Boyd

"Superb" condition 1955 J-50 for $1200? Ridiculous. Do you really need an appointment to find out if that's legitimate?

Just looked very quickly, they appeared to be ok, but the photos are low resolution and poorly lit. Unless they have changed, I think you will have to actually buy one of them, then choose the option to have it shipped to your local store. You can then check it out when it arrives and raise any concerns. If you aren't happy, I assume you can "return" it on the spot and have it credited to your card, but guessing you would still have to pay the shipping cost in that case. You could also return it any time within their window for used gear (30 days?) but there's always a chance they would want to deduct some money on a claim you did some damage. There's a policy about that on their site somewhere, although it's mostly aimed at new instruments where you could scratch the pickguard, etc. Let us know what they say. I'd be surprised if they would ship the guitar to your store with no money down and just hope you'd buy it. Would also be surprised if they didn't charge you for shipping if you return it.

Used guitars should have the same policy. "Vintage" guitars have a 72 hour return policy (or at least, that was the case back in 2016 when I got my 1965 J-50). For the used guitar I bought from them two years ago, I had it shipped to my local store. Then when it arrived, we inspected it together to make sure everything was OK.

As I posted above on Tuesday, at that time Guitar Center had two used J-45 Standards for $1999 and another for $1899 (although I'm not sure if you consider that a "flagship model"). 🙂

Got my 2020 J-50 60's Original used from Guitar Center for $1700 two years ago. That model doesn't include a pickup, but the previous owner had installed one. It's my favorite guitar now, it looked and played like new when I got it. There has been a price increase on the "original" series since then however, which may be a factor today. However a quick search for "J-45" at Guitar Center found a used 50's Original J-45 (with pickup) for $2129, a J-45 Standard for $1899 and two more for $1999. If you want to go back farther, they have three 1975 J-50 Deluxe models for prices between $1000-$1300. I got a J-50 Deluxe in 1974, it fell into bad repair but I had it fixed back in 2014 and the luthier did a terrific job. My Son in Law loved it so much, I gave it to him. There's plenty of negativity about these Norlin acoustics in this forum, I stay out of that one. Will only say that it's the loudest Gibson I've owned and my Son in Law (in his early 40's) still loves it and claims his friends all envy him. 😀 I'm sure there are plenty of other places to find used Gibson acoustics (here in the US, at least) and that some people have a problem with Guitar Center. Can only say my experiences have all been good, have gotten three used Gibson acoustics there at good prices and their return/exchange policy minimizes the risk. For "vintage" guitars, you have 72 hours to return but much longer for ordinary "used" instruments (30 days?).

Don't know anything about that guitar, but Tusq turns brown as it ages, especially if exposed to sunlight for an extended period. I have a 2008 J-50 with an original Tusq saddle and it has gotten quite brown over time.

Quite a few (most?) Gibson acoustics include pickups from the factory, which is something I dislike. When I was in the market around 10 years ago, I was surprised that a search at Guitar Center for "acoustic guitars" didn't find any Gibsons. Turned out that I needed to search for "acoustic electric" guitars to find them! When I got a used 2008 J-50 back in 2014, first thing I did was have a luthier do a setup and remove all the electronics. Got a 2020 60's Original J-50 in 2021 and that is one of the few models that didn't come with a pickup. It was a very lightly used guitar, would have thought it was new if I didn't know. But the previous owner had added a soundboard transducer pickup which I removed because it caused RF interference with dynamic microphones. There wasn't any issue with setup, since it was mounted inside the guitar, but the transducers were super-glued to the bridge plate and almost impossible to completely remove. That was weird.

In my first year of high school shop class (around 1965), I remember one of the seniors in an advanced class was building a guitar from scratch. I didn't even know him, but the project was sitting in the corner of the shop so I watched it progress during the year. By the end of the school year, he hadn't even put the top on it IIRC. 🤣

FWIW, here's the old thread about this that I mentioned above...

There was another thread from last year (I think) about these lines showing on recent model Gibsons. Looked at my 2020 J-50 60's Original and sure enough, they are visible - but not bad enough for me to have even noticed before. The ones in the OP's picture look much worse though.

No idea how things work in Gibson's forum and no familiarity with the weird forum software that they use. However, I've been a moderator on several non-guitar sites for many years (including one with over a million members and tens of thousands of posts a day). IP addresses are one way to find multiple accounts, especially static IP's (where a device is always associated with the same address). Static IP's are relatively rare in the US, most internet services have a pool of addresses that are shared by many different people. And using an IP address has become less reliable at finding multiple registrations as VPN's become more popular - especially Apple's recent "private relay" feature (it can make you appear to be somewhere you aren't really located). In the case where you used a different internet service in multiple locations, if you used the same device (a laptop, for example), the forum software might store a list of addresses it has used regardless of account. But I'd say (other than garden-variety spammers) it usually comes down to the moderators/administrators hunches. Everybody has their own writing style, favorite expressions, common grammatical/spelling errors and topics of interest that can give away multiple registrations. Then there are also "informants" who will sometimes report suspicions or inside knowledge of users who try to hide their identity.

Some of us are even older than that... 🤣

Just for reference, this is what my 1965 J-50 ADJ looks like. I don't think it could be confused with a faded J-45. It has the original (thick) pickguard, bridge and rosewood saddle.

Have had a 60's J-50 re-issue for a couple years and really happy with it. Nitro finish looks great. Awhile ago you started another thread about this model and I posted a long response. Then the whole thread (apparently) vanished. Did you also delete that one?

Looks like you're right - too bad. I got my Pro 2 in 2014 from Elderly Instruments here in the US, it's great, much lighter than a Gibson case and far more protection. Kept my guitar safe in the checked luggage on a trip to Europe. For awhile Guitar Center even carried Hiscox, now it looks like nobody has them. They may not match your idea of "reasonably priced" however. 😀

I play for fun and as a way to express my creativity. Long ago I learned that I can't "force myself" to be creative or to have fun. So, I play when I feel like it and I do other things when I don't. Now, I do understand the idea that "practice makes perfect" and the physical act of playing keeps you in shape. But there are only so many hours in the day and there are lots of other ways to have fun and be creative. I've also found that when I come back to playing the guitar after a few months hiatus, I'm more creative and discover new things. And I don't think I lose much - other than calluses that need to be built up again. Have spent the last 6 months or so immersed in writing computer code and other creative outlets - I find it hard to "shift gears" and play guitar when my mind is in that mode. So, I took a break. My fingers are also getting stiffer and I wanted to give them a rest. It was beautiful yesterday and I took the guitar out back in the woods and played for awhile. Slow getting started, but after I got up to speed, it felt great. For me, summer is a great time to play guitar and I look forward to working my way back. Regarding stuff like Voltaren, I looked at the warnings on the package awhile ago and decided it was something I didn't want to mess with. My problems aren't that bad (yet) and I will just deal with them naturally. But it's good to know that it's helping you.

Almost 10 years ago my 1974 J-50 Deluxe got so bad it was no longer playable. Took it to the luthier who thought he could fix it by planing down the neck and replacing the frets instead of a neck reset. Went to pick it up and asked if he had any problems, to which he replied the only "problem" was that he was having so much fun playing it, he didn't want to give it back! I specifically mentioned some of the negative comments about Norlin's that I've read here and he just shook his head and thought it was pretty funny. And it really did sound great after he fixed it, much better than it ever had. Whenever my daughter came for a visit, my son in law would go right for the '74 J-50, not the 1965 or 2008 models. Gave it to him on sort of a permanent loan many years go and he still loves it. I'm not going to claim that these are Gibson's best work, but people should probably give them a chance instead of passing them by based on complaints they see online. Have not looked for awhile so maybe things have changed, but the 70's Gibsons used to sell for pretty reasonable prices, like the $1000 to $1500 range, depending on condition.

Pro II. Another nice thing is that it's much lighter than the original Gibson case, a big plus if you are carrying it around a lot.

I got mine from Elderly Instruments in 2014, took my 2008 J-50 round-trip to Europe in checked luggage most of the way. No problems at all. I would not attempt that with the original Gibson case!

Sounds like something that DALL-E2 could easily handle. 🤣

It's actually a statement, not a question. 🤣

Same thing for the J-50, it comes and goes from their lineup too.

Actually, the J-35 is no longer discontinued. It's back. 😀 https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Acoustic-Guitar/ACC771827/Natural

Cool, get 'em while they last! 😀 As you can see, there is no J-50 in the Gibson "Original" collection anymore. https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Collection/original-acoustic Actually, it looks like they replaced the J-50 with the "J-35 30's Faded", I don't believe that existed when I got my J-50 in 2021.

J-50's are the best! My first acoustic guitar was a 1974 J-50 Deluxe that I bought new. Gave it to my son in law awhile back because he liked it so much. But I still have a 1965 J-50 ADJ and 2008 J-50 Modern Classic. Also have a 2020 J-50 60's Original which has the modern version of the ADJ Bridge. They are all great in their own way, but the 2020 has been my favorite since I got it. Neck is slightly thinner than the 2008 J-50 but much fatter than my real 1965 J-50. Is there a "new" J-50? I thought my model (60's Original) was discontinued? - don't see it on their site anymore although they still have 50's and 60's Original J-45's. Some dealers might still have the J-50's I guess?