tpbiii
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Posts posted by tpbiii
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My42 LG-1 -- with an adjustable neck -- doesn't have a small neck, but it is noticeably smaller than my early c 43 SJ and J-45 without truss rods. I am pretty sure those necks without metal truss rods are the largest Gibsons ever. At least the largest IME.
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I have three -- 1942 LG-1, 1946 LG-2, and 1959 LG-1. They are quite different instruments.
Let's pick,
-Tom
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I play harp quite a lot-- embarrassing but true. I bonded to Hohner Special 20s long ago -- the Lee Oscars are a little to soft for strong acoustic string band music. Because I play a lot of bluegrass where any key is legal, I get them in sets of 12. Hohners have gotten pretty pricey, so I have searched for years for reasonable performing alternative. I have found two : Easttop and SX Blues. The first cost about 1/2 the cost of Special 20s and the other is quite cheap. I have auditions literally 100s of these over 40+ years, and these are all I have found that do it for me.
Here is an example of how I play.
Let's pick,
-Tom
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I have a 53 J-45 and a 54 SJ. There is a major change in the bracing in 1955 -- no longer scalloped. IME, the earlier ones are better. The 40s are better yet.
Best,
-Tom
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On 7/1/2021 at 6:23 PM, zombywoof said:
I cannot pay attention to much of anything and play at the same time. The surest way to guarantee I will screw up is to get me to think about what I am playing. I just utter a silent prayer to the guitar gods that the muscle memory particularly in my right hand does not have a brain fart.
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c. 1923 TB4 I'll check the serial numbers -- they are documented pretty well. Here is my 5-string RB-4 and GB-4 from the same period.
They redesigned the whole line in 1925 -- the mastertone. Yours is not too valuable -- the matertones from the 1930s can be very valuable fot bluegrass.
From Gruhn and Carter
The only serial number data I have ust says 1922-frb 1925
Best,
-Tom
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3 hours ago, MontanaMusicGuy said:
My wife's grandfather played this old tenor banjo. It is a really cool and wonderful instrument but I don't know much about these things. Hoping some of you folks might be able to tell me more about it.
The attached pdf file shows several pictures. The serial number seems to be 11406-18. Any information would be appreciated!
Thanks very much! -- MontanaMusicGuy
I can't see the attachment. If I can see a picture, chances are I can tell you a lot.
Best,
-Tom
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2 hours ago, duluthdan said:
Clicking the link takes you to the groups Facebook page, where to view the content you need approval too join the group. You may have to revert to good old 'cut-n-paste' to share your article here.
Smile Fierce !!!
Thanks so much -- I was afraid that might be true. I will add a cut and paste now.
All the best,
-Tom
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I wrote this story on the vintage Gibson FB page. I am trying to share it here because it is largely about old Gibsons. This is a test -- it may well not work.
IT CLEARLY DID NOT WORK -- HERE IS A COPY OF THE POST.
QuoteI just got back from my first vaccinated (four day) musical road trip. I was traveling with a young couple who have become quite well known in bluegrass circles (fiddle and guitar), and it was a pretty amazing trip. They were involved in three shows (Marysville, TN; Nashville, TN; and Hiawassee GA) , but also we met with many friends, played in amazing jam sessions, and also visited some music stores. After being locked up for a year, it was way beyond wonderful. We had three guitars with us -- all vintage -- two Martins and one Gibson.
The Gibson I had with me was my latest acquisition (I am not supposed to be buying anymore) – a 1940 Gibson J-55 with rosewood back and sides. It is player grade, with repaired cracks and such – but still pretty much all there. I had acquired it after I recognized the similarity in tone and power to my 36 AJ. RW is almost unheard of in this model.
If you understand the history of traditional music in North America, you know the preeminent role played by the power of the golden era “dread sized” flattops In the days of the kerosene circuit, that brought a musical revolution as fundamental as (later) rock and roll. This did not happen instantly – for example bluegrass music did not emerge until 1945, and that set off the first vintage guitar craze (Herringbone D-28s) which were no longer built. 30s Gibsons are generally quite powerful, but there was a major drop in power after about 1940. The other aspect was Gibson built relatively few RW guitars in the 1930s – the big RW midrange roar of the Herringbone was a defining feature of traditional power bluegrass rhythm. As a result, Gibsons had very few followers in loud acoustic genres. It really wasn't until after about 2000 that they really found a lot of popularity for different stuff.
But it was not true that Gibson did not build large, powerful RW guitars in the 30s that had “the right stuff” – they were just rare. The AJ was the first to get wide recognition – I also have a 35 RSRG and even a 43 SJ (RW) that seem to be so qualified. I found the RW J-55 to be such a guitar (at a show). Eventually I negotiated a deal and it came home.
Playing such guitars at home alone is nothing special IME, so this was the first chance to take out the J-55 to where the real stuff was being played. I got into several heavy sessions with accomplished musicians, and all of them noticed and praised the sound of that J-55 – historically a bit odd in the land of the herringbone. To my ear, it is in the same class for BG rhythm as both the old herringbone and the AJ – Yee Yaw.
On this trip, we got to have a 1 ½ hour one-on-two with George Gruhn – I had never done that before. The J-55 was in the room, and he said he would like to see it. He played it a bit, and said I had a very rare guitar, that it sounded great, and in his opinion the two best acoustic guitars Gibson ever built were the AJ and the 1931 L-2. That was weird in it own way. My friend (Tony Watt BTW) has demoed a lot of guitars for me on vimeo, but as it turns out not the L-2. But he played it just before we left on the trip, and I don't want to speak for him – but he claimed to be really impressed with that guitar. When Allen St James played it at my house, he went out and bought one for himself. Having George say to me what I have often said to others was sort of an out-of-body experience. I love stuff like this!
Here is a comparison of the J-55 to the AJ – this is a pairwise comparison that plays the AJ clip repeatedly with the other clips sandwiched in between. It is a rhythm demo only. This is a standard technique for studying sound quality.
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I have a 39. Here is a video demo and a comparison the four other 12-fret 1930s guitars -- Martins 34 00-40H and 30 00-18H AND Gibson 31 L-2, 34 HG-C and 39 HG-00.
Best,
-Tom -
Well this is an area I have thought about a lot -- and as arguably a 50 year acoustic string band musician (mostly bluegrass now, but historically folk revival, old time and traditional mountain styles) and vintage guitar collector, I currently own quite a few iconic power flat tops.
As a matter of personal choice, my late wife and I avoid all forms of electrified instruments except when forced by circumstance. I own several banner, late 40s and early 50s J-45s and SJs, and as much as I love them for folk, gospel, blues and ragtime, none of them IME have the kick to adequately perform in a strong traditional string band.
I actually love a few old Gibsons for this role, but they are rare -- mostly I historically used old herringbones (D-28) ad for lighter sessions old D-18s for this role. The four Gibsons I have are a 36 AJ, 35 RSRG, 43 SI RW (rare) and my latest 40 J-55 RW (super rare). I talk about this on my blog -- https://vintageacousticinsruments.blogspot.com/2015/12/1934-1943-rosewood-gibson-j-guitars-for.html?fbclid=IwAR3SFYnvToVEolsw47OvLbLrsW1Ctnyio6PbSeOK7nkPWGlN86-MNvYuE70
Best,
-Tom
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Late L-00s had some odd features -- many very similar to Kalamazoo models. The banjo world refers to that period as the floor sweep period -- a lot of stuff created oddly from parts that were lying around.
Best,
-Tom
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1939
1936
So probably white went to gold sometime between these two guitars.
Best,
-Tom
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I thought this might interest some of you. During the pandemic, I have sometimes visited ZOOM song circles. As many of you know, I have jamulus working for bluegrass and other jamming, but ZOOM circles are basically different. First because of delay issues, you basically have to do solo pieces -- not generally my thing, But hey -- it is a pandemic.
You can use any acoustic front end you want, but in this case I just used the same "faithful reproduction" system I have used for more than a decade to demo my vintage guitars. That only tells you the quality of the input but -- ZOOM can (and does) change the audio using their on rules, which vary according to the internet situation in which it finds itself. When it is just me, my voice, and a strummed backup, I actually prefer my later less powerful guitars. The two I used last night were my 1954 SJ and 1962 HB.
This is just one example -- any other time, it might sound different.Best,-Tom -
I guess this was the historical turning point. This is a c. 1920 Gibson F-4 -- a "Lloyd Loar" F4. Lloyd Loar famously introduced the adjustable truss rod when he arrived in 1921. At that time, there were a number of inlaid double pot F4 necks already on the bench. Lloyd had them routed and a truss rod installed. Opinions vary whether on balance this was a good idea for those instruments. 😵
Let's pick,
-Tom
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On 4/18/2021 at 3:39 PM, jibberish said:
Thanks, Zombie and Nick.
It's all purely aesthetics. I'd take a teardrop over the long pickguard the same way I'd take a D-18 or 28 over a gaudy D-45.
Along about 1954 when the longer pickguard was introduced didn't they also start using the adjustable saddle? I don't find those aesthetically appealing either. Don't even get me started on the late 60s when the shoulders got started getting square! lol
I have a lot of old Gibsons which I use for other stuff. In a general way, I think of participating in historically different acoustic genres -- a major deciding line for me was sort of the historic traditional genres and the folk revival genre. Many of the former are power genres -- particularly traditional bluegrass but also other traditional string band genres as well. In comparison, the folk revival stuff is usually much milder. Now my late wife and I loved both genres, but for us they were not the same and required different instruments.
The 30s Gibsons (and Martins) often had amazing power -- both started to lose strength about 1940. Gibson power arguably dropped of quicker, but both dropped off. I can easily notice a difference between 1940-1945, 1945-1950 and 1950-1954. After that, none of them work for me for the traditional side of the line. However they did work well for the folk revival.
Here are (most of) my Js. I have four J-45s (43, 44, 45, 53) and two mahogany SJs (43, 54) -- which are basically the same series of guitars if you ignore decoration. For those guitars, I basically lost interest in guitars that had the bat wing pickguards J-45/SJ -- not because of the pickguard but because 1954 was the last year with scalloped braces -- It is easy to hear the difference. I own later Gibsons, but I consider them to be different guitars and we used then for different stuff.
I hope this helps.
Best,
-Tom
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OK then. Here is a good demo. First two J-45s -- 44 and 45 -- and a bare finger 67 Martin D-35 to keep it grounded.
Here is a 59 LG-1 (also followed by a 46 LG-2 and 42 LG-1) doing the same song.
You should be able to hear it.
Best,
-Tom
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Looks like an early 40s 000-18 she was playing.
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Some time ago I put a series of pictures together called good and evil twins. I just illustrated different period competitors using my collection -- so instruments with which I have first had personal experience. There are a lot -- I will start with three and see if that causes any interest.
00-18 and L-1 c. 1917
0-18K and L-1 -- c 1925/6
00-18 and L-2 -- 1931/32
Best,
-Tom
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At the beginning of the pandemic I had an equal number of vintage Martins and Gibsons -- 50 each. This year I bought 3 old instruments -- 28 000-18, 38 RB-00 and 40 J-55 RW. So gibsons are now ahead by 1.
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Hmm -- he doesn't seem to know it is signed and dated on the inside top.
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This is as close as I have -- forward braced 1938.
Lets pick,
-Tom
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My grandmother sang that song. I love those old songs.
Thanks for posting.
-Tom
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Here is a 1937 -- they made a few round hole examples with Nick Lucas finger boards c. 1936-1937.
Big chunky necks?
in Gibson Acoustic
Posted
I have 1917 L-1 and a 1934 KG-1 -- they might be similar to yours. Both have larger, deeper necks than modern but more of a V. I do like that. Neither (or my 34 Carson Robison) have a non adjustable metal bar in their necks as some of the late 30s off brands did, but none had anything like the BASEBALL BAT shape of those c. early 1942s. Just my 2 cents.
Best,
-Tom