trigger onside wavily replacements.
  23. Agree 100% that forever reason 13's "choke" all the J45's I've tried them on, including several J45 Standards and my current J45TV. 13's actually worked well though on my Advanced Jumbo, but I still prefer the sound and feel of 12's on that guitar.
  24. Regular old, off the shelf, run of the mill D'Addario EJ16.
  25. How did you "dent" your windshield?! I'll never own a black car. Way too much work to care for a black finish and if you don't keep up on it, it will start looking like crap pretty darn fast after you drive off the lot. Scratch X is awesome for polishing guitars to get rid of light swirls, small surface scratches, etc. I've used it on Gibson Nitro finishes and it's great.
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