CJ-165 Owners- What have you done to your guitar?

[sfden1]

I recently bought a NOS CJ-165 R for my wife. It sat in a store for a few years before we bought it. I'm thinking of changing the saddle to bone and am curious if anyone else here has done that with this guitar and if you thought it was an improvement or not. My experience with other guitars is that sometimes the standard tusq is what really works best, and sometimes the bone is an improvement. So tell me your experiences, good or not, and anything else you've changed..

 

Also curious what strings your using. Sandy's (my wife) CJ currently has Curt Mangan 12-54's. This is a warm string, and I'm not sure their the best choice to bring out all the rosewoody qualities of this particular guitar. Love em on my mahogany gits, but I'm not really a rosewood guy, so any suggestions appreciated.

Thanks for any feedback.

 

D.

[Jerry K]

I sanded down a standard sized graph tech tusq saddle and popped it in instead of the original. slightly better looking tusq that Gibson uses. Basically I was experimenting with a lower saddle but I managed to get it to the exact right height which I like, which is very low for playing jazz finger style, so I kept it in. Would probably buzz for some of you heavy strummers. It's becoming my fav just because the action is so freaking low and it's very sensitive to my style.

I still have the original Gibson Masterbuilt lights it came with. It's tempting to go medium light but the guitar is set up so beautifully right now that I don't dare change anything.

 

I may have tweaked the truss rod too come to think of it.

 

Would be interested to hear about the results if anyone put bone saddle in.

[nodehopper]

I have a CJ-165 in Maple. It is still my favorite guitar. I did swap out the saddle for a Fossilized Walrus Ivory Saddle and bone bridge pins. I will not mention the maker of said saddle and pins to save us from ..........

 

In my humble and personal opinion this did brighten the sound little bit. I think it gave the sound a little more clarity between the strings. I got pins with a 4mm abalone dot to match the abalone rosette so my decision was also based partially on the "bling" factor. It was a pleasant added bonus that I think it improved the tone of my CJ-165 also.

 

The effects of different saddle and pin materials can make for lots of fodder for discussion when you get a bunch of Guitar Weenies together. The good thing is you can buy and install saddles and pins and as long as you keep the originals in a safe place there is really no harm or foul in experimenting other than a bit of time and money.

 

Same can be said of strings. I use Martin SP 80/20 lights on most of my guitars. I like their sound and the last fairly well. I also like the bronze coating they add to the "B" and high "E" strings. Looks great. Again ...other than cost ....it can be fun to experiment with strings till you find the "Sound" you like best.

 

Just remember all this is very subjective. Opinions are like ******** ...everybody has one.

 

[ksdaddy]

I have an 07 RW. It sounds so tight and compressed I fear it will explode. It probably just needs to be played but I don't play any one guitar for long enough for them to loosen up. I haven't done a blessed thing to it except change the strings. I think it has D'Addario 12s on it, as that's the default set in this house unless dictated otherwise... (a few guitars have 13s).

[Thermionik]

nodehopper's description is spot on:

 

"..... this did brighten the sound little bit ..... a little more clarity between the strings."

 

More rigid bridge will give better sound transfer from string to sound-board.

More mass in bridge and pins will alter the resonances of the entire structure.

 

The guitar bridge acts like a spring at frequencies above a node (anti-resonance) and below a resonance, and it acts like a mass at frequencies above a resonance and below a node. Where these occur is an extremely complex function of the entire sound-board construction and the strings themselves, with significant contributions also from the neck, headstock and even how you hold the guitar.

 

Typical measured nodes are at 50Hz, 120Hz and 210Hz, resonances at 100Hz, 190Hz and 220Hz.

Further peaks and troughs occur through the entire audio spectrum, measured to 2kHz at least.

(Julius O Smith, Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA), Stanford University)

 

If ever you want to find out the likely direction the sound will go in with denser and thus heavier bridge and pins, tape a cent or a penny to the bridge and see how it effects the sound. I once made and fitted a brass intonated bridge and brass pins for an acoustic. Made it sound like a tinny banjo. And it looked horrible too. So I went from there to the same made of piano-key ivory with ebony pegs. Sounded better and looked great. I guess the luthier that designed the guitar knew what he was doing, probably why he didn't go for the mass and rigidity of brass.

[news36]

I bought my CJ rosewood, natural top a few months ago, I loved the sound of this guitar right away it stood out among others to me, but being an inveterate meddler I thought I would make it better with a bone saddle, I put a bone saddle on my mahogany Crow, and it really improved the sound. When the saddle came in the mail I installed it pretty much right away and discovered that now my CJ just sounded like a guitar...I went back to the Tusq and that unique tone re-appeared, I have been using Martin SP phospher bronze light-mediums, love them. I never liked the gold tuners on the CJ either, I got some chrome ones and when I went to install them a couple of the gold washers wouldn't budge so I left them in place rather than regret it later, then I put on some GoldBug tuner knobs, I think it works, the GoldBugs feel good too.

 

[sfden1]

Thanks for the response news36, that's just the kind of first hand experience I'm looking for. And wow, those tuner buttons are something else. I don't remember ever seeing those before. Very cool.

 

D.

[RandalE]

news36,

 

You said you got silver tuners to replace the gold tuners on your 165. Can I ask what silver tuners you got for your 165 and where you got them from? I am not real keen on the gold tuners myself. I do not want to fill and drill holes on this instrument so would prefer an exact match to the stock tuners, just in silver. Ivory colored or black buttons would be ideal.

 

Thanks much!

Randy

[asmith9509]

I have an 07 RW. It sounds so tight and compressed I fear it will explode. It probably just needs to be played but I don't play any one guitar for long enough for them to loosen up. I haven't done a blessed thing to it except change the strings. I think it has D'Addario 12s on it' date=' as that's the default set in this house unless dictated otherwise... (a few guitars have 13s).[/quote']

 

Have you tried lighter strings? Sometimes that can open up the tone quite a bit.

[nodehopper]

Since my last post on this thread...and since it came back up. I recently found a set of strings for this guitar that I think work very well.

 

They are the Elixer 11077 Nanoweb Light–Medium .012 .016 .024w .035w .045w .056w

 

As I posted in this thread before that I had swapped out the saddle for a Fossilized Walrus Ivory Saddle and bone bridge pins. This did give it a brighter tone and in the passing months I began to think it may be a little too bright. The Elixer strings to my ear and probably because of the coating are nearly as bright as the Martins strings I was using, although a little less harsh/metallic sounding. So I thought I would try the Elixers on it to smooth it out.

 

When I ordered my strings I ordered "Lights" and when I received them there was a mix up and I ended up getting "Light–Medium" Hey what the heck .....worth a try since it didn't seem worth the time and effort to mail them back to the online retailer.

 

Serendipity happens .....great set of strings for this guitar.....they sound bright with out harshness. (for me the Nanoweb seem to help me play cleaner with a little less squeak and buzz) BUT the heavier gauge bottom end strings really bring out some extra bass. I play a lot of fingerstyle blues and these strings really give the alternating bass a good thump'n sound.

 

I have looked and don't see any other makers who put together a string set like this. If anyone knows of a brand with the same or similar string gauges ...please let me know as I would like to try any other brands who do a similar set.

[Jerry K]

I tried John Pearse New Medium phosphor bronze on my maple 165 (.013, .017, .024, .032, .042, .055), slightly different mix than those elixirs (heavier on strings 1 and 2). They work great. I am tempted to go medium.

[TWilson]

I just put a set of D'Addario EJ-19's on my SJ-200. The big E, A, and D are med. and the others are lights. I believe Martin Bluegrass strings are like that also. The EJ-19's sound great by the way.

[drathbun]

Thanks so very much! Now I have to order some of those engraved Gold Bug tuner button!

[nodehopper]

I just put a set of D'Addario EJ-19's on my SJ-200. The big E' date=' A, and D are med. and the others are lights. I believe Martin Bluegrass strings are like that also. The EJ-19's sound great by the way.[/quote']

 

Great find....that looks like the type of string gauges that I want to try out and I hadn't found the D'Addario EJ-19's in my research.

 

Gonna have to order a set or two and give them a try. For finger style blues on a smaller body guitar the standard light trebles and heavier bass strings just seem to make sense and sound good for my style of playing. Great for bending those melody notes while giving great thump'n bass sound .......I am surprised there aren't more of these sets on the market.

 

Thanks again TWilson !!

[TWilson]

nodehopper-Thank John Lee Walker. I had a set sitting around here for several months and kept skipping over them when I changed strings. I didn't know if I wanted them on my J-45 or Big Bertha (SJ-200). John Lee put a set on his SJ-200 mc and liked them so that convinced me to give them a go. That and some beer induced heavy strumming one night that snapped a G string and thus the string change was born! I'm pretty sure you'll like them.