J 15 sweetwater demo

[JuanCarlosVejar]

Folks,

 

check out Jeremy demoing the J 15 :

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JC

[EuroAussie]

Very, very nice. Much prefer the warm rich tone of the J-15 to the J-35's Ive heard, would love to play one.

[57classic]

Yup, walnut makes for a nice tonewood and some of it is really beautiful too.

[BluesKing777]

If they sound as good in the flesh, we don't need to waste all the mahogany or rosewood any more.

 

Very nice.

 

 

What about some L-00 size in walnut?

 

 

BluesKing777.

[Cibby53]

I've had my J15 a couple months now and love it. I have played it almost every day and it is sounding better the more I play it and the harder I play it. Changed the saddle and pins to bone . Also using medium/light 80/20 Elixirs. It has a nice deep bass plus strong crystal clear trebles.. I've jammed with it at some bluegrass get togethers and was pleased how I never missed not playing my D28. To be truthful it has a better bass now than my D28 which is not a vintage model but a newer one. If you get a chance to play one you will be surprised.

[B1ues Boy]

I think 80/20 Elixirs are made for the Gibson sound

 

I keep going back and forth between wanting the J-45tv and the 35, 29, 15, modals

 

I'm thinking start off with the J-15 and in a year get the J-45tv or ????

[Slinky1]

I've had my J-15 for a couple of months now. I love it. I haven't done any modifications to it at all. Still using the light 80/20's that came on it. The guitar was only three weeks old when I got it. The fumes were crazy for a couple of days. The case has been open since I got it, and has aired out fine.

I love this guitar so much that it sits on a stand next to my favorite chair. None of my three dogs even look at it, except when I play it, then they want in my lap. Dang dogs!

The fit and finish is really good. It sounds good, feels good and looks good. I'm not normally a natural finish guy, but some how I've got a natural J-200 also. This is a really nice guitar.

[Working Mans Blue]

I think 80/20 Elixirs are made for the Gibson sound

 

I keep going back and forth between wanting the J-45tv and the 35, 29, 15, modals

 

I'm thinking start off with the J-15 and in a year get the J-45tv or ????

 

i think i agree, ive been trying ALOT of different strings and i keep coming back to john pearse 80/20s for my j45. I dont like them when i first put them on though, they sound much better after about a day and they mellow out.

 

i thought most people hated 80/20s

[MorrisrownSal]

What a great demo! It really highlights what most of us might expect to hear and experience when playing guitar. Although I would love to have Greg Koch's chops...

[mountainpicker]

I like the looks of the J-15 a lot. I did notice that the bridge on the one he is playing is a small rectangle while the close up shot is a belly bridge (and appears to be rosewood). I dig the maple neck more than I thought I would too. But since I already own a J-50 and a couple of other slope shoulder guitars I have to sit this one out.

[Danner]

Very nice, but, I don't love the walnut fret board. Wish they had used ebony (or baked maple).

[bobouz]

I did notice that the bridge on the one he is playing is a small rectangle while the close up shot is a belly bridge (and appears to be rosewood).

Yes, they did indeed goof on that shot with the belly bridge.

 

I too have to sing the praises of this guitar. Mine has a deep bottom end tone, coupled with an extremely clean top end - no tinnyness anywhere in sight. The neck on this one is rather slim & fits my hands very well. A definite keeper!

[DRC]

For those who have a J-15, it sounds good when played open but how does it sound when capoed...especially on the higher frets? Does it maintain tone and balance or does it thin out and lose tone/depth as I've experienced on many guitars? Often, the further up the neck you capo, the bass response becomes thin. I'm talking about up to the 7th or 8th frets. I wish the review videos would include using a capo at various positions! My J-35 sounds really good when capoed up to the 10th fret, and have been considering a J-15.

[JuanCarlosVejar]

Thanks folks,

 

 

I'm glad you like it.

I would love for them to do a high end guitar with walnut

 

 

 

 

 

JC

[blindboygrunt]

I like these guitars. Sounds good to me.

I wish they'd let the strings settle a bit though. Those are bright zingy strings.

[bill67]

To me the J-15 loses volume when you get to the 5 fret.Maybe its the shorter scale,I'm comparing it to a lot of other acoustic guitars I have .I wished it didn't lose but mine does anyway.

[DRC]

To me the J-15 loses volume when you get to the 5 fret.Maybe its the shorter scale,I'm comparing it to a lot of other acoustic guitars I have .I wished it didn't lose but mine does anyway.

Thanks. That's what I wanted to know. Playing Irish/Celtic in DADGAD, I spend most of my time on frets 5, 7, and 9 and the J-35's excellent volume stays the same no matter where I'm capoed, with great tone, balance and projection. Maybe I'll put the idea of a J-15 on the back burner. :)

 

DC

[bobouz]

To me the J-15 loses volume when you get to the 5 fret.Maybe its the shorter scale,I'm comparing it to a lot of other acoustic guitars I have .I wished it didn't lose but mine does anyway.

That's not the case with mine. Playing chords all the way up the neck, the output appears to remain even and projects strongly. What I cannot comment on is the guitar's tone with the use of a capo - haven't used one in many years.

[Country-Rocker]

This model has really good tone, in fact better tone than some of the more expensive guitars that I have played. It sounds like a J-200 with more bass. The J-15 is quite pretty to look at as well and some could easily mistake it for a rosewood back and sides. It is really quite elegant looking and the maple coloured neck adds a cool kind of effect to the looks of it.

 

It has a kind of Martin D-35 ringy chimey sound about it...love it, well done Gibson.

 

 

 

 

Freddie

[J-1854Me]

I finally had a chance to play a J-15 the other day, and I was waiting to be blown away. Perhaps the example I played was an anomaly, but I was not impressed: it sounded a bit thin and (dare I say?) 'Taylor-like' to my ears. For comparison, I pulled down a J-35 too, and it indeed sounded a little fuller and warmer to my ear.

 

So my first (and only!) play of a J-15 did not leave me needing to have it, despite the nice price and build quality.

 

Fred

[DRC]

I finally had a chance to play a J-15 the other day, and I was waiting to be blown away. Perhaps the example I played was an anomaly, but I was not impressed: it sounded a bit thin and (dare I say?) 'Taylor-like' to my ears. For comparison, I pulled down a J-35 too, and it indeed sounded a little fuller and warmer to my ear.

 

So my first (and only!) play of a J-15 did not leave me needing to have it, despite the nice price and build quality.

 

Fred

I own an excellent J-35 and though I have an interest in the J-15, have yet to play one, so called the Nashville GC earlier today and asked two of the guys I know there who are good players, what they thought of the J-15 compared to the J-35. They said they'd do a comparison and call me back. Like myself, they play in DADGAD and said they would tune them to DADGAD, and capo at various frets up the neck, as I do. I spoke with them this evening and without hesitation, said the same thing as you.... that the J-15 sounded thin in comparison and became worse as they capoed up the neck. From their comparison and playing two J-35s, they said both J-35s were the superior guitar in every way...more guts, better tone, balance, and volume...especially when capoed. Who knows, maybe that particular J-15 isn't one of the better ones - or the J-35s are like mine.... exceptional.

 

DC

[bobouz]

Just said basically the same thing regarding an electric on another thread:

 

One or two samples of any Gibson won't cut it. Play three or four, and then you'll have a much better idea of what you're dealing with.

 

Multiple times when being fortunate enough to have three or more examples of the same guitar to choose from, the variations have been significant, and one has almost always stood stunningly above the rest.

 

I pretty much expect to be underwhelmed by most guitars.

Pulling a gem out of the barrel is what fuels the quest!

[mountainpicker]

I'm not at all in the market for a new slope shoulder guitar since I now own three. All of mine are relatively newer instruments but I will add that the bass response in all of my guitars is the very last thing to develop and mature. I don't know about the capoing part but I'd have to conclude that it's very difficult to come to conclusions about how a slope shoulder style (especially) is going to sound even just a little down the road.

[Country-Rocker]

It doesn't sound like a Taylor to me. I think the maple neck adds a transparent sound to this guitar, thus giving it a lighter more airy kind of tone. It has that classic Gibby zingy maple tone, but it seems like maybe the walnut is adding some extra warm bass drive to it. In my opinion, it is just a more modern sounding J-45... maybe not as old school folky as the other slope shoulder models, but warm and driving in a different way. I thought the sustain was just right and that chording gave a very pleasing warm able to sing over easily sound.

 

This model doesn't seem to photograph all that well as it looks far more classy and uptown in person.

 

 

 

Freddie

[soao]

The San Jose GC now finally has all three. I liked every one of them. If the cost is not an issue, it's still hard to pick one out of the 3. I'd say the 35 is the thinner one. The 29 is the fuller one and the 15 is right in the middle; just like I hoped it would be. I don't know if the 3 have the same neck profile or not. I think the 15 played better and easier. I think I could line up 3 guitars of the same model and have the same subtle differences I found with the 15, 29 and 35. They are all very nice guitars. I didn't use a capo on either guitar.