rocket launcher Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Good morning friends, I recently picked up a 2003 Gibson J-150 from a local retiring musician. Overall it's a wonderful guitar, well broken in and for the most part sounds and plays really well. My 16 yo daughter is starting to play live more often, picking up small gigs here and there, and playing more local open mics. So I am upgrading her "stage" guitars a bit so that she will have nice "practice" guitars and "performing" guitars. That way I know the strings and batteries will always be fresh(er) when it's time to pack up the gear and head to the next gig. I buy guitars used often and generally give them a break in period before I start piddling with them. After playing this J-150 for a while, I am still experimenting with strings, found the pickguard to be lifting, have a buzz on the open D string, and found a couple of frets that may have to be replaced. No biggie for the local tech I take our guitars to for set up. Yesterday was the first time my daughter used the J-150 live (see pic below) so I had a chance to see how it sounded plugged right into the PA we use (Crate 1200w). Overall it was just ok, not the big Gibson sound I was hoping for. Compared to the Martin GPCPA5 with modern Fishman electronics, the cheap Martin blew it away soundwise (amplified). So here is what I am thinking, replace the saddle/pins with bone from Colosi (maybe nut as well). Upgrade the pickup to a K&K Pure Mini with Pre-Phase preamp. And stop there. The neck set is fine and my daughter uses a capo most of the time so she won't notice the work frets. I think these mods will make it one nice stage guitar with lots of wonderful sound and character! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duluthdan Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 New nut will likely address the D string issue. What sort of pickup does it currently have? My instinct would point to getting a bigger sound with an under-bridge system - the K&K perhaps, or the Trance Audio Mono. I have the Trance in my SJ, and can't imagine that it wouldn't be fabulous in the J 150. If I had any guts I'd install one in my J 200, but at this point I don't often (ever) have to plug that one in. Could you grab a bit more of that 150 volume if you also floated an extra microphone out front of the guitar? Not always convenient, but it might give you a bit more of that Maple ring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket launcher Posted May 11, 2014 Author Share Posted May 11, 2014 New nut will likely address the D string issue. What sort of pickup does it currently have? My instinct would point to getting a bigger sound with an under-bridge system - the K&K perhaps, or the Trance Audio Mono. I have the Trance in my SJ, and can't imagine that it wouldn't be fabulous in the J 150. If I had any guts I'd install one in my J 200, but at this point I don't often (ever) have to plug that one in. Could you grab a bit more of that 150 volume if you also floated an extra microphone out front of the guitar? Not always convenient, but it might give you a bit more of that Maple ring. Thanks for teh heads up on the Trance! It looks like a solid product. I just need to find someone here in Houston that can install it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 Nice guitar. On my own J-150, when I went to bone pins it seemed to take the depth out of the sound. Subjective, I know and the guitar was new those years ago. I went back to the plastic and have never bothered to experiment since. The bone ones are still in the case to this day. Never have used the pickup enough to have an opinon on it. I like the unbound neck. Looks like you have found a fine guitar for your daughter. Good luck with the J-150. Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 The Trance audio company is in Californna, if you contact them, they may know someone who could install it in your area. What kind of music does your Daughter play? That guitar is not too big for her, size wise is it? Comfortable for her to play?Those are pretty deep and wide bodies. I had a J-200, and it felt big even for me. I just like the comfort of the J-45 size. Cudos for her getting up in public and playing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket launcher Posted May 11, 2014 Author Share Posted May 11, 2014 The Trance audio company is in Californna, if you contact them, they may know someone who could install it in your area. What kind of music does your Daughter play? That guitar is not too big for her, size wise is it? Comfortable for her to play?Those are pretty deep and wide bodies. I had a J-200, and it felt big even for me. I just like the comfort of the J-45 size. Cudos for her getting up in public and playing! I sent the Trance folks an e-mail, hopefully they can point me in the right direction for a local installer. Several people have asked me about the J-150 being too big for my daughter. Thanks to living in a humid climate, all of our guitars are hung on the walls of our house. So no matter what room you are in there is a guitar close by. My daughter plys on all of them often. Most of our guitars are larger dreads (Hummingbird, Taylor 210, jumbo style (Taylor 616, 528), with a few performance style guitars tossed in (Gibson CL-20, Martin GPCPA5, Yamaha CPX700). So this J-150 does not feel all that large to her and she likes the impression it gives when she is on stage. Her favorite place to be is in front of an audience singing and playing. She would do it every night if I would let her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I think I can give you some insight as Ive got the an almost identical 2002 J-150 and have been using it a lot recently when gigging. My set up is similar to your daughters, basically through a standard portable PA (Yamaha stagepass). In the past I used my Hummingbird TV as my main gigging guitar. All my gigging guitars have the same set up which inludes a Fishman Matrix Infinity pickup running through an Aura Spectrum DI. The tone with this set up is normally oustanding but the J-150 to me was a bit brash and metallic at higher volume. Then I realised that I had to the wrong setting for this guitar on the Aura spectrum. Once I changed it the tone was 100% better and I was would say it might be even sronger than the Hummingbird. I did also install bone pins and saddle and found the tone became warmer and very balanced, definitely a recommendation. So, overall do the bone adjustment and also consider the matrix infinity pup if the Trance Amulet is a bit too pricey. Here's us playing literally this Friday night from a regular bar we play, myself with the J-150. Just a wonderful, wonderful guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I have that Trance Mono on my Pure voice J-45 and it is a GREAT pickup. Easy to install, so any local installer can do it…..comes with a template….fool proof Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted May 11, 2014 Share Posted May 11, 2014 I sent the Trance folks an e-mail, hopefully they can point me in the right direction for a local installer. Several people have asked me about the J-150 being too big for my daughter. Thanks to living in a humid climate, all of our guitars are hung on the walls of our house. So no matter what room you are in there is a guitar close by. My daughter plys on all of them often. Most of our guitars are larger dreads (Hummingbird, Taylor 210, jumbo style (Taylor 616, 528), with a few performance style guitars tossed in (Gibson CL-20, Martin GPCPA5, Yamaha CPX700). So this J-150 does not feel all that large to her and she likes the impression it gives when she is on stage. Her favorite place to be is in front of an audience singing and playing. She would do it every night if I would let her. Has she ever tried that Emmilou Harris L-200? http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Acoustic-Instruments/Small-Body/Gibson-Acoustic/L-200-Emmylou-Harris.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocket launcher Posted May 12, 2014 Author Share Posted May 12, 2014 Thank you as always for the comments and suggestions ! I will certainly consider the Fishman Matrix and am looking at the K&K products as well. I prefer to have a built in preamp that does need a stomp box preamp. My daughter is not much into the hardware side of being a musician just jet. Some of the open mics only give you enough time to plug in and strum a couple of times to set the volume and you are on. So I am looking for the best sounding plug and play system. That L-200 looks like it would be a great fit for my daughter. If I run across a used one I would certainly consider it. I only paid a third of that for the J-150 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duluthdan Posted May 12, 2014 Share Posted May 12, 2014 The Trance Mono is plug-n-play. Easy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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