New J-45

[phinegan]

Hi -

 

New to the forum, just brought home a NOS (2007) standard J-45 ' burst, and have few questions.

 

Generally speaking, do most folks go with light or medium strings on a J-45? - I'm pretty sure mine came with mediums, wondering what others prefer.

 

When transitioning from the regular scale to a short scale, is it common to go through a period of adjustment as far as strings buzzing, especially the low E? I have a pretty heavy attack, and before I go nuts getting the set-up changed, I wondering if I just need some time to get used to the reduced tension and shorter scale. The guitar was set-up pretty nicely at the shop, but after playing a while at home I realized I was getting some buzzing pretty often.

 

One other question - I've always understood that the strings should have a pretty good break angle over the saddle. The angle on both the E strings on my '45 is pretty shallow - it that a normal Gibson thing? It doesn't seem to be affecting the tone - the guitar sounds quite nice and neither of the E's seem dead or out of balance with the other strings.

 

Looking forward to hearing from some more experience Gibson heads!

 

Dan

[jgwoods]

I'm not a Gibson expert but I have played guitars, banjos, fiddles and mandolins for 40 years- and right now all of my instruments have low action from Winter weather. Soon I will he putting some of them in their cases with humidifier packs to givbe them a drink and raise up the action a bit.

 

Maybe your new Gibson is just getting the Winter blues and needs a little adjustment.

[guitarstrummer]

I use mediums on all of my J-45s. I think they sound better. I suspect jgwoods is correct about the winter-caused low action, especially if the guitar has been sitting in a store for a while. Many stores don't humidify their guitars properly. You may have a dry guitar.

 

Unless they changed the strings at the store, your guitar probably has lights on it. They come from the factory with Gibson Masterbuilt lights. You might trying putting a set of mediums on it and that should raise the action a bit too.

[Hoss]

My 2 cents--

 

'Break angle' isn't a Gibson or Martin or Whathaveyou thing--it's a guitar thing. There should be some break angle. (Perhaps the saddle has been trimmed down for lower action?)

I would generally go with medium strings on a J45. Of course, the one J45 that I own uses light strings. And that's just because the lights sound a lot better on this particular guitar.

Before I would get too obsessed with a string buzz, I'd play the guitar a lot to determine what/where/when the buzz occurs. It will help your tech correct the issue the better the info you can provide.

 

Enjoy that J45! They are great guitars. (IMO, the most versatile guitar gibson makes.)

[ajsc]

Congrats on a great guitar!!

[Taylor Player]

Do you play fingerstyle or strum. If you strum are you aggressive or have a light attack. I personally keep Elixir Medium/light Phospher Bronze Nano strings on my AJ and it works great for me but I play fingerstyle about 90% of the time. Heavier gauge strings will drive the top more and produce a better (to some) tone if you strum.

 

Got photos... we love to see new Gibby's!

[TWilson]

I have been using Elixer Nanoweb 80/20 Bronze lights on my '04 J-45 and I love the sound. Normally I've used D'Addario EJ-16's and also am quite fond of them. They are also lights.

[Space Pup]

congrats' on the new guitar. I use D'Addario EJ-16's on my J-45, but I got a 10 pack of Martin M540's for Christmas so I'll be giving those a try soon.

[TheLiveSoundGuy]

Congratulations Phinegan!

 

Welcome to the Forum.

[6stringTom]

I use Martin medium/lights (or is it light/mediums--the tweeners). I use the 80/20s. the phospher bronze sound metallic and twangy on this particular guitar.