Stu Jones Posted January 8, 2016 Posted January 8, 2016 New to the forum - Wanted to post some pics of my vintage 1959 J-200e. This guitar was bought used by my Dad in 1964 and he used it as his studio / touring guitar throughout the 60's and 70's. He passed in 1987 and I assumed ownership. Have had research done by George Gruhn in Nashville and it looks like 2 of these were built in 1959. Wonderful instrument. Luthier George Youngblood of Guilford CT has been keeping here tuned up over the years. It has the tune-o-matic bridge, p-90 pickup, volume and tone knobs, and double pick guards. Please respond with comments. Well it was a good try. Pics are too large to attach - please advise (fixed - photos are in Gibson Vintage forum)... Thanks, Stu
ksdaddy Posted January 8, 2016 Posted January 8, 2016 If you are familiar with photo editing software (any will do, even good old Paint), resize them to around 800x600 or so. That will ensure it will fit on the page and will likely also be a small enough file size so the system doesn't bark at you. or just email them to me at ksdaddy@yahoo.com and I'll resize them for you.
Stu Jones Posted January 8, 2016 Author Posted January 8, 2016 I used photobucket and got it figured out. Pics are in the vintage forum. Thanks, Stu
j45nick Posted January 8, 2016 Posted January 8, 2016 seriously cool guitar. Waiting for comments from others on the two pickguards that aren't exact matches..........
BigKahune Posted January 8, 2016 Posted January 8, 2016 . Very interesting and cool guitar. Curious - the pickguards not matching . . . . did George have anything to say about that? . Factory? . Added later? .
Stu Jones Posted January 8, 2016 Author Posted January 8, 2016 The theory is that is was built in this fashion at the factory, but the top pickguard being a left handed, and much less used, it could be a resin difference and did not fade equally...not really sure...but am 100% confident in it being built and shipped as a j-200e, verified by Andre Duchossoir. I am not sold on the fading theory, as it truly looks to be a darker resin pickguard. Am certainly welcome to any other theories or comments.. Thanks for replying. I absolutely love this guitar and it sounds and plays like a dream. Stu
j45nick Posted January 8, 2016 Posted January 8, 2016 The lefty guard has some obvious minor differences in detail, and would have required a different mold. Is the pattern etched and painted into the top surface of the pickguard, or what? Chances are that if it was done by the factory, they didn't have a lefty guard that matched the standard one completely. Probably not too much demand for lefty J-200 guards, although I think we have several lefty J-200 owners on this forum.
duluthdan Posted January 8, 2016 Posted January 8, 2016 That saddle setup is wild ! A true heritage guitar, thats for sure.
j45nick Posted January 8, 2016 Posted January 8, 2016 That saddle setup is wild ! A true heritage guitar, thats for sure. It's a version of the Tune-o-Matic, standard bridge used on a lot of Gibson electrics then and now. I haven't seen the nylon saddles on a 1959 before, however. They actually used this same bridge/saddle arrangement on some pure acoustic J-200's about this same time, I believe.
Stu Jones Posted January 8, 2016 Author Posted January 8, 2016 JNick45 - The pick guard is etched as you can feel the indentations with your finger. I do agree with you that the pattern is slightly different on the top guard. Am very curious to see if any lefty J200 photos pop up to see if the pattern is the same as the top guard on this guitar. I really wish there was a way to identify who ordered this guitar in '59. It was definitely ordered for stage use. Stu
Stu Jones Posted January 9, 2016 Author Posted January 9, 2016 Additional follow up on the pick guards.... On the Gruhn site, there is a 64' J200 with the red pickguard with the same pattern as the bottom guard on my guitar, there is also a 39' J200 with the darker pickguard with the equal pattern to the dark one on my top of my guitar. So I assume that George Youngblood may be correct with his assumption that the top guard is a left handed guard from an earlier era that was applied to this guitar when ordered as a stage model. Comments welcome.. Stu
jt Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 Stu, a very cool guitar! Thanks for sharing it with us. I'd love to hear/see a clip of it played plugged in. Any chance?
Stu Jones Posted January 9, 2016 Author Posted January 9, 2016 Absolutely a chance. I will dig through my stuff or make up something new. On a side note, had to learn a few things about strings, as the 80/20 bronze wound sound fantastic acoustically, but the wound strings do not present well from the P-90 pickup through the amplifier, but flat wound steel or nickel strings sound great amplified, yet not so good acoustically. Have had the best success using DR Zebras, that are bronze and nickel wrapped. Welcome to any feedback from any other J-200e or J-160e owners with a P-90 pickup for string choice. Stu
Stu Jones Posted January 9, 2016 Author Posted January 9, 2016 Also..if interested, look up Ronnie Wood's J-200. Has double guards, much closer in color than mine, but the patterns are the same as the top and bottom on my J-200. I believe his also a late 50's model Stu
J-1854Me Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 On a side note, had to learn a few things about strings, as the 80/20 bronze wound sound fantastic acoustically, but the wound strings do not present well from the P-90 pickup through the amplifier, but flat wound steel or nickel strings sound great amplified, yet not so good acoustically. Have had the best success using DR Zebras, that are bronze and nickel wrapped. Welcome to any feedback from any other J-200e or J-160e owners with a P-90 pickup for string choice. Stu I do not own either 'E' model, but remember reading on various Beatles-related forums that folks who were deeply into the tone of George's and John's J-160E guitars would swear by Pyramid flatwound strings: Pyramid strings on Reverb dot com I've no idea whether that would be your experience, but lots of Beatles-purists raved about them. Fred
EuroAussie Posted January 9, 2016 Posted January 9, 2016 That is one freaky looking J-200, have to admit if i was honest ... not my cup of team with the LP knobs, metal saddle a double guard.
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