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docr

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  1. Question to the experts - which strings did. Gibson use for the SJ-100 1941 model? My guitar was built in 2013. Light or medium strings? I have Gibson Light Phosphor Bronze in the SJ at the moment but it feels as if mediums could work, too.
  2. I have my Dove for quite a long time now and have played it mostly without plugging into an amp or DI-box. The setup of the strings was rather low for my opinion, but it was very easy to play, nothing buzzing or making other noise - so everything was fine and acoustically I did not hear the effect which caused me more grey hait than I already have. The Dove was plugged in an X32 mixer by a Palmer acoustic pocket amp for a rehearsal with my band. Playing around I found that the high e-string was significantly quieter than the other strings. Checking with the level meter of the mixer it was clear that there have been missing some db level from the e-string. Ok - what could be the root cause? Lower string tension of the thinnest string, lower string angle of the string coming out of the bridge, especially as the Dove bridge is rather thick? At the end of the day I removed the saddle and started preparing a new GrapchTec saddle for Gibson applications. After some minutes of grinding of the new saddle I put the old one on a very flat surface and I saw that the lower side of the original saddle (don not know if this setup was still from Gibson or from the store where I have bought the Dove) was not plane - it makes a curve in direction of the lower e-string. Therefore it did not put enought pressure on the VTC piezo element which was placed perfectly in the slot. I have never seen a "curved" saddle surfece of the side touching the piezo in any Gibson acoustic before, but this are "lessons learned". I am glad that this was the reason which could be fixed easily. I have prepared the new saddle slightly higher and of course with a precisely plane side to the piezo and now the signal from the high e-string is here. Did you ever make similar experiences? Piezos are a little tricky and I expect the fans og Sound hole pickups will confirm this.
  3. The latest purchase is mostly my favorite - until the next purchase follows. Gibson SJ-100 1941 reissue, serial number says it was built in 2013, new guitar from the showroom of Just Music Berlin. I am still waiting for the guitar, it is somewhere on the road. Pictures will follow as soon as I can manage to clear my storage space here in the forum. My intention was to buy the J45 Big Leaf Maple which was hanging next to the SJ100 - a very fine Instrument, too, but the SJ-100 was more interesting at the end. The sales person and the luthier in the store who did a last check and neck setup in my presence both mentioned that it was one of the best guitars in the showroom and liked to play it. And now I have to wait ...
  4. I tried a J45 big leaf maple today in a store in Berlin. Nice sound, string setup quite high, but could be fixed. The flubby pickguard is Lifting at the edges as usual -it is an instrument from 2017. Very rich sound but my maple AJ custom sounds still a litte better for me and the AJ looks better as a full maple guitar for me- but this is just my opinion, a J45 is sunburst ... I would have bought the maple J45 if I would not have the AJ. And I left with a new old stock J 100 1941 from 2013. Was hanging next to the J45 in the showroom. It has the simple bridge, mahagony back and sides and sounds great! Total different to my SJ200, much louder and it has more dynamic. Jinder, there is a older thread from you about your J100. Do you still play it?
  5. That‘ s absolutely clear, I am in the lucky situation that I have two stores selling Gibson acoustics in about 150km distance. No idea why Gibson sales ignores Austria - at least the big cities, I‘m working for an Austrian company and have some ‚Guitar talks‘ with colleagues, but this is not only a Gibson thing. A lot of local, smaller music stores lost their Gibson business years ago and the market for guitars in this price segment is limited. Have fun with your new guitar and do not be surprised if some ‚toga‘ contributions appear. I found a rare Gibson acoustic today in Berlin ... but this will be a new thread - or an old one from Jinder continued
  6. A nice guitar and I‘m shure it plays and sounds good, but maybe there will be some comments why to switch the guitar brand ... ☹️
  7. That´s a real shame! Even high-end amps have quality problems. But - the Compact XL looks nice, 4 kg less weight, but only two channels - and about 1.000 Euro less money. It is interesting that the Compact XL is louder as it has only one 8" speaker. I can understand that you do not want to wait weeks for a repair especially in this price range. Had a smiliar problem some months ago - the brandnew Fender 62 Princeton Chris Stapleton I have bought worked for 5 minutes at home (have tested in the thomann store, everything was working there). The rectifier tube was dead or the power supply of the heater of the rectifier tube. Furtunately thomann had a second one and replaced the Princeton, the new one is working perfect. Powered Speakers - there are so many on the market, if you spend as much money as the AER costs you should get high quality boxes - but mostly a small mixer is necessary. Good luck with the Compact XL!
  8. billroy, I took the prices from the "thomann" Website (www.thomann.de --> there is an English Version to choose), Thomann is the biggest internet store for instruments and equipment in Germany and maybe in Europe with 1.560 employees at the moment, they have a huge store close to the City of Bamberg which I am visiting from time to time - and always come home with new gear ... you know how things go . Back to the amp. The most expensive acoustic amp you find there is the Domino 3 for 2.799 Euro - which is a little more than a new J45 Standard costs in Germany at the moment. AERs cost always more than other acoustic amps (maybe Henriksen is in the same range, but very difficult to buy in Europe), but you see AERs typically together with professionell musicians who need a high grade tool or with amateuer guys who have enough money for a L5 just to play it in some Jazz Jam Sessions. The next "cheaper" acoustic amp in thomann´s list is the L.R.Baggs Synapse - I never had the Chance to see or hear one in reality - it costs 2.399 Euro, followed by the MESA BOOGIE Rosette 300 Two Eight - Jinder has described his experience with I think another version of the Rosette 300 - it costs 1.999 EURO. There is not much choice in this price range, next is AER Domino 2.A with 2x 60 Watts insdead of 2x 100 Watts for 1.799 EURO and the 10" Version of the MESA BOOGIE Rosette - 1.758 EURO. Leaving the AER - MESA BOOGIE field to lower Prices leads to the first Schertler amp - which was mentioned somewhere in this thread. Schertler from Switzerland has an excellent reputation and they build fine things like modular, complete anlog mixers or acoustic amps. The Schertler Roy with 400 Watts and two 8" Speakers costs 1.699 Euro. The next 4 acoustic amps are different AER versions - down to 1.249 Euro. So it is hard to say what could be equivalent as my knowledge of acoustic amps is of course limited. But with the exception of switiching to active PA boxes or "column"-PAs like the BOSE or other typical constructions I have seen nothing with 4 channels and the high power Output of the Domino. One of our Jazz Session L5-pickers even uses a Domino with an effect board for electric guitars if he wants to play other styles than the typicall Wes Montgomery style. I want to hand over the question to other forum members - I am shure there are high end acoustic amps existing which are not known here. Doc
  9. Jinder, Thank you for your report. The Domino 3 is a quite expensive acquisition, is the equivalent value of a nice Gibson acoustic guitar. It should be reliable, at least I have not heard any complaints from the Jazz guitar pickers mentioned above. Doc
  10. Any decisions made? New J45 or the nice Antiquity?
  11. I can imagine why they have your attention! The Bigsby Paula is cool! Do you really use it or is it Just for optical Tessins? Background: my lead guitarist of my Bluesrock band has a Tele modified with a Bigsby - cool look, toi - and is now searching where to use it. 😉
  12. Jinder, I wish you all the best for the Gig and let us know how the Domino worked. But I‘m shure it will ...
  13. The 300$ guitar can be made of plyood and have a construction which does not resonate as good as your Songwriter. I am plugging in my Gibson acoustics if necessary - typically sessions and open staged where I cannot pick them up with a microphone but I don not like the sound very much, even if the pickup Systems Gibson is using is state of the art. Plugging in costs sound for 2.000 € for my ears. Most of the guitars work well on a PA (loudness level not too high, drumset is not on the PA, electric bass mostly played over an own amp). My experience is that the smaller body Gibsons are easier to handle - not very surprising. The worst problem makes a SJ200 AN with an Anthem pickup, very sensitve at low frequencies + A-string wants to "explode" it you do not take care. Had this topic in this forum and got helpful hints which improved the situation. At the end of the day I bought a small PALMER acoustic-preamp with a notch filter and it works.
  14. Interesting that sometimes AER amps are mentioned. I know them mostly from Jazz Sessions, cause most of the "furniture guitar" players (... ES175, L5, ...) appeared with AERs from the 60 to Domino - and they are LOUD with the AERs. But of course they are not using it for vocals. I know one Henriksen (this is a nice small amp), there is only one source in Germany. And I do not like AERs in the sessions as I am a die-hard Telecaster picker if I am using electric axes. The AERs sound very thin with a tele - as the L5-pickers always take all low frequencies out by the EQ to avoid destruction of the loacation by the mighty signal they get from their boxes. Furtunately some of them switched to Fender tube amps in the last years. Hughes & Kettner builds acoustic amps which should be quite good - at least following the reviews in guitar magazines. Schertler is always a topic. I have an ACUS One 8 with the small "mixer" on the top for some weeks as I have tested the small Fishmann at the thomann store and needed something with more power. The ACUS design is quite stark and the amp is rather heavy an not too small, but it works for my Gibson acoustics. I have checked one of the cannels with a SM58 - it works, but a real PA-Box sounds better. So good enough for small sessions but not the thing Jinder is looking for.
  15. Nothing new to show - the Maple AJ Custom is in my collection for some weeks now. And db Flexsys FM10 floor monitors and an ACUS one 8 acoustic amplifier are useful but not spectacular. Wainting which treasures will appear in this thread ....
  16. - From my personal experience with Gibson acoustics the "rough, White" appearance at the fretboard is no problem, had it on some guitars and mostly could be removed with the Gibson guitar polish. - I have never played a J45 vintage model but they look cool and maybe sound a little different to the standard versions. I have a 2016 standard J45 - bought as "B-Stock" from thomann for a very good price and I like it. No idea why it was given back and sold cheaper, maybe the buyer expected something else. Always wanted to own a J45 and a D28 - so I had a J45 and I am playing it a lot. The new version has a fine L.R.Baggs VTC pickup system included and I used it for several sessions, so this could be an argument for a standard version. If you do not like any under saddle pickups - switch to the vintage one. - The only Thing I do not on my J45 is the "flubby" pickguard which always wants to separate from the guitar, maybe it does not like nitro coatings. Got it re-glued some weeks ago. Maybe the Antiquity has a thin pickguard as J35s. - The Pictures of the J435 antiquity show a clean Instrument. I am shure the experts in this Forum - which I like a lot - can say something to the bridge Pins. - I know about the situation of guitar stores in Austria - I am living in Bavaria. Thomann has some Gibsons in theis (locked) showroom for luxury guitars, but Treppendorf is quite far away from Austria, whereever you live there. Another source is BTM guitars in Nuernberg - check their website. A lot of guitar enthusiasts are working there and they have an own luthier working in the store. Of course thomann, Musicstore and the other big ones can offer service anyhow. Just Music Berlin is another good source, too. I have bought some Gibson acoustics "un-tested" by the Internet and had no problems up to now. So - what will be your decision?
  17. Thank you for the answer. The only Information I could find are 3 Videos - two with Greg and another one from Session Music. Maybe I can test one in the next time, but I had the same idea - would it be a supplement to the maple AJ or just a very similar sounding guitar? I have a 2016 Standard J45 and it is clear that the maple version will be different.
  18. Jinder, Did you ever get an answer to your question? I am just curious if a maple J45 could be of the same Quality of my - or our - maple AJs? Yes I know, the Topic is a Little older ... Doc
  19. In principle a good Approach from Gibson, the new design of the string bags looks nice. A problem for me - - I do not like any coated strings. Even if the differences in the "feeling" of coated strings gets better and better they make no sense for me as I have very dry hands and I have no Advantage of the longer lifetime of coated strings as they get dents of the frets in the "campfire positions" and have to be changed because they are mechinally "dead". - I am using Gibson Phosphor Bronze and 80/20 strings on my Gibsons, 80/20 more on mahogany instruments, Phospor Bronze on maple bodies. If the 80/20 strings would be stopped would be a loss for me. Anyhow - I still hope that Gibson will add uncoated strings and 80/20 strings to their product line. By the way - did anybody try strings from Pyramid? they have a round core, no "hex" core. I have heard that this can lead to handling problems by cutting the strings at the tuning pegs.
  20. When I´m back home: - Fairground Attraction - "Perfect" - Willin´, Comfortably Numb, You´ve Got A Friend and "Walkin In Memphis" which does not work in the band. We have a very good piano player, but Marc Cohn built in some tricky syncopated parts where the "1" shifts to "4+" or vice versa and it is hard to catch the singer and the drummer, even if this song sounds correct if you play it alone on guitar. Needed the songs for a jam session / open stage. Guitars: Maple AJ, Humminbird and a D28
  21. Any news concerning this topic? As I have no good feeling and experience in uploading photos to external storage sites and cannot delete my attachments here I have no chance to show new pictures ..... Thank you for any hint.
  22. Does anybody know if Heartworn Highways has been published on DVD with a country code working in Europe or even better Germany? Does a BluRay Version exist?
  23. Guth, Thank you for the information! Will stay at 12ths at the moment as the maple AJ is playing so comfortably. My Martins with 13s and a typical higher action are hard to play compared to the AJ. As you are using 13s for 7 years on your AJ I will trust in the stability of these instruments. I like maple ... the number of maple Gibsons in my stable is higher than the mahogany versions at the moment. I have no rosewood Gibsons as the rosewood AJ I have tested sounded too close to my D35. It is interesting to hear the differences between the maple guitars. I am enjoying my maple AJ more and more - it is one of the easiest to play and best sounding guitars I have. As I wrote above, it is getting better and better while playing, no idea what happend to it in the last 3 years and during the shipping. I take it out of the case in every free minute. Have more time as we have a long weekend due to Pentecost holiday on Monday. So more hours for the guitar. And intersting to compare it to the at least optical "little sister" J-35 - ok, they are different anyhow. The funny thing about the maple AJ is that guitars of the 65 pieces series Jinder has mentioned is that they have obviously been spread all over world and I found the "new old stock" by success in the store in Berlin - same where I found a red spruce J-185 some months ago. In Germany you can find the standard Gibson acoustic models at about 10 shops, some of them "5 Star Dealers", but no special instruments like AJs.
  24. Jinder, Thank you again for this Information. The maple AJ is my only Gisbon which gives a strange Feeling as if 12s or too thin ... difficult to describe. I do not have this feeling with SJ 200s or my Dove. Ok, my Martins have 13s mounted, but this is another topic. The AJ needs some playing, it was played in the store due to the small traces on the guitar, but not regularly. So I am expecting further sound improvement. Doc
  25. Had the chance to play the guitar last night. Yes, a fine instrument! Even use of a capo works (the famous "Here Comes The Sun" Position or 3rd/4th fret Bluegrass licks). Single notes are coming precisely and clear, strumming sounds good, too. The setup is very good for me, just started playing. The first Impression after opening the case was - they packed a J35 by mistake, they look similar, but of course not the neck. I could no verify the stories about "AJ ist the loudest guitar of the world" - my HD28 and my SJ 200 AN are still louder - if loundness is a criterion . It has a good volume, that´s ok for me, have not to fight with a Banjo in the band. I compared the maple AJ with my Dove. The only difference is the "slope" oder "square" shoulder and the wood of the neck, but they sound totally differnt. The Dove has much more low end than the AJ (both Gibson 12 to 53 strings). The dove is even heavier. Jinder - you wrote that you gave 013s on the AJ - any problems with the small bridge caused by this? I would like to try it after the first string set is done, but is the AJ really robust enough?
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