Why is my 1980 Gibson J-40 Different?

[Agent 7777]

On 3/25/2014 at 1:17 PM, bobouz said:

On 3/25/2014 at 1:03 PM, blindboygrunt said:

 

So I am guessing the 3 piece Maple neck Gibson's will  be more responsive and bright- with clearer lows and higher trebles than the Mahogany Necks- which to me are warmer and richer in the Mids-  any other thoughts on this?

 

 

[E-minor7]

9 hours ago, Agent 7777 said:

 

I thought all Gibson acoustics were 24 3/4 " scale  nut to bridge saddle?  The guy a couple post sup is claiming they are all 25 1/2 " scale?  Maybe the Gibson Heritage  but I don;t thinkk any J-45 or J-50 is 25 1/2 " scale- Is this correct? I am not an expert 

The J-45/50s, the Hummingbird, both the slope- and square-shouldered Country Westerns and Southern Jumbos are 24,75. 

[bobouz]

12 hours ago, Agent 7777 said:

 

I thought all Gibson acoustics were 24 3/4 " scale  nut to bridge saddle?  The guy a couple post sup is claiming they are all 25 1/2 " scale?  Maybe the Gibson Heritage  but I don;t thinkk any J-45 or J-50 is 25 1/2 " scale- Is this correct? I am not an expert 

 

I’m “The guy” who posted that information over six years ago, and yes, it is accurate.  But the key qualifier regarding this info, is that it was taken from Gibson’s 1980 catalog.

Acoustically, the 1980 catalog includes the J-200, Dove, Heritage, Hummingbird, J-55, J-50, J-45, & J-40, and all had the same long 25.5” scale.  This was deep into the Norlin era of ownership, when many traditional Gibson guitar traits had been set aside.

The short 24.75” scale was found on many (not all) Gibson acoustics prior to the Norlin era, and later returned to the iconic models that had once featured it, including the J-45 and J-50.

[j45nick]

11 hours ago, bobouz said:

 

I’m “The guy” who posted that information over six years ago, and yes, it is accurate.  But the key qualifier regarding this info, is that it was taken from Gibson’s 1980 catalog.

Acoustically, the 1980 catalog includes the J-200, Dove, Heritage, Hummingbird, J-55, J-50, J-45, & J-40, and all had the same long 25.5” scale.  This was deep into the Norlin era of ownership, when many traditional Gibson guitar traits had been set aside.

The short 24.75” scale was found on many (not all) Gibson acoustics prior to the Norlin era, and later returned to the iconic models that had once featured it, including the J-45 and J-50.

To be clear, are we talking about the square dread years for the J-45 and J-50? Were any slope-J models (other than the AJ) ever built with a long scale? (I'm not sure about the first slope-Js back in the 1930s other than the AJ.)

[62burst]

The 1939 J-55 was long scale when initially introduced, and Gibson kept that long 25.5" scale for it's re-issue in the current lineup. 

While we're talking scale length, Gibson went back to the original scale length for the slope-shouldered guitars when things got going at Bozeman, but the Hummingbird was kept long scale until '97. 

[bobouz]

From the 1969 Gibson catalog, I copied the acoustic pages a long time ago.  Note that this was pre-Norlin-changes, so we’re talking belly-down adjustable bridges & heavier build characteristics - but still more in common with earlier Kalamazoo design compared to later double-X bracing efforts.  Anyway, the J-160E remained a slope-shoulder at that time, and it’s listed with a 25.5” scale. 

All the square-shoulders are 25.5”, including the Dove, Heritage, Hummingbird, Blue Ridge, Southern Jumbo, J-50, and J-45.

And very interestingly, the Everly Brothers model (with  slightly modified pickguards) is listed as having a 25.5” scale!  Earlier versions of course were short scale, so that’s something I’d never noticed.

Indeed, the very-late ‘60s included some rather odd transitional stuff!