Berserker82 Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 I just recently received a 71 gibson j40 as a gift. Needed a little work but pleased with it, especially for someone who had only been playing for a year. I don't know alot about this guitar. I have heard it described as a stripped down version of j45. What makes it "stripped down"? Also, I have heard mixed things about it having laminated back and sides where others have said it is solid mahogany. Does anyone know for sure? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted October 24, 2015 Share Posted October 24, 2015 Not a whole lot of difference between the J40 and J45. There were times during the J40's run that they may have had a pin bridge, other times a pinless bridge, sometimes white binding, sometimes black or tortoise....I've always figured the J40 was just a model that existed not because of its attributes but rather to fit a certain price range and therefore there were some liberties taken with the specs. My opinion more than anything. It was just a cheap Gibson acoustic. And I do NOT mean that in a disparaging way; it was just a basic guitar (and I will applaud that until I hurt my palms). As to laminate or not.... At any time during the 60s and 70s there was a chance of a Gibson being laminated and the model's status in the lineup had no bearing. I, myself, had a '68 Dove with lam sides. In fact I may have had OTHER 60s Gibsons with lam sides and/or backs and didn't even know it. The only reason I knew on the Dove was because it had a jack hole in the side and I could see the plys. Hey, it ain't gonna crack! There was on even more stripped down in that era called the JG-0. No binding, or maybe top binding, maybe spruce top, maybe mahogany, pin bridge, pinless, adjustable, leftover bridges... "what have we got on the shelf we can make a guitar out of?" Kinda awesome when you think about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berserker82 Posted October 25, 2015 Author Share Posted October 25, 2015 Thanks for the detailed response. Very helpful! Yeah people that have seen and heard it say it is pretty decent. I think the person who got it for me got a pretty good deal as well, as I have seen others on line for twice as much. I just need to get a refret done and it should be good to go for a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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