Jesse_Dylan

Thanks--grabbed it!!

Really interesting again! I have an L.R. Baggs Cargo, and I removed the battery and battery bag and just scotch-taped the wire onto the side. I thought perhaps it is such a small guitar, but it definitely sounded "better" to me without the battery and bag. Could be my imagination. Could also be like putting wood pins into my Hummingbird, something only I would notice as the player (which could also have been my imagination). The Cargo is one of those guitars that sounds totally different in front than it does to the player, too, so who knows. I didn't remove the Element entirely, though, just the battery. Now I have to wonder what taking the UST out would do. Hm. I seriously doubt I'll ever use it... I would have to get someone competent to fit a saddle, though. :)

Gonna have to get those DVDs... I can't even master the basics. I tried a thumbpick because of him, but I couldn't get used to it, and I have never been able to do that thumbpick thing where you mute just the bass strings. Super interesting about the pinky finger. I noticed before that he had, and made good use of, long fingers, but I never noticed he relied on his ring finger instead of pinky. I guess when you have long fingers, you don't need a pinky! Funny that the instructor keeps mentioning the pinky over and over, and in the video of Lightnin' just before... he quite obviously is using his ring finger. :)

Interesting! I saw a few videos where it sounded good, so I'm hoping for similar effect (granted maybe with fiddling and EQ). Maybe I'll wish I'd kept the Element! I always have my green guitar to fall back on tho. :)

I think as far as under-saddle transducers go, the Element might be the best one really. One of my guitars (a Composite Acoustics made of carbon fiber--and green!) has the Baggs Stage Pro which is the Element but with a preamp on the side. No, it definitely doesn't sound anything like the guitar, but it sounds decent and guitar-like. The Lyric, of course, is different since it's a microphone. It's not perfect either, but I am a sucker for the mic'd sound. Even an imperfect soundboard mic (which only hears the soundboard and doesn't sound as full as an external mic) satisfies me--sounds especially fantastic with a band. Can't beat that guitar/bass/drums sound, and the Lyric really fits in there. It's fine solo, too, but I think I'll still want a mic in front of the guitar if I can, even when using the Lyric. (Sorry, that was all kind of an aside.) Maybe when it comes time to put a Lyric in another of my guitars, I'll give it a try myself............ It's just that endpin hole drilling business...! Basically, I'm not sure I'm capable of 10 minutes of careful drilling. Maybe if I had some way to practice first :P I've wondered about that, too. I don't know if having something under the saddle affects tone in any measureable way, but having the endpin jack, the battery bag, the extra weight, all that stuff... along with something under the saddle...? Maybe not, but I'm curious, too.

Oh man. I had been thinking in my mind that I was capable of removing a stock Baggs Element from a Gibson and replacing it with a Baggs Lyric. I guess I am glad and lucky that I was able to mail the Lyric to E.M. Shorts guitars and that they're going to do it for me, because it sounds like I would have been in for way more than I was bargaining for.........

Wow! This is the stuff books and movies are made from. Also, sounds like a nice job! :D

Pretty fricking cool that you got to see him! Can't even imagine!

Very interesting. I want to crack the code!! I will check it out. Thanks!

Part 2 Notice how much he relies on "acoustics," such as his foot tapping, his hands making contact with the wood as he plays. I don't think anyone plays like him anymore. Maybe no one ever did! Whomever has that guitar now, has a guitar with a heck of a lot of mojo!

https://youtu.be/hWqA1Z4lPHw (Why can't I ever get it to show the video instead of the link?) Just wanted to share a real guitar hero. Of course, this is the real reason I want a Batwing pickguard. :) (okay, so my dad also had a batwing) Never have figured out how to play like that... Gibson J-50. He played in E almost all the time, but he was never tuned up to concert pitch (or even in perfect tune). Friends of friends of his have told me he said, "Ole Lightnin' don't ever practice." Doesn't seem like he needed to... He used to play clubs, but he'd also just sit on the bus and play. I think that was his "practice". Course you guys probably all know this stuff already, but maybe some younger folks will pop in and be educated.

I think the nut width is smaller, right? Even the 1.725" gets a teeny bit thin for me right up at the nut. Had thought about it, though! I think I am pretty well sold on a J-15 (third time's a charm? or will I think, "yeah, but what if...?" again?). I stayed up late listening to a bunch of walnut Gibsons last night (including a walnut J-45, but it also adds an Adirondack top to further confuse the issue, and probably has rosewood fretboard/bridge and mahogany neck) and was really able to kind of pick out the character of walnut. The J-15 sounds a little brighter perhaps but somehow very woody besides from what I can tell. Maybe that's why people keep saying it's a mix of rosewood and mahogany (or others say maple and rosewood...)

I have to admit, I really like the big, chunky headstock (which Guild seemed to copy??), and I kind of wish the modern Gibson headstock was bigger and chunkier. But I suppose the originals were not big and chunky at all! I wonder why they moved to big/chunky in the '70s. Maybe it was another cost-cutting, warranty-work-minimizing move. Pretty cool story!! Did you order yours because of The Beatles influence? Were they still ladder-braced then? I guess maybe they kept ladder-bracing them all the way through. I think the modern Gibson version is scalloped x-bracing, but I think the back and sides are still laminate. I'm not sure about that at all, though.

Interesting! So is the Donovan just standard x-bracing like the good old J-45 and J-15? (Specs just say scalloped, x-braced top, so must be. And that cherry sunburst finish, wow! Just says "scalloped top bracing" for the Paisley... and a 1.625" nut width... and icky pickguard inlay (I know, to each their own!) )

Yep, I saw that one too. I just can't see spending that much on a signature edition either. But a good old, plain Jane Gibson with a cherry sunburst, like Orville intended, would be another story. The Iced Tea Burst J-45 they did was pretty cool, but maybe that was an upcharge compared to the standard. (Not as cool as cherry sunburst either, but still cool!) One reason I went with my Hummingbird Vintage over the Standard was that the Vintage Cherry Sunburst is pretty fantastic, and while the Heritage Cherry Sunburst is neat and great in its own way, it is just not what I had in mind. (Didn't hurt that the Vintage sounded absolutely phenomenal and seems to be getting better daily. Not that the Standard was any slouch at all...)

I am with you--that cherry sunburst is great. How come Gibson doesn't do it anymore, except on the Donovan model? The Donovan model itself is pretty darn cool, too, with the Lyric pickup standard (I guess because of the adjustable bridge, but personally I think it sounds way better than the Element anyway) and some other interesting features. I wonder if it is straight-braced like the J-45s of that era? Very thin, straight braces. Now we have the thick, but scalloped, x-braces. I think they should offer a J-15 with the cherry sunburst, but I guess that might dilute the catalog or something. :)

Might need to figure out what the drop in replacements are and give some of these a try, to compensate for my lack of string changing ability if nothing else...

Seems like he is cutting the strings really short. Won't that cause breakage at the tuners, or is that not a problem with locking tuners? (I used to break strings constantly because I had them too short at the tuner. Now I wrap them around for about ten years... opposite issue... but no more breaks...)

Yes--it is not about the tuners! Just had a nice hour or so of solid, non-productive, very nice noodling with the Hummingbird. That feels better. Now for some yard work and some fiddling and OCD over strings and pins. :)

Just went on a long internet journey and found out Grovers are no longer made in the USA and haven't been for years. Woops. Kind of a shame that Gibson makes the J-15 in the USA from American wood with American labor and then puts import tuners on it.

Thanks--yeah, I hear ya! Well, tuners is something I would fiddle with in the future. I can do really simple stuff and reckon I could even remove an L.R. Baggs Element and replace it with a Lyric, pickguard... drop-in tuners... but that is about my limit. Heck, I am not even very good at string-changing, if I'm honest. Took me 10 years to realize I wasn't leaving enough to wrap around the tuning peg--since I figured that out, I don't break strings anymore, but I sure do get way too much string wrapped around the peghead... I'd love to make a living as a luthier, but I don't know if I am even biologically capable. :)

Yikes, this is one of those times where I leave a thread, get lots of replies, and then my OCD won't let me not reply to everything...! sorry! I will end up scaring everyone away from the topic. Yeah, it is fun! If I weren't so non-technical (anxiety even with something as simple as removing a pickguard and inability to swap tuners unless they are "drop-in" replacements), I'd probably be more handsy, depending upon the guitar. (My Hummingbird Vintage seems like it wants to stay just as it is.) I like the white border on the truss rod covers too! I absolutely love my Hummingbird truss rod cover. Has the white border and says HUMMINGBIRD on it. :) I wish they had one that said J-15. I have spent (wasted?) a whole lot of time fiddling around the internet, too, time I could have been playing my Hummingbird. I get obsessive about these things. I agree--I don't think swapping the nut/saddle will change the tone much, if at all--although now I worry I'll prefer the Tusq tone. Saddles are easy to change back, but I wouldn't know how to do nuts. But in the end, I seriously doubt I'll even notice the difference. I hope I get a chance to A/B a J-15 and J-45. I have played J-45s but never a J-15, and when you can play them both at the same time in the same room... Other than that, once I decide, I'm okay with not even playing the specific guitar first. Yeah, I'm scared I'm the same! I was totally gung-ho on my Martins, but I got this Hummingbird, and it's changed everything. And yes, my Hummingbird is fantastic! Every night I think I will make some recordings and swap strings and pins around, but then I end up just playing it instead and thinking how fantastic it sounds and how great it is. Do you want to talk J-15 vs. J-35?? I am totally game. :P I have not played a J-15, but I have played a J-35. Loved the neck very much. In general, I felt it was a little strident in the trebles (as is the J-29--I think it's the wider X and forward-shifting on the '30s bracing pattern vs. the standard bracing on the J-45 and J-15--technically the '30s bracing should be "better," and everyone raves about vintage bracing on Martins, but I think I prefer the standard both on Martins usually and on Gibsons). That could be settled down with different choices in strings, though. I do like the Gibson 80/20s (they sound fantastic on my Hummingbird); other folks really dislike them, but I dislike PB strings and usually don't even like 80/20. I had been thinking about maybe just getting some ivoroid buttons for the stock Grover Mini Rotomatics. I like the idea of the copper tulips, though! Were they a drop-in replacement? I am not capable otherwise. :) You live in the UK--you should do yourself a favor and get a Hiscox Pro-II-GAD dreadnought case. They're fantastic, extremely sturdy, lighter than the Gibson cases (which I agree are tanks), and they do not say "Gibson Guitar Inside--Please Steal Me!" the way the Gibson cases do. :) They are also dirt cheap in England. You should see what we pay for the things here in the US. It's fair enough, though, because I've seen the prices you guys pay for Martin and Gibson guitars in the UK... Yikes! I read that J-15 review on the internet. :) I think I've read about everything there is on the internet about the J-15. He seemed really confused by the maple neck. I guess he's never seen a J-200! I wish more outfits would have reviewed the J-15. It is tough deciding between the J-15 and J-45. I'm sure if I could play both side by side, the decision would be easier. I love the sunburst, too, but I also love the look of the J-15 a lot for some reason. Difficult!

We will have to compare notes! I am about 90% sure the J-15 is the one for me. I like its look, probably even more than the WM-45. I just can't help myself with the batwing pick guard. Do you still have the tusq nut and saddle? I guess I can always swap the saddle back if bone causes a loss of that great woody thumpy tone they seem to have. What did you swap the truss rod cover to? If the 2016 isn't too bold, I might leave it. I hate spending $10 for a plastic truss rod cover. :P

No warranty unless you live in the U.S.?? Does this mean if I moved to Canada, or the UK, my warranty would go bye-bye? That's kind of sad. I still think that with some TLC, a dog becomes a cat. Er, I mean, a fantastic guitar.

So I have scoured the internet about the J-15, particularly re: J-15 vs. J-45. I have found all kinds of weird opinions. I have come to the conclusion that the J-15 is great, that Gibson is losing money on them, and that they are every bit as good as a J-45, just different. (This is based on internet talk though, so who knows!) What really confuses me, is that people have gotten a J-15 and absolutely raved about it. One guy said it was the best guitar he's ever played and blew $4000 guitars out of the way. But then I look down at his signature, and it says, "J-15 (sold)". huh?? It's the best guitar he's ever played, and then a year later he's unloaded it? I saw (read) a few people who did that--raved and raved up and down about the J-15, but then it was either not in their signature or was listed in their signature as sold. I think I will like a J-15 very much, and I don't think I'll wish I had a J-45 instead. I think they're both awesome, and I think a J-15 will make a better sibling to my Hummingbird due to the walnut vs. mahogany (not that a J-45 wouldn't be fine too). If I thought a J-45 was flat out a better guitar, I'd just buy a J-45. But, I guess part of me is just scared I will be one of these people who raves it's the best guitar on the planet and then apparently decides I don't like it 6 months later. I think I have read almost everything there is on the entire internet about the J-15, by the way, and seen every YouTube video. :) I just wish I could find one to play, but I think I am safe buying it. (Another internet myth I've read a lot of is that Gibsons vary wildly from one to another and that some are "dogs" and some are "special." I don't think I buy any of that. Maybe in 1975, but not in 2015.) And if anyone wants to resurrect some more J-15 vs. J-45 talk, I'm totally up for that, too, but did not want to start another thread requesting it. But trust me, I have read them all, and I still want more. :)