tpbiii

Back row -- 42 LG-1 and 46 LG-2 -- moderate sized necks Left hand pair -- early 43 J-45 and early 43 SJ -- baseball necks with no adjustable truss rod Center -- late 43 RW SJ -- moderate neck with truss rod right hand pair -- 44 J-45 and 53 J-45 -- moderate necks with truss rods ( also have a 54 SJ, with a similar neck) Because I have so many different profiles, I have developed a skill to switch back and forth -- but not instantly. I takes about 5 minutes for my right brain to lock in. Thus I cannot grab one at random and start playing and make no mistakes. Best, -Tom

I own both a 35 JUMBO (with binding) and 36 AJ. IME, Gibson necks from that period did not vary too much -- unlike the wartime Banners. If you are talking about neck binding, most collectors would guess that was a 35 -- unless Joe Spann had more information on the batch. All the Jumbos had body binding. Here are mine. Best, -Tom

If you are talking about real 1934 and 1936, not so much. The Jumbo has a more pronounced V., but they atr not really large.

1943s -- J-45, SJ, and SJ RW

My experience is probably not relevant, but I can comment based on an early Hummingbirds and an early SJs -- 1962 and 1943. These are very different animals, and my late wife and used them as role players. The Hummingbird strummed for 60s style folk songs and the SJ for alternating thumb fingerpicking for gospel and traditional. We also used the Hummingbird to pay "bluegrass light" in our basement studio. A 3/4 Kay bass, a prewar Mastertone, and a 36 AJ (or herringbone) would over power the room. Best, -Tom

35 Jumbo

Wow -- that is cool. And brave. If you hang out on the UMGF, you may know I have been beating that drum for maybe 15 years -- albeit about old and not new AJs and other golden era (1935-1943) RW Gibsons. I have only played two new ones (reissues after 1990) enough to judge. One was an odd one, owned my Michael Fuller of Fuller Guitars and used as his main BG guitar: a1995 model in BRW with a 1 3/4 neck. The astute historian will note that neither of those features actually match the 1930s guitars. The other was one of Little Roy's guitars. That one had a ware hole in the top -- obviously played in. Both were great guitars. You will probably not get the respect you deserve in a BG jam session. If you walk up to a Jam with a 30's herringbone, people spot it. If you do that with 30s AJ, someone will say "my Dad had a J-45 just like that." IME, that on lasts (for my 36 AJ) until the first G chord. I must also say, I have not run into a new AJ in a bluegrass session that I remember -- and I have played in 1-5 of those a week for over 30 years. May well be a case of people hearing with their eyes, but my experience with modern ones is not extensive enough to have a firm opinion. I'd love to hear of your adventures -- here on the wild side😎. All the best, -Tom

I have three, but I guess they don't qualify;1942, 1956, 1959

Here are some early French heels and back binding. 31 L-2 1935 Jumbo 1935 RSRG Not this -- 1936 Jumbo35 -- no binding I don't think it is old -- the wood looks new and odd to me. Best, -Tom

ASAIK, all the old RSSDs were mahogany -- the rosewood model was the Roy Smeck Radio Grande. Here is my 1935 Radio Grande-- slab cut East Indian rosewood. I have shown this before. Here is that guitar being demoed by my friend David Dugas Here is David playing a 1936 Stage Deluxe Best, -Tom

I guess this is not what you are asking, but I have five old Gibsons from 1935 and 1936 - Jumbo. RSRG, AJ, Trojan (J-35) and RSSD.. None have labels inside except the AJ. It was an export guitar -- one of the labels is obviously due to that and the other was probably added in South Africa. I do have other old Gibsons with orange labels but not from that period I guess. Since it does not matter to me, I have never really checked.😎 Best, -Tom

I have many. I like.

I'll watch for your work. All the best, -Tom

910 In this case, the beauty is in the ears of the beholders.😎 Here is the 43 SJ Gibson EIRW can be spectacular -- 35 RSRG slab cut. My other EIRW Golden era J -- 1940 J-55 -- not quite so visually flashy. It is amazing that the AJ is the only well known -- they could have beat the old herringbones (or at least tied them), but they were just too few. Nick, I hope you are doing well. Best, -Tom

Here is what a 36 looks like -- it is EIRW.

Nice stuff. And nice historic name too. As I bet you know LARSON BROTHERS is an iconic guitar company, and the old ones are now rich man guitars. I have one -- 1930 -- and it was a favorite with my late wife for folk and bluegrass (rhythm.) Here is one of my folk revival singing friends using it for that. I hope you might find this cool. Pardon the interruption. Best,-Tom

Historically it is a bit like a converted RSSD.

Kentucky Waltz and Tennessee Waltz -- I mostly cross harp, so I never recorded a lot of single note harmonica. But that is was you need to do to duets with bag pipes🙃. It can be very beautiful but just not too COOL. Best, -Tom

This is the mandolin player in my summer bluegrass band in Nova Scotia -- THE JORDAN FALLS SUMMER BAND. For may years he was the head of the piper' guild -- there are 50 of them! We once played a 1 hour show using the small pipes and single note straight harp with a lot of reverb. Maybe the next big thing? Let's pick (or pipe?) -Tom

I have a 53 J-45 -- pretty much the same guitar. Mine has had some work, but it is basically all their. It is a cool, useful guitar. Here it is in a practice session with my daughter in Texas. Pretty rough. Congratulations -- should ne a fine old guitar. Best, -Tom

The burst looks like early 30ish. The logo is a bit later. 36 is a good guess.

Hi Nick, Yea. It has its own lovely niche. I love the way it articulates and separates on alternating thumb folk and gospel stuff. The Martin mahogany has a bit fuller sound -- lovely too, but fo me subjectively in this area the LG-1 wins. Happy new year, =Tom

I guess they had a late 20s/early 30s 00 sized guitar in mind when they built that guitar. The only old mahogany top Gibson I have is a 42 LG-1 -- I do have several old 0-17 and 00-17s. The th old LG-1 is cool for sure. Here is an example. Best, -Tom

In my experience, what constitutes an extraordinary guitar for an individual is subjective and is framed by musical goals and abilities. But for many people, it is also framed by genre and the communities associated with those genres. My late wife and I were very involved with the Georgia mountain bluegrass community (40 years), the "folk" revival community (60 years) and the singer songwriter community (less intensively, 20 years). The first two at their core are acoustic music -- we almost never plugged in. The first was the one is most intensively involved in old power guitars, the second used generally much less powerful guitars, and the last like Taylors. I don't have any Taylors. After our mild folky beginnings, we struggled mightily for 35 + years the achieve the power, speed, and "high lonesome" singing style of traditional bluegrass -- we never made it. I don't have a lot of recording of our bluegrass stuff -- it was too hard to record it in my basement. But I do have a few shows where a recording was made of the board. Her is one from a jam show in 2012 in Lockeport Nova Scotia. Not a broadly popular style. We use a lot of folk materials in bluegrass, but with BG keys and speed. Here is an example using 62 HB, Also not a popular style. It is not true that all of our 60s era Gibsons were mild and under-powered. This weird 65 F-25 is really raw, in-you-face example with 30s power. Here is a folk song with the 65 Dove at a folk key One more with the 62 HB and mountain harmony. Best, -Tom

Indeed -- and that is exactly why it worked so well as a folk revival instrument. Historically my late wife and I had two great musical interests -- the rural acoustic revolution in the 1930s kerosene circuit period (before widespread sound reinforcement was available), which basked in the new power of the Dreads and Js; and the incredibly mild and inclusive urban "folk revival" in the 1960s, where everybody strummed and played along. After c. 1940, both Martin and Gibson began a long slide toward less powerful guitars, but Gibson dropped faster. For the former, the cutoff for Gibsons was 1955 -- for Martin it was the late 60s. So really no HBs or Doves made that cut at all -- the tunematic bridge and plywood maple B&Ss of the Dove was not a formula for a strong guitar. The HB on the other hand is solid wood and has a big blended and (surprisingly) strong tone excellent for singalongs in the 60s. Depends on what you are after. In the 1960s, I played a late 50s LG-1 -- here is sort of what it sounded like. You would never take that to a bluegrass or other strong traditional session. The right tool for every job.😎 Best, -Tom