Another J 45 59 reissue

[passthej45]

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/J45THE59

[rbpicker]

Very tempting.

 

RB

[j45nick]

If, as represented in the description, this guitar has the same top bracing as the 1942 J-45, it actually doesn't have that much in common with a "real" 1959 J-45. Likewise, that description of the neck profile has little in common with a 1959 J-45 neck profile. It seems like they've slapped a late-50's pick guard, a block logo, and a somewhat different sunburst on a bog standard J-45, and called it a 1959 re-issue. It doesn't even have the 1959 1 11/16" nut width.

 

This is just another case of marketing BS. "As accurate as possible to the original"? They ain't foolin' nobody.

 

If you want a '59 J-45, go out and spend the four grand to buy a real one. The late 50's J-45's can be really nice guitars.

[zombywoof]

I love mid-to late J-45s and SJs. But what gives those guitars their voice is not the pickguard, logo or anything else that goes on the surface. It is the bracing.

 

Can't really explain why but I have a particular thing for Gibsons made in 1956.

[j45nick]

I love mid-to late J-45s and SJs. But what gives those guitars their voice is not the pickguard, logo or anything else that goes on the surface. It is the bracing.

 

Can't really explain why but I have a particular thing for Gibsons made in 1956.

 

 

For some reason, the switch to non-scalloped top bracing and slightly thicker back bracing in about 1955 definitely seems to have changed the tonal balance of the slope J's. Some of the 1955-1960 models seem to be really, really balanced and consistent in a way that some earlier ones are not.

 

But this "1959 re-issue" might be a disappointment to someone who really likes guitars from this period. It makes the J-45 TV seem "authentic" in comparison, and we all know that the particular combination of features on that guitar does not replicate any "real" vintage J-45. (I'm not criticizing the TV's as instruments: they're great, and a great value.)

[Red 333]

If, as represented in the description, this guitar has the same top bracing as the 1942 J-45, it actually doesn't have that much in common with a "real" 1959 J-45.

 

I wonder if that's not just a typo. The rest of the copy is pretty emphatic about it being carefully reproduced from a particular '59. Maybe they mean the bracing is "modfied" (a word they used a couple of times--presumably meaning "evolved from") the x-bracing used in the J-45, which premiered in 1942.

 

In any case, it's getting very hard to count on the specs as published on many internet sites, even the better ones. It doesn't seem like the are checked very carefully before publication for typos. It also seems like they reuse a lot of descriptions and specifications for expediency, but fail to completely update the or rewrite the descriptions accurately to make them reflect the attributes of a new model. I just got the latest Musician's Friend catalog, and it describes the J-45 True Vintage as being a completely accurate recreation of the 1942 J-45 (there's that guitar again!). Obviously, someone reused the description they had in the can for the Legend. Frustrating.

 

Red 333