Silversurfer

Start by removing all the strings completely. If you just don’t want a UST under the saddle, remove the saddle and you see the Element UST. It’s a thin braided wire. Use toothpick or mini screw driver to lift it up. You can then just push the Element through its hole in the saddle slot, replace the saddle with a slightly taller one and just let the Element “hang” inside the guitar. The clips hold the rest of the wires, so it’s not going anywhere and if you ever want to put it back, just push it back up through the hole. If you want to take out the whole thing permanently, do the same as above, unscrew the endpin jack cover and remove the nut at the endpin jack. To remove the volume/tone control, push a razor blade to cut between the volume/ tone control and guitar - come at it from different angles and it’ll pop right off. Remove the battery and bag and if you want, remove the wiring clips. You’ll need a large oversized endpin to plug the hole. Bob Colossi makes a nice wood one. It requires a bit of sanding to fit, but it looks much better than the Stew Mac gizmo.

Love this. I could watch this all day long.

Rabs has covered most of the differences. If you include Epiphone, Gibson has a guitar for practically every budget - depends on what you’re willing to spend. Not sure where you are, but most large stores (including online retailers) have a return period. Take a guitar home, determine if you like it and if not, send it back. Some retailers, like Wildwood or Sweetwater post pics and weight of the actual guitar you’d be buying. You should figure out what you like before buying anything. Big necks, thin necks, hotter pickups, more vintage sounding pickups, finish colors, fret sizes, etc. Neck profiles and fret sizes are a very personal thing.

It’s real. It’s also a lower end Les Paul model. People making fakes try at least to make a Les Paul Classic. You can also email Gibson with the serial number and they’ll tell you what it is.

You’re a Gibson acoustic God. Teach me your ways…

NIIICE! Congrats!

Neck shape is a personal thing. You’re either going to like the bigger 50s neck, slimmer 60s neck, or you’ll prefer the standard. Aesthetics are secondary, but still important. Personally, I’m not a fan of the 50s pickguard. But it can be replaced. I went with the Standard, but made quite a few mods to make it perfect: tuners, saddle, pins, pickup. I am a firm believer that the Tusq saddle in a Standard should be replaced with bone and that removing the UST makes a noticeable difference in unplugged tone.

You’ll get different opinions on this, but I found removing the UST made a difference in my unplugged tone and once I heard it, I had a hard time going back. See if it makes any difference on your guitar. It may or may not.

Good for you. I’m with you; as long as the guitar sounds and plays right, I’ll gladly take a finish blemish if the price is right. Not sure what the cosmetic damage looks like, but I’ve gotten great results Meguiars Ultimate Compound on guitar blemishes - applied by hand, carefully and slowly.

If you’ve found a J-45 that’s right for you and the price is right, don’t the let the lack of a pickup change your mind. The Baggs Element UST that comes stock on many standard models currently is a good pickup in that it allows you to play at higher volumes without feedback. But the tone is typical UST piezo, with that annoying , zingy quack that doesn’t sound natural. Lots of good alternatives out there depending on your needs. I went with a Schatten HFN Active in my J-45 and I’m loving it so far.

I just put a Schatten HFN active in my J-45 and I love it.

I went with Waverly - expensive but worth it in my opinion.

Yup. If the guitar’s intonation is fine, no need for a compensated saddle. If not, it’s easy enough to replace the saddle with one that has a notch carved into it.

Your “ancient iPad in the woods” recording sounds great. I enjoyed the tune!

I had the same problem. Bought a guitar where the previous owner died of emphysema. Only thing that worked was leaving the guitar case open in strong sunlight whenever I could for a month. The UV rays are the only thing that will work. No cover up chemicals, coffee, baking soda, etc, will have the same effect.

CME is one of the better guitar shops in the country IMO. I wouldn’t expect a great deal from them, but their selection and service is top notch.

Jim Rolph is a pickup guru who has wound pickups for many famous guitarists and has been around since the '70's. He's known for producing some of the last accurate reproductions of PAFS and single coil pickups around. The '59 Pretenders aren't as underwound as his '57 or '58 pickups, but have that PAF midrangey vocal tone with just the right amount of bridge pickup sizzle. The pot and cap mods are more about taper than tone, although the RS Superpots tend to measure above 500K, so they can increase some brightness. I do believe that the bridge and tailpiece/studs mods significantly increased acoustic resonance and sustain. Tone is so subjective, so before you start making any mods, I'd recommend you take inventory of what you like about your current tone and what you'd like to change, as well as who's tone you really like. These mods work for me, but may not be for everyone.

I have a 2010 CS-336 that I picked up in a trade - I never even got to play it before I got it. Talk about reckless. Smartest move I ever made. It's got a '59 neck which is amazing and I never was a big neck guy. The previous owner had JM Rolph '59 Pretender pickups installed, which are ridiculously good in this guitar. I've also made a few other mods, just because I can't leave well enough alone: - Waverly tuners - Callaham steel ABR bridge - Pigtail lightweight aluminum tailpiece - Montreaux steel studs - RS Superpots - Mojotone Vitamin T caps ...oh, and gold knobs! I own a lot of guitars. The CS-336 is by far my favorite of them all. Anyone who doesn't play a 336 is missing out big time.