BDuke Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Hi saw an older Gibson hanging on the wall at a pawn shop. When i pulled it down and read the tag it said 1989 Gibson J30. only it was an AE with tone and volume knobs like a J-160E. i asked the owner if it was modified to be an acoustic electric and he said no it was all original. so i checked the serial number and it was made in Montana in 1991.sorry for the long story but my question is, is this guitar a J30 or some other model? Can you tell the model from the serial #. Thanks for any help PS: any opinions on the value of this guitar would be greatly appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDuke Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 Contact Gibson with the number and see. If they can't help no one can, but the Gibby Acoustic guys on the forum are gonna need pics to identify it. Thanks I am going to try to get pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
george wooden Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 I googled about 4 different forums, reading their posts I could not find a single post regarding J 30's from that era that mentioned anything about having AE V/T set-up in them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDuke Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 I googled about 4 different forums, reading their posts I could not find a single post regarding J 30's from that era that mentioned anything about having AE V/T set-up in them. Same here. Going to post pics tomorrow. hope to get more info with the pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Just because the owner of a pawn shop told you the guitar was all original does not make it so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDuke Posted January 17, 2018 Author Share Posted January 17, 2018 Just because the owner of a pawn shop told you the guitar was all original does not make it so. for sure. not trying to deceive anyone, he believes he knows its a J30. But I'm not sure Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliasphobias Posted January 18, 2018 Share Posted January 18, 2018 My J30 ('87er) is AE but with what Gibson called the SORS pickup system. The T/V controls are on the upper shoulder near the neck. I could be mistaken but the '89er would be long scale 25.5 not 24.75. It is often referred to as the blingless Hummingbird. I have never seen one with T/V control in the J160 configuration and the '89er most likely has the double dovetail neck construction, a real bugger to reset, when it needs it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDuke Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 OK, mystery solved it is a 1991 J30. made in Bozeman plant. unfortunately it has some serious problems like its cracked through from the saddle to the jack plug on the bottom. it has had the headstock glued back on as well. its solid but not pretty. the guy wants $1050 and won't move. I offered $500. was I too low? Thanks for the input. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mafy31 Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 OK, mystery solved it is a 1991 J30. made in Bozeman plant. unfortunately it has some serious problems like its cracked through from the saddle to the jack plug on the bottom. it has had the headstock glued back on as well. its solid but not pretty. the guy wants $1050 and won't move. I offered $500. was I too low? Thanks for the input. 1k is about the price for a good shape J30 from this era (without this V/T thing)... I will only give my opinion, no knowledge here. I wouldnt go higher than your proposal due to the headstock broken and modification of the J30 which does not appear to be original to me, i mean someone with knowledge might snake in and say it is original, but since i doubt it i would not buy unless it is a real deal, and 1k is not a great deal for sure. I would also only consider buying if its sound really talks to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliasphobias Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 The J30s from this era don't command a very high price. I think your offer was fair. There is never a shortage of broken guitars to buy. Broken headstock and belly break? I'm with mafy, if you're patient I think you could find one in great condition for $1000-$1200. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDuke Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 1k is about the price for a good shape J30 from this era (without this V/T thing)... I will only give my opinion, no knowledge here. I wouldnt go higher than your proposal due to the headstock broken and modification of the J30 which does not appear to be original to me, i mean someone with knowledge might snake in and say it is original, but since i doubt it i would not buy unless it is a real deal, and 1k is not a great deal for sure. I would also only consider buying if its sound really talks to me. I have played it and it plays nice, low action which i like, and it sounds like it should. I'm just worried about it's poor condition. He says the V/T knobs are original but i don't think so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BDuke Posted January 20, 2018 Author Share Posted January 20, 2018 The J30s from this era don't command a very high price. I think your offer was fair. There is never a shortage of broken guitars to buy. Broken headstock and belly break? I'm with mafy, if you're patient I think you could find one in great condition for $1000-$1200. Good luck. I agree but i do like the idea of a project. i think it would be something i would enjoy doing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogeye Posted January 20, 2018 Share Posted January 20, 2018 The J-30 is listed in the 1991 price list as having a retail of $1393.00 with the S.O.R.S. pick-up and hard-shell case. Gibson records show them as shipping 36 of them in Antique Ebony. None are listed as having a S.O.R.S. pick-up. The S.O.R.S. Pick-up can be identified by having two knobs mounted on the top rib of the body near the neck. There are two knobs one is a double knob with bass and treble control. The other knob is a volume knob. That is the only pick-up system used by Gibson except for the J-160 system. The S.O.R.S. Letters are the initials for the Symbiotic- Oriented- Receptive- System and it is probably the best pick-up Gibson ever put into a guitar. I may be wrong but I think the asking price may be a little to high. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliasphobias Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 Here's one. This would be 24.75" scale, but only an Epiphone pickguard to deal with not headstock break and belly crack.Sorry not good at posting links. https://cincinnati.craigslist.org/msg/d/1985-gibson-j30-acoustic/6412738114.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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