Gibson Artist Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 So i went over a friends house to watch his band practice in the garage. Brought my j15 for when they were finished he could have a look and try for himself. After about 30 mins of them rehashing their set list for upcoming gigs and playing mini versions of each song they took a break. We all grabbed some acoustics, headed to the front porch to sip some lemonade and enjoy the day. To my surprise most of them only had cheap gits under 1k. The lead guitarist had a takamine he paid about 600 for, the singer had a 70s ovation balladeer, drummer had a cheap yamaha, and the bass player had a martin d28 he said he had over 20 years. I love trying new gits and had a blast playin the ovation and the takamine, the band really dug my j15. Especially the bass player! He couldnt put it down and wanted me to trade him for his D-28 but he wanted cash. I politely declined but i did get to try his Martin and i really liked it a lot. The action was smooth (better than my gibson to be honest) the tone was warm and not as messy as ive felt some hd28 can be at times. Im not one of those guys who plays only one brand tho i must confess i do love martin and gibson and some japanese made gits the most. In the end tho, i just couldnt bring myself to part with my Gibson. He told me to put a bone nut & saddle in and i am wondering has anyone here done that to their j15? I am tempted but all in all yesterday was a nice pleasant day and really, does it get any better than playing a fine instrument on the porch on a warm sunny day? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 Well a good Martin D-28 ain't nothing to sneeze at. Assuming you are talking about a standard D-28 I would imagine it would be valued at a couple of hundred bucks more than even a new J-15 so the guy expecting you to kick in some cash is not being unreasonable. I have grown to dislike good trade offers because they force me to think and ponder and my head starts to hurt. Got one in the hopper right now - a 1937 Gibsom L-12 for my 1946 LG-2. Both equal in condition. Strictly in terms of value, I would come out in good shape but then again archtops are a much harder sell than flattops should I want to sell it or trade if off in the future. Biut what is in the back of my head is that I just can't seem to coax what I want out of an F-hole archtop no matter how fine an instrument it is. Then again, it does present a challenge which I am always up for. See what I mean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salfromchatham Posted August 17, 2014 Share Posted August 17, 2014 My SJTV's action was higher than what I like when I bought her. After a month or so I took it in, and had them do a fresh setup on it. They lowered the action and made a new compensated saddle as well, to improve intonation when capo'd higher up the neck (I still have the original saddle in the case). Now my action is low like I like, and the guitar plays perfectly. Get that setup! Where are you located? Maybe some here can advise a good place to get it done... I had mine done at Russo's in Asbury Park NJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson Artist Posted August 17, 2014 Author Share Posted August 17, 2014 My SJTV's action was higher than what I like when I bought her. After a month or so I took it in, and had them do a fresh setup on it. They lowered the action and made a new compensated saddle as well, to improve intonation when capo'd higher up the neck (I still have the original saddle in the case). Now my action is low like I like, and the guitar plays perfectly. Get that setup! Where are you located? Maybe some here can advise a good place to get it done... I had mine done at Russo's in Asbury Park NJ. Noll guitars supposedly has the best guitar guy in the state, people all over craigslist rave about him. The state of rhode island that is :) and ive thought about lowering the action a bit, gibson acoustics seem to have a higher action than other gits in the same price range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson Artist Posted August 17, 2014 Author Share Posted August 17, 2014 Well a good Martin D-28 ain't nothing to sneeze at. Assuming you are talking about a standard D-28 I would imagine it would be valued at a couple of hundred bucks more than even a new J-15 so the guy expecting you to kick in some cash is not being unreasonable. I have grown to dislike good trade offers because they force me to think and ponder and my head starts to hurt. Got one in the hopper right now - a 1937 Gibsom L-12 for my 1946 LG-2. Both equal in condition. Strictly in terms of value, I would come out in good shape but then again archtops are a much harder sell than flattops should I want to sell it or trade if off in the future. Biut what is in the back of my head is that I just can't seem to coax what I want out of an F-hole archtop no matter how fine an instrument it is. Then again, it does present a challenge which I am always up for. See what I mean. I dont mind trading but right now am in love with j15, unless someone offered me a j200 i cant see myself trading it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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