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  1. Hey Dan, thanks for that informative post. Among the many things I love about my J-35 is the extremely accurate intonation no matter where it's capoed. I'd love to tour the Bozeman shop sometime. DC
  2. J.. Dull blades burn/darken wood edges as they tear more than cut, so if that's the case, it would seem time for a blade change. Actually, the edge of that J-15 plate looks more ripped than cut cleanly. What concerns me more are the ragged, splintered, torn areas around the pin holes. Sharp drill bits and good technique usually produce nice clean cuts, not what we're seeing here. DC
  3. As a woodworker and guitar tech who takes great pride in his work, when I see sloppy workmanship like this and lack of attention to detail (basically a hack-job on the hole drilling) of these Gibson bridge plates, it's embarrassing. I question that bridge plate being solid maple. Here's what a solid maple bridge plate looks like. DC
  4. Vaca, what guitar is that? Is it just the photo angle, or is the bridge plate really that skinny and not providing enough width to fully mount those small transducers? But then it looks like they could have been mounted a bit closer to the pins, especially the high and mid transducers. Still looks awfully skinny compared to my J-35's bridge plate. DC
  5. And let's not forget about the adhesive/glue residual a Gibson rep admitted to the factory leaving on fretboards after installing the markers. I was basically told how I can 'fix' it, but ended up having to use a razor blade to scrape it all off my J-35's fretboard. Sloppy work....but fixable, and frankly I'd rather do it myself since I take more care with my own guitars. Using a mirror I just checked the bridge plate on my J-35. Sure don't like the mounting hole so close to #3 & 4 pin holes but doesn't seem to be causing any issues and the hole appears to be plugged. All ball ends are seating securely. The pin holes certainly aren't perfectly drilled but don't seem to be too bad. The bridge plate is large enough to provide plenty of room for mounting K&K transducers. I did notice that the securing clip for the Baggs Element wire coming out of the saddle slot has been placed on the bridge plate RIGHT next to the 6th string hole and the pin is touching it. Unbelievable. So, another fix is in order. Actually, I'll be dumping the Baggs soon, so it will all be removed. I just checked the bridge plates on my Martin OM-16 and Guild F-130R and they're both clean as a whistle with perfectly drilled, clean holes and no sloppy mounting/alignment holes. Beautiful work. DC
  6. Very nice, Brewboy. I like the feel of the songs and agree with MissouriPicker's comments. And..... the J-35 sounds great. Thanks for sharing. DC
  7. Here are some other audio files as requested. Uploaded them to Sound Cloud since the Media Fire files don't seem to work on this forum. "Hector the Hero" played on the J-35 https://soundcloud.com/ballyshannon/35-hector-the-hero-1 My band live in concert. Tune is "Masters in This Hall". I was using the OM-16. Wow, the Uilleann pipes were a bit out of tune at the start of the third go-around. :) https://soundcloud.com/ballyshannon/masters-in-this-hall At a band rehearsal in the living room of one of the band members. This is a traditional Irish song "Star of the County Down" that each of us in the band has known for years but had never tried it together. So this was a first take. Turned out pretty decent and was added to the repertoire. https://soundcloud.com/ballyshannon/star-of-the-county-down And me playing Irish whistle. It's a handmade Abell Madagascar rosewood high D. https://soundcloud.com/ballyshannon/damask-rose-on-abell-whistle DC
  8. Thank you! And thanks to jannusguy2 for the kind words. Here are some other audio files. Hmmmm.... Just tried posting four audio files but for some reason won't let me do it. I've posted many before. ????? When I get this figured out, I'll post them. Does this forum not accept Media Fire files? DC
  9. Thanks! Glad you like the tune. This is a tune my band does, but as mentioned, much slower. Barbara plays it kind of choppy and is normally played much more flowing, but it was still fun playing along to Barbara's version. I just wanted to show how nicely the J-35 fits into this genre of music...and how good it sounds. :) Wonderful guitar. Love Sara Jarosz and she's very good on octave mando. But if you want to hear some truly incredible octave mando, check this out. Sierra Hull is at another level!
  10. I've been listening to a Shetland air written by Tom Anderson on YouTube called "Da Slockit Light" and came across a video of Barbara Shultz playing it on octave mando....and thought I'd play along and record it. Here's how it came out using my new Tascam DR-05 recorder and my wonderful J-35. DADGAD tuning, capo on 7th fret. BTW, since this tune is an air, it's usually played at about half this speed, but it was fun playing at this speed. You can definitely tell the mando is coming through the computer speakers and the J-35 is live. https://soundcloud.com/tags/da%20slockit%20light
  11. Standard tuning, capo 7th fret. Here's the basic pattern. 0=fretted string PLAYED FIRST (like an Am 7th position) Fret 10: |_|_|_|_0_| Fret 11: |_|_0_|_|_| PLAYED NEXT Fret 9: |_|_0_0_|_| The most difficult thing is figuring out the picking pattern. Once you get this down, you can continue to the next part.
  12. Really good, Doug. One of the first fingerpicking tunes I learned, and yes, is pretty easy once you learn the patterns. Simon is truly a genius to create that guitar part to sound like a lute to fit the period of the song. And it doesn't hurt that he had a custom Guild F-30R that sounded amazing when capoed at the 7th fret. He's the master. DC
  13. I like mine a lot. As mentioned, they're brighter than a J45 but my J35 has very good bass and overall is nicely balanced. I had an AJ for a while but prefer the J35 for what I do in DADGAD playing Irish/Celtic music with other instruments. To me, the J35 is more articulate and focused with a nice mid-punch which is perfect for finger-style and bringing out melodies. I capo a lot on the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th and 10th frets and the J35 retains excellent intonation and tone/volume. It's right there with my Martins and Guilds and offers a different, unique sound, which is what I was looking for. However, to my surprise I discovered the J35 can vary in looks and tone. The first one I tried was physically different than the second, and sounded quite different. Oddly, the Gibson logo on the headstock of the first J35 was straight across the top, while the logo on the second was angled slightly up to the right. The truss rod cover on the first guitar was thin, cheap plastic with no trim while the TRC on the second was much nicer and thicker with white trim. The end of the fretboard on the first J35 was positioned farther away from the sound hole rosette than on the second guitar, a difference of about 3/8". The first J35 with the straight headstock logo sounded great, while the second J35 with the angled headstock logo sounded like an inexpensive plywood guitar. Not good. The second J35 also had the beginning of a seam split on the back. Naturally, I bought the first one and it's really nice. Just be aware that they can vary. The one thing I don't like about the J35 is the Baggs Element pickup. I've never been a fan of UST pickups which sound piezo and electronic, not natural as with a K&K. I contacted Gibson to see if I could get a J35 without it, but was told absolutely not. I also don't like volume wheels in the sound hole. So my next order of business is to remove the Element system, make a new bone saddle and install either a K&K or JJB 330 which is the equivalent of the K&K at half the cost. Also looking at the Baggs Lyric. DC
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