Fullmental Alpinist Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Does this look like Koa or Brazilian Rosewood to you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lukec88 Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 This is rosewood for sure, but I cannot say if Its brazilian or east indian.. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly campbell Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 I am no expert but it looks nothing like any Koa I have ever seen, I would agree and say that has to be Rosewood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fullmental Alpinist Posted March 25, 2016 Author Share Posted March 25, 2016 Thanks guys. I've limited experience with either wood, but it doesn't look like any Koa I've seen, either. The view through the sound hole looks like East Indian Rosewood, but the picture of the back looks like the colors of Brazilian. Can East Indian get the coloration this guitar shows? The EI I've seen is usually just black. The guitar is from this Ebay ad: Gibson J-45 Custom Deluxe Abalone Vine Acoustic Guitar 2000 The seller claims it was "custom made" for a famous singer/songwriter, which made me wonder if it was built back in the days when the Gibson custom shop actually made custom guitars. Then, I suppose, it might have been possible for a guitar to have been built of BR. More possible, I guess, is that the seller just confused the word "custom," which in Gibson talk means an EI rosewood J-45 with a rosette, with an actual "one of a kind" guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CAMELEYE Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Definitely Indian rosewood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buc McMaster Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Certainly has a koa color on the outside, but the inside just as certainly looks like EIR. I have seen koa that has wide, relatively straight grain like the back & sides on this one, but I believe it to be rosewood of the Indian variety. The eBay description says it was made for Kostas......the guy that wrote many of Dwight Yoakam's hits......might be difficult to prove that, but doesn't seem all that significant anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Wilson Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Who a guitar might have belonged to makes for an interesting story...or not. However, if the seller expects to get one extra dollar because the guitar belonged to someone famous, he should have good, solid provenance, or not be wasting our time. That radio station that used to come out of Villa Acuna, Coahuila, and beamed all over the US, would send you an autographed picture of Jesus. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldCowboy Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Who a guitar might have belonged to makes for an interesting story...or not. However, if the seller expects to get one extra dollar because the guitar belonged to someone famous, he should have good, solid provenance, or not be wasting our time. That radio station that used to come out of Villa Acuna, Coahuila, and beamed all over the US, would send you an autographed picture of Jesus. Written in Aramaic? lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Rosewood.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JuanCarlosVejar Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Not Koa ...More like Rosewood JC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainpicker Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 Autographed picture of Jesus?!! That's ridiculous, everyone knows that cameras hadn't been invented back then. EIR in my opinion though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted March 25, 2016 Share Posted March 25, 2016 NOT Koa, see some examples here AND here and that top is probably spruce back / sides tho.. everyone says, Def. rosewood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drumsticks Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 http://www.gibson.com/Products/Acoustic-Instruments/Round-Shoulder/Gibson-Acoustic/J-45-Vine-Rosewood/Specs.aspx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 If there is no choice "C", then I'd have to go with Rosewood - it definitely doesn't look like Koa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62burst Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 http://www.gibson.com/Products/Acoustic-Instruments/Round-Shoulder/Gibson-Acoustic/J-45-Vine-Rosewood/Specs.aspx Well, that settles that. Looking through the soundhole, it sure has that purple cast that EIR can do. The back can be stained in any direction desired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliasphobias Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 I like quizzes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliasphobias Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 Nope, not to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fullmental Alpinist Posted March 26, 2016 Author Share Posted March 26, 2016 Well, that settles that. Looking through the soundhole, it sure has that purple cast that EIR can do. The back can be stained in any direction desired. That's my question, 62burst. Can EIR that is sooooooooo dark viewed through the sound hole be made to look sooooooooo light? Here's the same guitar in Koa: Definitely not Koa, agreed? (Unless it's really boring Koa.) Here's a J-45 custom in EIR: Now compare it to the one in the original post. Can EIR be that light? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 That's my question, 62burst. Can EIR that is sooooooooo dark viewed through the sound hole be made to look sooooooooo light? Now compare it to the one in the original post. Can EIR be that light? Yes, it can. Part of it can be the lighting, you know. I have one EIR guitar that could photograph that light, and another that couldn't. Here's the back and side of one of the FON 910 1942 SJ's. There has been argument over the years about whether this is EIR or Brazilian, but the consensus is that it's EIR. You can tell by the background that it would be considerably lighter if properly photographed. Tom Barnwell owns this one now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 That one on EBay is from 2000. Gibson made that model with EIR and Ebony fret board from 1999-2010. I think he borrowed the newer specs. That vine does look nice against the ebony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 I just got a Koa J45 vine 10 minutes ago.. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fullmental Alpinist Posted March 26, 2016 Author Share Posted March 26, 2016 You dog! Pictures or it never happened! (And sound sample.) Can I hold it??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fullmental Alpinist Posted March 26, 2016 Author Share Posted March 26, 2016 Yes, it can. Part of it can be the lighting, you know. I have one EIR guitar that could photograph that light, and another that couldn't. Here's the back and side of one of the FON 910 1942 SJ's. There has been argument over the years about whether this is EIR or Brazilian, but the consensus is that it's EIR. You can tell by the background that it would be considerably lighter if properly photographed. Tom Barnwell owns this one now. Obviously the Mother of All EIR. Glad it found a good home. J45 Nick, or anyone, when was the last time Gibson built a production guitar with Brazilian Rosewood? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted March 26, 2016 Share Posted March 26, 2016 You dog! Pictures or it never happened! (And sound sample.) Can I hold it??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fullmental Alpinist Posted March 26, 2016 Author Share Posted March 26, 2016 Sincere congrats slimt. Looks like a beauty! It has the version of the vine that is my favorite. Play it in good health. (Or just stare at it in good health....) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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