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mojoworking

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Everything posted by mojoworking

  1. Here's Donovan himself with his signature model J45. Looks good to me http://www.musicradar.com/news/guitars/donovan-on-claw-hammer-classic-songs-and-celtic-influences-625407
  2. I ordered the J45 because I wanted a cherry sunburst one like Donovan (cherry sunburst was the standard colour for the J45 between 1962-69). I bought the J160E and the Texan (both second-hand) because of the Beatles influence, likewise the Casino. Ideally, the Texan should have been blonde like Macca's of course, but they were hard to find back then.
  3. Thanks Zomby. As I've repeated here before, I got caught out by the changeover myself. During the 60s/70s the UK Gibson distributor was a company called Selmer (famous in the UK for their amps and other things). As late as 1970 the Selmer catalogue was still showing the round shoulder J45/50, so I ordered a 45 from my local dealer. Of course when it arrived, instead of the bright cherry sunburst finish with round shoulders, it was an unappealing muddy brown with square shoulders. Luckily I was able to send it back. Back to the J160E in the catalogue above. Looks like they flipped the bridge for the last of the round shoulder models in 1969, which were also more cherry sunburst than the earlier tobacco sunburst we know and love from the Beatles. I believe they also did a J160E with a cutaway towards the end? I've seen Marc Bolan play one.
  4. Pretty sure the change from round to square shoulder on J45 and J50 happened in 1969 and according to the Vintage Guitar Info site, a year later on the J160E http://www.guitarhq.com/gibson6.html#j160
  5. Thanks, I'll do that when I get home tonight and report back
  6. J45 lovers look away now. Here's a couple of pages from the 1970 Gibson catalogue. The J45 and J50 had just been revamped as square shouldered abominations, but on the following page the J160E is still available with the traditional round shouldered shape. Although the colour looks a lot more cherry than the one I (and the Beatles) had. Early models had the belly-up bridge, but this one is belly-down, in keeping with the later square shoulder models. Is this a transition model perhaps? And anyone fancy a Gibson Bossa Nova? A electric nylon string cutaway!
  7. Thanks Jesse, glad it's not just me. On the Gibson website they have a Brad Paisley J45 in cherry sunburst but it's 4 grand US, which converts to over $5,000 by the time it gets to Australia. The pickguard is a little too fancy for me, but it's a non-adjustable bridge which should please the purists.
  8. At the risk of sounding dumb, I'm not sure. I've had it since the mid 70s and apart from changing the original button tuners for Grovers in 1976 (a bad move in retrospect) and a refret in 1984, I've had no work done to it. I'll have a closer look tonight and report back.
  9. As you know the Texan also has an adjustable bridge and when I tried to have some work done on it recently the luthier didn't want to touch it because of the way the bridge is bolted to the top of the body. I don't fully understand the technicalities of it, but it seems to be a tricky repair job.
  10. Thanks guys. Growing up in the 60s all we knew was the cherry sunburst J45 with adjustable bridge. Along with its sister model the blonde J50 it was the only J45 in the Gibson catalogue (at least in the UK), until the shape was changed around 1969/70. So that's why I've always had a love of the cherry sunburst and when the Donovan signature model came out it seemed perfect. It wasn't until much later that I noticed many people didn't like the adjustable bridge, but as I say, it was all we knew in the 60s
  11. No sweat BlindBoy, I guessed as much
  12. The Texan is an original USA-made 1963, so would be valued at around the same as a J45 of the same vintage. The J45 pictured here is new and retails at around $3000 in Australia. I've had the Texan for 40 years and the 'bust was much darker back then. It sounds better with each passing year. Interestingly the neck on the Texan is super skinny, almost like a solid electric neck. The new J45 neck is a somewhat wider and thicker, without being clubby.
  13. Here's my new (2014) Gibson J45 alongside my 1963 Epiphone Texan. I wanted a cherry sunburst Donovan signature J45, but that proved impossible in Australia.
  14. Another celeb Epiphone. Here's Ralph Davis playing with Jean Shepard in the 50s. I think he's using an Epiphone Emperor without a pick-up. The neck markers don't look right for an Emperor though, so I could be wrong.
  15. Nice. Could be a Broadway, or maybe a DeLuxe
  16. Thanks Moose, great to get the background on that guitar. I also have an LP by Lefty with the same J200/Bigsby hybrid on the sleeve (The One & Only Lefty Frizzell). Some more info from Wiki: Frizzell's signature guitar was a 1949 Gibson J-200 (Model SJ-200). Originally built by the Gibson Guitar Corporation, it was retrofitted in early 1951 with a custom neck and pickguard by guitar maker and innovator Paul Bigsby. In a 2003 interview Merle Haggard recalled, "When I was a teenager, Lefty got me onstage [at the Rainbow Garden in Bakersfield, California] and handed me that guitar. That is the first guitar I played on a professional stage." For many years it had been on loan to and displayed at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville, Tennessee. In January 2005 it was returned to the Frizzell family.
  17. Not an Epiphone, but Lefty Frizzell's Gibson J200 seems to have a Bigsby six-a-side headstock
  18. More celebrity Epiphones: Found this CD by Cal Smith with his mouth-watering Texan. The guitar dates from 1963-66 by the look of it.
  19. That's great. Looks like the country music guys and gals kept the Gibson/Epiphone trim department busy with those personalised neck inlays.
  20. It's a veritable Epiphone-fest! In true country style Ernest has his name on the fretboard AND his guitar strap. Great to see the Excellente, plus the Texan and the Sheraton there too.
  21. Great stuff. It looks like the lead guitarist is using an Epiphone Sheraton with optional gold plated Bigsby instead of the standard Epi Frequensator tailpiece. Looks like a sunburst one in the black & white clip and cherry in the colour clip. Note how often Ernest looks down at the fretboard. Strange considering he's only playing C, F & G in the first position.
  22. Thanks Tommy, you're probably correct with the Frontier. Although I've not seen one with such an elaborate headstock, which hinted at the Excellente, a much fancier guitar. In fact the headstock inlay is similar to one of the 50s Epiphone jazz guitars such as the Zephyr Emperor Regent Those old country guys loved pimping up their guitars and while Martins and Gibsons were the norm, it's good to see an Epiphone receiving the same treatment: artist's name inlay in the fingerboard and outrageous pearl pickguard.
  23. I stumbled across this great picture of Ernest Tubb playing what looks like a custom Epiphone Frontier FT110 (or it could be FT120 Excellente). I'm guessing it's from the mid 60s. Gotta love that headstock inlay.
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