RevDavidLee Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Well, you know as well as anyone, that some people just love to bash, anything new, or that doesn't meet their personal expectations. It was never advertised to be "archtop" or "carved" top, or "fully hollowbody," etc., etc. etc. It is, what it is! You'll know, when you get it, if it's something you're going to fancy, or not. And, of course, it's not a "Brydland!" Was never intended to be. But, with a great amp, some EQ'ing, and (more importantly) some great "chops," I dare say it will do as well as any similar guitar, regardless of genre. We WILL be interested, in your own "review," however. CB Thank you Sir! B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevDavidLee Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 That same "review" with the exact same wording has been posted on several sites - apparently by the same person. It's the only one I've ever seen like that. It's either a real guy who had a bad experience or found the guitar absolutely was not to his liking (fair enough), or it's total BS posted by a troll. Every other review has been positive. No need to be scared. I hear you. I was just surprised to see so much hate for this model after reading nothing but great reviews from everyone else. Besides there's a lot of seasoned players on here that tell it just like it is and I trust these folks to be straight up - whether it's good, bad or indifferent. One of the main reasons I like this place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 It's absolutely amazing to me that Gibson does not include some of the useful information that you've provided here, but instead provides a lot of useless information that is generally of no interest to guitar players. Info such as the type of glue they use, the peg head angle, the neck set angle - crap that nearly all guitar players have no interest in. Thanks, there was so little information -- no videos, no personal reviews, etc -- when I bought mine that I thought that kind of info would be handy to those still considering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Wow - just read this terrible review from some guy on Musicians Friend's website about this guitar from someone named DixieSundae from Charleston SC - here's that review: " Comments about Gibson Midtown Kalamazoo Semi-Hollow Electric Guitar: A scam by Gibson passing this off as a quality guitar. A nice looking headstock and nothing else. A piece of junk. Not at all like a Byrdland. It is not an archtop guitar, period. It does not have a carved top, and yes it is 11 pounds. The 60 year old other guy that reviewed this may be a bit light in the head. Returned it immediately, a great disappointment poorly constructed, cheap wood, very heavy and no acoustic tone. Cheap electronics. You get what you pay for....., if you're lucky....., sometimes...., not from Gibson though this time!" There was no other review on this that I could find so not sure what "60 year old other guy" is that they're referring to in this review. Also didn't know there were any out there weighing 11 pounds. The one I bought from Wildwood is 8.31 pounds and at the time I purchased it - it was their heaviest. I saw this review first on Amazon. There were two people that refuted it right away. It's so far off base I attempted to write a comment on his review as well, but since I bought mine at AMS it wouldn't accept it. I wanted to say: "True, sometimes you do get what you pay for, and sometimes you know what it is you're buying." This guy had no clue that Midtowns are solid wood guitars, based on the physical properties of mahogany his would have to be at the top end of the densest heaviest variety to come close to 11 pounds, most of the ones I've heard about are 8 pounds +-, the mahogany in mine has the stripes that are a sign of the highest tone grades (but an idiot would assume that the stripes are a sign it was cheap wood) and who buys a thinline humbucker guitar for its acoustic tone. That guy's review is full of crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 ...the mahogany in mine has the stripes that are a sign of the highest tone grades (but an idiot would assume that the stripes are a sign it was cheap wood) I've been around guitars an awfully long time and this "tone stripes" thing is a first for me! Care to elaborate? rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 I've been around guitars an awfully long time and this "tone stripes" thing is a first for me! Care to elaborate? rct I found it here: http://www.jemsite.com/jem/wood.htm Production notes: There are many different kinds of Mahogany, and unless it has a sparkle to it like some of the Japanese and US guitars it will have a similar sound from one piece to the next. A nicer piece of mahogany has an iridescence to it usually combined with what looks like wide stripes, almost as if it’s been pieced together by multiple 1” strips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 I found it here: http://www.jemsite.com/jem/wood.htm Beware my friend, snake oil comes in many types of jars. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 Beware my friend, snake oil comes in many types of jars. rct I looked the writer of the article up. If I found the right guy, he is a luthier that seems to know his stuff. Frank Falbo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rct Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 I'm sure he does. It's all dogma, it's all what you wish to believe. There has not ever been nor will there ever be a way to prove that any one look to a piece of mahogany makes better sounding guitars. The facts, the number of great sounding mahogany guitars there are is actually the best counter to such an idea. 66% of the great sounding mahogany guitars currently in my house do not have such "stripes", and the other 33% are lovingly slathered in car paint so you have no idea what makes them sound so great. And I can absolutely apply that to all of the great sounding mahogany guitars I've owned, gigged, bought, sold, traded, and wrecked in my life. Go with what you know, go with your experience, and go with what makes sense. I have nothing to sell you, I'm pretty sure that guy does, or works for someone that does. rct Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted December 23, 2013 Share Posted December 23, 2013 I'm sure he does. It's all dogma, it's all what you wish to believe. There has not ever been nor will there ever be a way to prove that any one look to a piece of mahogany makes better sounding guitars. The facts, the number of great sounding mahogany guitars there are is actually the best counter to such an idea. 66% of the great sounding mahogany guitars currently in my house do not have such "stripes", and the other 33% are lovingly slathered in car paint so you have no idea what makes them sound so great. And I can absolutely apply that to all of the great sounding mahogany guitars I've owned, gigged, bought, sold, traded, and wrecked in my life. Go with what you know, go with your experience, and go with what makes sense. I have nothing to sell you, I'm pretty sure that guy does, or works for someone that does. rct True enough. To be fair, he didn't mention tone, I came up with that association, he just said "A nicer piece of mahogany..." So he may have been referring to its similarity to true mahogany, no longer available commercially, which seems to have had the iridescent striped grain pattern. The statement fits my herd though. My more expensive guitars, and a cheaper one with great tone (an old Westbury Standard from the 70's) that do display the wood with a transparent finish do have stripes as he described. After reading it I went and checked them out. Can't tell with the ones "slathered in car paint" (I like that.) B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevDavidLee Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 IT'S HERE!!!! Wow!!! It wasn't supposed to be delivered until tomorrow! UPS delivering after dark and my poor baby's been out in the single digit cold temps all day riding around on a truck. I want to thank Wildwood Guitars for putting every piece of packing peanuts you can possibly fit into a box surrounding my new girl in her case. She was just born one month ago yesterday so I rushed her into my studio to warm up nice and slow before I take a zillion pictures and PLAY HER!!!!! She's drop dead gorgeous! Back later Correction: I read the date off the inspection card - my guitar was actually born at the Nashville Plant, TN, USA, November 4th, 2013, Production Number: 28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 She's drop dead gorgeous! I find them to be a very pretty guitar. The oddities due to the short scale just don't matter when you see them in person, IMO. Congrats on finally getting one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 IT'S HERE!!!! Wow!!! It wasn't supposed to be delivered until tomorrow! UPS delivering after dark and my poor baby's been out in the single digit cold temps all day riding around on a truck. I want to thank Wildwood Guitars for putting every piece of packing peanuts you can possibly fit into a box surrounding my new girl in her case. She was just born one month ago yesterday so I rushed her into my studio to warm up nice and slow before I take a zillion pictures and PLAY HER!!!!! She's drop dead gorgeous! Back later Correction: I read the date off the inspection card - my guitar was actually born at the Nashville Plant, TN, USA, November 4th, 2013, Production Number: 28 Come On, Now...David! You KNOW the rules....Photos, or it didn't happen! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevDavidLee Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 You want photos? Hell I wanted photos too cuz it meant the girl finally got here! Here's the photos: http://www.rivercityrockets.com/kalamazoo.html I'm not going to do a full on review just yet because I've only had her for the evening and it's after midnight here and I gotta go crash but... I LOVE THIS GUITAR!!!! I was just going to play it for a little while and ended up playing for 3 hours because it was just "perfect". The only amp I've run her through so far is a tweed Fender Blues Deluxe and it just kicked butt all over the place. Not only does the guitar sound wonderful clean, but also in grit mode for some hellish blues riffs and mayhem. Nice edge and great bite as well. Easily can cover rock & roll too. The fit and finish are wonderful and the neck is wonderful. The shorter scale while obvious does not affect playability whatsoever and I mean all the way to the top of the neck. Its sweet sounding, sweet playing and just a keeper in every way possible. That guy that wrote that negative review about it being "cheaply made" is just plain wrong. I looked at every square inch of this one trying to find something I did not like and there was nothing but excellence throughout the build. Lastly (for now) was how good the guitar sounded not plugged in. Nice chimey ringing acoustic tone with no amp told me before I plugged her in that this guitar was going to sound great and it does. I am very happy I bought this guitar! A special thanks to the guys at Wildwood too for being just awesome all the way around and for the excellent setup. I'm not changing the strings - she's perfect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 Looks Great...congratulations! CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 Nice photo set RevDavidLee. Looks like you got a winner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevDavidLee Posted December 24, 2013 Share Posted December 24, 2013 Thanks guys! I have spent the past 2 hours running this through a Top Hat Ambassador 35 amp and just now also hooked up a JHS Superbolt overdrive pedal - the sustain is superb! Even just with the amp the articulation and the notes ringing out are just wonderful. I've got to go play some more Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevDavidLee Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 After owning this guitar 4 days now, and having played it for over 12 hours at a minimum, I believe I have what I need to fully review the Gibson Midtown Kalamazoo. I am very thankful that I followed through and was able to reach out to Wildwood Guitars and capture truly one of the most intriguing of Gibson’s offerings this year (in my humble opinion) and as a decades long fan and user of Gibson guitars. They truly did capture many different guitars in this particular model. The initial concerns I had over a shorter scale guitar than I was used to were immediately dispersed the minute I started playing it. The multiple tonal platforms in the Kalamazoo enabling you to go from jazz, to blues, classic rock, and the absolute plus of dialing in the coil splitting capabilities of both pickups, also allowed me to add an acoustic voice to the mix are substantial and rare. The length of the guitar had nothing to do with the superb layering of voices available here or the notes available. This turned out to be the best purchase I made this year. I ran the Kalamazoo through a variety of amps: Fender Tweed Blues Deluxe, Top Hat Ambassador 35, Fender 65 Twin Reverb Reissue, Ampeg Reverbrocket and lastly, my Marshall Bluesbreaker. I could not find a bad sound. The Kalamazoo loved every amp I plugged her into which also makes it a stand out instrument. After focusing solely on the voices available through guitar/amp setups – I then ran her through a variety of guitar effects pedals as well including overdrives, delays, flangers, phasers, choruses and a few wahs – again the articulation of so many voices available from this guitar allowed me to easily dial in whichever effect I wanted to test out and make it sound lush, sweeping, haunting, shimmery and beautiful. I simply could not elicit a bad voice out of the Kalamazoo. Lastly, the fit and finish on the guitar were perfect in every way possible. I could not find any defects or finish flaws whatsoever and of course, thanks to Wildwood Guitars, the setup and action and intonation were perfect. I don’t have a bad thing to say about this model other than I wished I could have gotten it into my hands sooner. Thanks for reading! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vangoghsear Posted December 26, 2013 Share Posted December 26, 2013 You made some good observations RevDave. I also have run mine through a few different types of amps. I found it responds especially well to a Behringer AC112 hybrid amp I own, and a little SS DOD amp, as well as my tube Traynor YCV40WR. Through the Traynor it sounds great cranked on the drive channel and it really makes the Behringer and DOD amps sing when played clean. I didn't care for it as much through a Kustom Sienna acoustic amp, too sterile and a bit boomy, but even that can be made okay when using the coil tap setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kaiser Bill Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Rev... glad to see you finally got you Kalamazoo. I hope it brings you years of fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevDavidLee Posted December 29, 2013 Share Posted December 29, 2013 Thanks guys! I'm really enjoying it more each day. One of my band mates dropped by this afternoon and I let him play it for about 20 minutes and then I took it back and told him to buy his own. His comments were about how comfortable it was to play and how much he enjoyed the tone. I really hated to take it away from him but he just looked like he was enjoying himself just a little too much with my new girl. I was afraid he might drool. Hope everyone is enjoying theirs as well. Happy New Year to all of us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJS Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Glad you finally got one Rev! It's a shame you didn't have it 2 months ago! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BajaGhia Posted December 30, 2013 Share Posted December 30, 2013 Congratulations RevDave after your long tale of woe. I've been pretty much unable to put mine down too, they really play great don't they? Have you tried 10s on it yet? I was going to change out the 9s but decided I liked the way it played so much I'd stay with those. You said the same thing I saw on another forum, but when (if) you do try 10s post your impressions if you would. I didn't think I'd use the coil feature much but you know, damn!, you can really dial some awesome tones with that. Best 2u 2014. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctordub Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 Congratulations RevDave after your long tale of woe. I've been pretty much unable to put mine down too, they really play great don't they? Have you tried 10s on it yet? I was going to change out the 9s but decided I liked the way it played so much I'd stay with those. You said the same thing I saw on another forum, but when (if) you do try 10s post your impressions if you would. I didn't think I'd use the coil feature much but you know, damn!, you can really dial some awesome tones with that. Best 2u 2014. I have tried it with 11 flat wounds and it plays and feels excellent. I wanted to use 10 flat wounds but they were out of stock at my local music store. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doctordub Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 After owning this guitar 4 days now, and having played it for over 12 hours at a minimum, I believe I have what I need to fully review the Gibson Midtown Kalamazoo. I am very thankful that I followed through and was able to reach out to Wildwood Guitars and capture truly one of the most intriguing of Gibson’s offerings this year (in my humble opinion) and as a decades long fan and user of Gibson guitars. They truly did capture many different guitars in this particular model. The initial concerns I had over a shorter scale guitar than I was used to were immediately dispersed the minute I started playing it. The multiple tonal platforms in the Kalamazoo enabling you to go from jazz, to blues, classic rock, and the absolute plus of dialing in the coil splitting capabilities of both pickups, also allowed me to add an acoustic voice to the mix are substantial and rare. The length of the guitar had nothing to do with the superb layering of voices available here or the notes available. This turned out to be the best purchase I made this year. I ran the Kalamazoo through a variety of amps: Fender Tweed Blues Deluxe, Top Hat Ambassador 35, Fender 65 Twin Reverb Reissue, Ampeg Reverbrocket and lastly, my Marshall Bluesbreaker. I could not find a bad sound. The Kalamazoo loved every amp I plugged her into which also makes it a stand out instrument. After focusing solely on the voices available through guitar/amp setups – I then ran her through a variety of guitar effects pedals as well including overdrives, delays, flangers, phasers, choruses and a few wahs – again the articulation of so many voices available from this guitar allowed me to easily dial in whichever effect I wanted to test out and make it sound lush, sweeping, haunting, shimmery and beautiful. I simply could not elicit a bad voice out of the Kalamazoo. Lastly, the fit and finish on the guitar were perfect in every way possible. I could not find any defects or finish flaws whatsoever and of course, thanks to Wildwood Guitars, the setup and action and intonation were perfect. I don’t have a bad thing to say about this model other than I wished I could have gotten it into my hands sooner. Thanks for reading! Excellent review Rev, I did not have to wait as long as you did but I am happy my guitar arrived in flawless condition. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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