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Question about J-30


onewilyfool

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JC posted a clip of a J-30 just a couple days ago. I liked the tone but it didnt sound anything like a Bird. More like J-45 with a square body.

 

How is a J45 with a square body structurally and tonally different from a Bird?

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I used to own a Gibson Sheryl Crow dread based on her 1962 Country Western. It was a great guitar and I should have never sold her. It has often been called a bling-less Bird. I highly recommend the model if you want the sound and not necessarily the bling. here she is (was):

 

gib3.jpg

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J30 is and has always been long scale. From what I gather its a hummingbird without bling also the firebird is modeled after it and the firebird is a great guitar

 

Except that in Guth's brochure the J30 is marketed as a short-scale guitar. Of course the marketing department have been known to get things wrong, but scale length is usually accurately cited. So I'm guessing it was a short-scale instrument at some point. The Firebird, meanwhile, is long-scale and maple-backed, so will sound more like a Dove than a Hummingbird.

 

All the pics of J30s I've seen are very plain. The one in Guth's brochure really has a 'bird-like burst thing going on - it really looks like a Hummingbird Studio. Rather nice.

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Anything is possible for sure but I myself have never seen a shortscale j30. Possibly a special run ghrun did? Who knows. I'm no expert. They never caught on though kinda like the J60 which is an excellent guitar.

Both the J30 and the J60 are extremely underrated guitars.

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My J-30 was a 1991 Bozeman-made model and unlike the photo from the brochure, it featured the teardrop shaped sunburst. The scanned brochure predates the move to Bozeman when production was still based in Nashville (I believe?). I thought for sure that my '91 J-30 featured a short scale length, but who knows?

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