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The quintessential J-45 !


E-minor7

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It's bizarre, but he speaks English with a perfect Spanish accent. And I've lived and worked in Spain off and on for years.

 

We're just going to have to agree to disagree about using alternative tuning to make guitar comparisons, especially when trying to make fine distinctions. I love the sound of his banner slope-J's, but I would hesitate to evaluate a guitar without hearing what it sounded like in standard tuning. The whole resonant nature of the guitar body changes at lower frequencies than the ear is used to hearing for the type of instrument, not to mention the very different voicings for the same nominal chords.

 

He's got a few more vids with the banners, why dont you take a peek and see if the other vids are in standard tuning .... and feel more representative.

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He's got a few more vids with the banners, why dont you take a peek and see if the other vids are in standard tuning .... and feel more representative.

 

The guy can really pick!

 

This is a demo of his in standard tuning. First guitar is a 1950 J-45, which I think has a stunning, pure J-45 character. The second is one of the banner J-45's he demo'd in Mark's earlier link. Startlingly different from the 1950 guitar, but wonderful in a different way. Very bright, almost unexpectedly so.

 

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He's actually Greek Nick, but I do understand for many from the other side of the pond its all the same.

That's my good friend Yiannis. He, another picking buddy, and I gather every few years to play some music and catch up on each others' lives. Here we are in Thessaloniki, Greece:

 

UMGFThessaloniki95.jpg

 

 

And in Bucharest, Hungary:

 

DarioYiannisJT_zps9079174d.jpg

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I love my '42 J-50 probably because it has a somewhat different voice. While it has the saturated mids, crisp highs and a real cracking edge to it I would say are characteristic of a good J-45 it also has a low end which a guy who is second generation restorer of vintage Martins described as being able to make a pre-War Martin D-28 run for cover. He also told me you could go a lifetime and never find another with this voice because it was not by design but really just a fluke.

 

If I was going to buy another J-45 though it would likely be a 1955-1959. I am a fan of the punchy and quick sound with a bit faster note decay of these guitars. They just sound a bit more immediate and perhaps raw to my ears. And Bozeman does not now nor has ever made a guitar like them.

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Alone for painting a circular portrait of vintage J-45's sounds, this CD is invaluable. Then add the performances.

 

Nice pics too ^

Thanks for the kind words!

 

The CD served as soundtrack for the BBC and Swedish Public Radio and reached number 3 on the US national folk radio charts. I couldn't be prouder of the Kalamazoo Gals who built those guitars.

 

Now, if everyone who said that they loved the story bought a book, I might even have broken even. Sigh.

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