Smurfbird Posted April 19, 2013 Posted April 19, 2013 Awhile back I visited the Colonie/ Albany Guitar Center (Wolf Rd -- for anyone local) and discussed here how I've never played a decent Gibson in a GC and that -- tongue half-in-cheek -- Gibson must save their players for their 5 star outlets. Well, yesterday I stopped in to kill a few hours and found myself left alone in the 'hi-class' acoustic room. Gibsons on site included a used 1937 archtop for a bit more than 1K that did nothing for me (I know nothing about the L series, so disregard my thoughts here). A 2011 Gibson AJ that sounded loud as heck. It had an Orange label but no Custom or anything. Not sure if it had electronics. Felt no volume wheel and was not listed in features. ($2600 or so) Burst a little to brown and no cool color. A 2013 J-45 that had a smaller sound but very good (mostly the cause of rusty old strings!), again burst was brown and missing the warm orange or yellow... ($2200) Hummingbird Pro -- not my cup of tea Keb Mo -- $2500 -- too wide a nut for me... L-OO -- $ ???? -- not great, not bad. The blonde J-200 was behind glass for $3060 or whatever it is... didn't bother... Most of other guitars in the room were cutaways, so of little interest to me. Four Larivees and one Breedlove (unusual since this room used to be solely Martin, Taylor and Gibson), none particularly inspired and one Larivee had a neck so wide I wondered who could handle it -- the Keb Mo was easier! No Taylor stood out, though I notice the one selling for $1500 played nicer than the higher end 814... Martin had problems with uncomfortable necks -- modified Vs I believe -, but the D-35 sounded nice and the one with too many letters for anyone to remember it, which I think was a Guitar Center exclusive, played nicely and sounded very good for a smaller body, parlor size. OK, I'm a terrible notetaker, but I can assure you they win no awards for keeping these guitars in good shape. Just about all the guitars could use TLC. Saddles were often wicked high and the smudges on all of them suggest the kids watching the place should be handed some polish. This, unfortunately, would interrupt their little games with one another at Guitar Center High School. That AJ was the nicest in the batch and it has me thinking a nice Orange Label AJ with electronics (if I ever get back out there, this would be the one to take) is something worth finding. A better burst a must, though.
Smurfbird Posted April 19, 2013 Author Posted April 19, 2013 I'm always tempted by every guitar I like. But I currently have beautiful guitars without electronics. It's been my mistake in the past to buy guitars that fulfill 60-80% of my mission! At least that's what I blame my always expanding collection on!
GotTheSilver Posted April 20, 2013 Posted April 20, 2013 I have a 2008 AJ, orange label, no electronics. Great guitar! I know what you mean about trying to resist guitars that are only 60-80% of what you want/need. I have been trying to do the same for a while now. Trying to hold out until I find a guitar that is really everything I want and will be a lifetime keeper. It can be hard to do!
davenumber2 Posted April 20, 2013 Posted April 20, 2013 Standard AJs don't come with electronics so you'd have to put in a pickup or buy a used one someone has already equipped with a pickup.
larryplatz Posted April 20, 2013 Posted April 20, 2013 I must be amazingly lucky. Last December I was about to pull the trigger on a used AJ for $1699 on GC's website when I noticed a "just listed" one at their Knoxville store for $1449.Called the store and found it was a 2008 model in very good condition. I jumped on it. With sales tax and a few bucks for shipping it was about $1550 total. And since you can return it to any store within 30 days for any reason for a full refund (minus the shipping which I think was 8 bucks) it was a no brainer, especially after the frustration of trying to find one on Ebay for a reasonable price that would be returnable if I didn't like it. When I received the AJ 3 days later it was amazingly clean, had new strings, and was set up better than any used guitar I've ever played. I added a B-Band active SBT ($119)myself. I'm almost embarrassed to admit that this is my favorite guitar, considering my other Gibsons are a 2011 Jackson Browne and a 1953 J50. At least it's good to know that some Guitar Center stores are still doing things the right way.
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.