Buc McMaster

on a guitar that old I wouldn't use anything on the finish but a damp cloth. The 20+ year old finish on my J-185 reacted badly to Virtuoso cleaner in an effort to clear some forearm haze.......old nitro can apparently be finicky. I have used plain old Gibson spray polish on it with no ill effects but it doesn't clear haze. Perhaps the fingerboard needs a bit of oil, perhaps not. Just be very cautious with that old finish.

Difficult to diagnose from your photos but something is certainly amiss........ From this photo I'd surmise that the top is bulged at and behind the bridge, which would indicate to me too much humidity.........but that's a lot of movement shown there. (Hard to say, really.......have no idea where the other end of the ruler is placed.) Have you checked the neck set? Ruler on the frets toward the bridge.........at what point does the end of the ruler contact the bridge? From this and previous photos I'd guess it strikes very near the bottom of the bridge, perhaps as bad as touching the top in front of the bridge.......nothing short of a neck reset will fix such an issue. It may well be salvageable but humidity adjustments alone are not likely the fix.

And there it is. Amen.

Recorded with the iPhone, some extraneous noise creeps in here that I cannot explain..........I admit to being technically challenged. An old lyric rediscovered about commitment........... I'm really enjoying the new guitar!

I've used Virtuoso in the past and been very impressed with it's ability to remove crud from nitro. However.............the newly acquired 185 had forearm haze that the V product would not remove and in fact made worse...........I can only guess that the 20+ year old nitro reacted badly to the cleaner. It doesn't appear gawd-awful but it's certainly worse than it was. Live and learn.

There's only one guitar that sports maltese crosses on the bridge..............J-185. It's my one-and-only, recently acquired, and after a couple weeks of readjusting to the acoustic guitar I proclaim this particular instrument a monster. It's loud, sonorous and is a fabulous player. I really got lucky with this one. Thanks for listening!

Yep........that worked. Did you have to use reducer bushings in the headstock?

Not possible to find a set of bean knob tuners that are a direct replacement for Grovers. All the bean-knobbed sets I've seen use press-in post bushings while Grovers are bolted into a much larger hole. And they have the little offset arm for the screw that is just plain ugly. If you really want to make this swap you'll need to remove the Grovers, plug the screw holes in the back of the headstock and use a set of oversize press-in bushings from StewMac...........they may or may not have the right size to fill the Grover post bore properly........might have to have the post bores plugged and re-drilled for the smaller post. It can be done but to be done right will take some skill and patience (which might be your long suite!)

Nice score! With a PAF tailpiece no less! Dry, barky voice of acoustic arch tops?

........and such is the case with the J-185. Spent last evening and all day today swapping pins and saddles, making various combinations of the two from a stash of three saddles, two pin sets and Retros and Sunbeam strings.. And after all that the guitar sounds best with the original bone saddle, original wooden pins and the monel Retros. It's always good to experiment to fine the best combination of parts that bring the best out of the instrument. As we say in fishing circles, ya don't know 'til ya go............I went......and now I'm back. Strum on, folks! 😎

Thanks, fellas. I do like the monels on this one.........it does sound warm and rich with these. Appreciate the listen.

Looks like a good example of the model. The finish issue you speak of is difficult to assess in the photo.............lifting? slight separation at the joint? Over the years the wood and the finish move with changes in temp and humidity and a little opening of the nitro at joints is something I would expect on an older instrument and not be much concerned with. As long as the joint is solid, no worries. The pins look to be either a little over-sized or improperly seated.......they're sitting a bit proud.........your first string change should tell the tale. Happy NGD!

There was no intention here to claim keystones are better than some other machine head.............just a change in cosmetics to personal preference. Grovers have been a big player for decades and are as good as anything else out there. They are heavy relative to keystones and often make an instrument head heavy which can make a guitar feel weird to some...........including me. Can't recall ever having a tuner fail on any guitar I've owned though I'm sure it happens.

A Google search for "J200 pick guard" returns a whole bunch of options..............some obviously cheap junk, others look quite good. These are probably the best available though they are expensive: J-200 Guards PS: the one you have can likely be removed, flattened and reinstalled.

How about a photo of that 12-fret AJ?

Well done, my man. You've got that country crooning down, sir............bravo!

I swapped the single-rings for a set of double ring Kluson keystones from ThroBack. Kept the original bushings and screws as there's no difference there. Just a cosmetic thing but I've always preferred the look of the double rings.....and black screws on the t-rod cover for a 'blacked-out' headstock. If I'm not mistaken the only Gibson acoustic that sported double rings from the factory was the J-160E in the early to late 60s. They were used on many electric models in the same time period. Also slapped on a set of Martin Retro monels and they do sound very good over the maple body. I liked them on a J-45 I used to own..........figured they're worth a listen on this one.

Well that's certainly the goal.........takes beaucoup repetitions to get there! Thanks, folks. I haven't been singing much at all for the last few years and it's a perishable skill..............use it or lose it........perhaps the confidence will return in time, perhaps not as physical limitations creep in. I am very pleased with the guitar. It's more than 20 years old and pretty much settled into what it's going to be..........feeling quite lucky that I landed this one. The t-rod needed about one full turn (over the course of a few days) to get the relief where I like it. The original bone saddle is about right as is but still I will experiment there. Waiting on a set of bone pins from Colosi to replace the wooden set..........I'm thinking this might brighten the guitar just a bit. For now it's strung with Mangan .012 hex core p-bronze but I have a set of DR Sunbeams (round core) for the new pin set. Patience, grasshopper. Thanks for listening............it's good to be back! (Sal............what's up with the name change?)

Those of a certain age will well remember the sounds of the 60s that came out of Berry Gordy's studio in Detroit. This particular tune, written by Smokey Robinson and recorded in 1967 by the Marvelettes, has always been a favorite of mine though it was not a major hit. Sorry.........no harmonica riffs and a rather sketchy vocal as I work toward better days with the J-185......and my voice. Guitar sounds better to me lately.........still some tweaking to do yet. And so, without further ado.............

Acoustic guitars are such individuals (as are players) it is near impossible to point out one as better than another without making an in-person, hands-on assessment. In general a red spruce top is considered an upgrade in top wood, as is thermally treated spruce. But these are not hard and fast rules and are very subjective. If you could sit with both and play them it should be easy to say one suits your style and ear better than the other but it can not be logically said that the Red Spruce Tri-Color is definitively the better instrument. Viva la difference!

So the bridge has been removed and re-glued twice, and apparently neither glue job held up for long. Looks like glue was not fully released at the corner when the bridge was pulled, taking a few chunks of the top with it. If true, this indicates the tech was not as careful as he/she should have been. Might be time to find a new tech............ I suppose the holes and divots in the top could be filled somehow........someone with serious skills could probably make the top structurally sound but cosmetically it will bear the scars of this adventure.

It's not obvious in the photos that the bridge was lifting, appearing more like some separation of the finish in front of the bridge. It seems quite odd that pieces of the top would come up with the bridge if the removal process was done properly. I've witnessed dozens of bridge removals on various makes and models of guitars and have never seen a top be damaged like that. In the first photo of the collage there is no evidence of top damage other than the apparent lifting of finish. But then in the photo in the center the top damage is obvious. What exactly was the sequence of events here? Is your tech Gibson authorized? If not I wouldn't expect any relief from Gibson on this issue. Either way, I do hope you get it sussed out to your satisfaction.

Lordy it's cold here on the coast! Whew! This old house from the early 20s is a bit drafty and not insulated so well........probably not insulated at all. Big leaky original windows and drafty doors......woooo! Suppose to warm to near 50 today.........the deep freeze is passing. Here's a short demo of the J-185, recorded on an iPhone so the audio is probably a bit sketchy. The speakers are blown on my laptop and the sound is kind of fuzzy on playback.........can't attest to the audio quality here, which is a sad fact since this is an audio demo. It is, however, obvious that the low end does not translate well here..........the bottom seems to be missing in this clip. The guitar came to me with wood bridge pins which I intend to change for bone soon. The saddle appears to be the bone original but being the tinkerer I am I'll be experimenting with others. I must say, having not played an acoustic instrument for close to three years, the transition from Telecaster to J-185 has proven to be daunting. Different scale, heavier strings, higher action.......different beast all together. It'll settle itself sooner or later................

Yes sir! Well written, well played and sublimely delivered! Great dynamics, pauses and hesitations, slurs.......masterful, sir. Nothing that can't be handled by grandson's guitar.