Boyd

When I got my 2008 J-50, first thing I did was have a luthier remove the under-saddle pickup and do a proper setup. Best money I ever spent! 😁

Do you need to get a tetanus shot before playing one of those? 😁 They do look cool, though.

Just send me a PM if you ever find yourself headed into the wilds of South Jersey, I'm not very far from Ocean City. 😀

That is quite impressive - nice job! 😎 I did some basic things to my space - curtains covering the walls at one end of the room, carpet on the walls at the other end. But I prefer the wide-open acoustics of my Little Theatre in the Woods. Not much I can do when plane passes over on the way to AC International though. 🙂

I've used this stuff for a number of years. But based on other threads here (do a search, there are several) I now wonder if "snake oil" might be a better name for this type of product. 😁 On a new guitar that is already pretty clean, I'm not sure whether you need to do anything more than wipe it off. But this stuff hasn't done any harm to my guitars, so I suppose it's allright and I'll probably continue using it once a year, as I have in the past. One bottle is certainly a lifetime supply for me. https://www.jimdunlop.com/formula-65-fretboard-ultimate-lemon-oil/

Since you're in Canada, are these $CAD? If so, that would be in the range of about $1500 to $1870 USD. That sounds really low, unless there is something seriously wrong with the guitar. But I haven't looked at prices on older J-45's recently. If they have gotten this cheap though, maybe I should. 😀

GAS is such a terrible disease, it completely distorts your perception of reality. A guy posts a picture of somebody else's guitar and everybody rushes to congratulate him. And even after "re-reading 3x", somebody suffering from GAS doesn't notice the very clear statement in the OP that says "I don’t have a picture right now" because he is so blinded by the pretty pictures! 😂

I got my Martin D-15M new just about exactly 8 years ago, paid $1000 for it at Guitar Center in one of their sales, it was made in America. Gibson didn't have anything near that price point at the time (AFAIK). So, they were late to the party, but have finally caught up. 🙂

The prices on that other eBay and Guitar Center listings are much more in line with that I'd expect. And if it's been sitting around Guitar Center for awhile, they may take a much lower offer. Mine was originally listed for $3300 and sat in the local store for about 8 months when they dropped the price to $2400. A couple months after that, I offered $2000 and they took it without even haggling, although the salesman had to make some phone calls for approval.

Well, I agree that the price seems way out of line. I got my 1965 J-50 from Guitar Center for less than half that much five years ago. If I thought mine was worth that much, I'd have to think twice about keeping it, LOL. 🙂 I agree, the bridge and pick guard are clearly wrong. Didn't look very closely, but off-hand, the rest looks about right. Mine has a serial number on the back of the headstock (although it's faint and doesnt show in the photo). The brace inside the soundhole is stamped "J50 ADJ BRIDGE" and there's something I can't quite read under that, might be the previous owner's name? Mine has the skinny neck (which I like). Weight feels about the same as my 2008 J-50. For comparison, here are some pix of mine

Happy New Year everybody!!! 🍾

They also made the J-50 "Modern Classic" for several years, I have one from 2008 myself. IIRC, these were in production from ~2007 through 2011. They had the ugly, big silver rotomatic tuners however. But many peole (like me) swapped them for vintage-style Klusons or similar. Here's an archived page for the 2009 Modern Classic https://web.archive.org/web/20090107024437/http://www.americanmusical.com/Item--i-GIB-RS50AN-NH and the 2007 Modern Classic https://web.archive.org/web/20130211171614/http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/RS50ANNH/ Then they brought the J-50 back again a few years ago (maybe 2016?), we discussed it here at the time, I believe they called it a "J-50 Antique Natural" and it was available from the usual places like Sweetwater. I recall it was quite expensive however, over $3000 IIRC. Made me glad that I got my 2008 J-50 lightly used for $1500 (it sold for $2000 new back then).

Merry Christmas one and all. Here's to a great 2020!

Well, my first was an all-plastic baritone ukelele that my Dad found in a junk store for a few bucks when I was about 12. It was a POS, but I learned some basic chords. The piano was my serious instrument from then through high school. Around 1969 I got a terrible no-name cheap electric guitar that just wasn't playable, and after that I traded my way through a variety of electrics, ending up with a telecaster thinline. This photo was me visiting my parents enroute from Pennsylvania to California in 1973 or 74. Within a year I traded that for a 1974 Gibson J-50 Deluxe that I kept until giving it to my son in law a few years ago. Here's my "Gibson family" - me and the 1965 J-50, my son in law with my 2008 J-50 and Granddaughter with a Maestro that I gave her, just for fun. It's terrible, but was cheap and looks just like a little J-50! 🙂 Merry Christmas everyone and best wishes for the holidays!

Why is that a J-45 ADJ? Looks like a J-50, complete with the batwing pick guard. I have a J-50 ADJ that looks like this, it was made in 1965. I remember a few years ago there was some kind of limited edition J-45 ADJ re-issue, but it had a burst finish and teardrop pickguard. I think these were very rare, have never seen one for sale anywhere (but I have not actually looked for one either).

Very nice! And it doesn't have the ugly Rotomatics like my 2006 J-50 had. 🙂

I have a 1974 J-50 Deluxe that I also bought new. The binding is still in pretty good shape, and I really did not take care of this guitar, it spent many years in the original POS chipboard case in various closets and basements. My son in law loved it so much, I gave it to him a few years ago, but here's picture This shows the binding from the front, don't have any closeups from the side. But IIRC, there are some damaged and cracking spots but it's generally intact. I spent about $350 a few years ago to have my J-50 Deluxe repaired, it became un-playable over the years. The luthier was able to avoid a neck reset by planing down the fretboard and doing a re-fret. He did a really nice job and after he was done it sounded better than it ever had. So that was definitely worthwhile, and it got be back into the habit of playing everyday. OTOH, I would not spend anything on purely cosmetic work for this guitar. Last I checked, these 70's J-50's are readily available in much better shape than mine in the $1000-$1500 range.

I also use the smaller ones that only cover one room, and agree that the ultrasonic ones are problematic due to the mineral deposits. I went through 3 ultrasonics and they never lasted more than about a year, they just stopped being effective after awhile. Had a couple with wicking filters and they worked well, but the filters needed changing often which gets expensive. Now I have one that heats the water and it really is the best I've used. Needs regular cleaning though because scale builds up on the heating element. They're all kind of a pain in one way or another. But I can keep the humidity in the 45% to 50% range in my guitar room during the winter and my guitars sit on stands out of the case. A woodstove is my primary heat source, and I have a big cast iron pot of water on it. It goes through a couple of quarts of water a day, so I guess that goes into the air, but it's still pretty dry in that room, usually in the 30% to 40% range.

I don't really know why, but it's a fact that my 1965 J-50 ADJ is not as loud as my 2008 J-50. And my 1974 J-50 is much louder than either of them. And this isn't a subjective opinion, it can easily be verified by recording levels.

My 1965 J-50 still has the original wood ADJ saddle. Since that's the way it was built, I'm not changing it. I think it affects the volume however, that guitar really isn't as loud as my 2008 J-50. In another thread, somebody suggested that this is because only the screws transfer the sound to the guitar body, as opposed to full contact with a traditional bridge/saddle. It is kind of cool to be able to easily adjust the height with the ADJ bridge though - was getting some string buzz with a capo awhile ago and realized that the adjustment was an easy way to correct that. Aside from that.... I just think it looks kind of cool.

It's great that you guys can still be inspired and moved by Dylan. Sorry, but I couldn't even watch a whole minute of that terrible video. I've gotten to the point where my interest in Bob Dylan ends in 1964. His early acoustic days in New York were brilliant, and I prefer to keep that image of him in my mind.

Glad you got your money back - that's the main thing. But why are you "sure" they will improve these? Here we have two people in the space of a week experiencing the same problem. Sorry, this does not sound like a supplier I would want to do business with. And you shouldn't have to worry about whether a company will stand behind their products and just "hope" they will refund your money.

Another reputable US company you might investigate. Have never bought these buttons, but WD purchased what was left of Kluson and now sells the accurate reproductions that I have on two of my guitars. They are great. 🙂. https://www.wdmusic.com/tuning-machines-parts-bushings-and-washers.html?model[]=Button

Not looking for one, just curious about the pricing. I'm happy with my 1965 J-50, which I got at Guitar Center in 2015, it's in very good condition with the rosewood ADJ bridge. They had originally priced it at $3300 and it sat there for about 8 months, so they lowered the price to $2400. A couple months later, I offered $2000 and they accepted it without even haggling. 🙂

Interesting.... I bought my 1965 J-50 specifically for the narrow neck. 🙂 Was just looking on Guitar Center's site and they have a 1962 J-50 for $2500 and another 1962 J-50 for $2700. But maybe there's a good reason why they're so much cheaper? Does the burst make the J-45 worth more? I always preferred the natural finish on the J-50 myself.