Jim Wilson Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 About 2002, a good friend of mine intervened with the folks at Gibson and had them send me a then-new J45 Rosewood with a blonde top. This guitar had it all...good looks and good sound. During a sound check, up in Kansas, the guitar player for Sons of the San Joaquin tried to buy it from me. In 2008, coming back from a little mini-tour to the West Coast, my buddy & I got to talking about Martin guitars. I said that the only one that ever interested me was the D-35. When I went down to my local guitar shop, there sat a brand new D-35. I traded the J45 in on it and promptly regretted it. I had money in my pocket to have bought the D-35 outright...didn't need to trade...don't know why I even wanted to. Ran down the next morning, cash in hand, to find that our local constable had already bought my J45 Rosewood. He did, however, tell me that I'd get first chance if he ever decided to sell it. In 20014, Constable Ogletree flagged me down at the Post Office and offered me the J45R back. I rushed home to get cash and the guitar was once again mine, about one hour later. Fortunately for me (and the J45) our constable takes better care of his acoustic instruments than most guys do their trophy wives. That guitar is still in good shape and we are about to install a Fishman Infinity pickup in it and play a few gigs in early September. I'm not really sharing this story so that you folks will marvel at my good luck. Mostly I am sharing this yarn to remind myself not to do stupid things like this again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cabarone Posted August 24, 2018 Share Posted August 24, 2018 Congratulation! It's rare indeed when you get a "do-over"... And you still have the Martin, yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Wilson Posted August 24, 2018 Author Share Posted August 24, 2018 Nope, the D-35 went to a new home. I have two more J45's instead....a 2008 sunburst/hog that belonged to songwriter Tim Hensley and a 2014 ebony/hog. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 Some of the worst mistakes I have ever made were selling or trading off guitars. I just sold a hard as it gets to find pre-War Regal 12 string. Made a really nice profit on it but I will be second guessing the wisdom of letting it go for many years to come. I have, however, twice now re-acquired guitars I let go of. Both are still with me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Wilson Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 That D-35 is the only Martin that I've ever spent any time with. I can live without them. Not so with the J45....the fact that I have 3 of them is probably a clue. I would like to spend time with a Southern Jumbo one of these days.....but not enough to trade one of these J45's in on one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 About 2002, a good friend of mine intervened with the folks at Gibson and had them send me a then-new J45 Rosewood with a blonde top. I also happen to have a 2002 J45-Rosewood, with ebony board & bridge, and a natural top. This one produces a super dry & woody tone that readily sticks in your mind's eye. At times I'll be playing other instruments for a while, but upon revisiting the J45-R, it repeatedly blows me away all over again! Glad you were able to get yours back in hand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Wilson Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 Yeah, Bobouz, ain't they cool???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted August 25, 2018 Share Posted August 25, 2018 Yeah, Bobouz, ain't they cool???? Absolutely! Imho, some very fine instruments came out of Bozeman in the early 2000s. I also had a J-50 and two WM-45s from this period, but the J45-R ended up as the keeper. A J-100xtra from this era has also remained in the fold. Given it's size, the darn thing is seemingly light as a feather! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Wilson Posted August 25, 2018 Author Share Posted August 25, 2018 I'm not sure that the ebony fingerboard and bridge actually change much, tone wise, but I do like them and prefer them on a guitar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gibson Artist Posted August 26, 2018 Share Posted August 26, 2018 Last year i got sick a couple weeks and couldnt work. During that time i had a choice of selling one of my acoustics, the taylor 214ce or the 1974 gibson j-50, i put both up for sale, but the Gibson sold quicker and i really needed the cash so i took it. Today, i am kicking myself. Taylors are a dime a dozen on craigslist for trade, but that Gibson was a sweet vintage strumming monster. I actually had a chance to re acquire it however, the new owner wanted my taylor, a les paul special AND my bass amp. Add to that, he drilled a hole in it to install a pickup. When i played it again, that hole did something to it, not the same woody tone i loved so much before. I declined the trade, because to me, that magic was gone, or at least enough to not overpay for. Even tho i can get it back, its just not quite the same any longer. Lesson learned, next time ill trade the modern git before the vintage, that was the coolest guitar i ever owned. Have tried multiple times to trade for another and even offering my lp standard for a 60s version, but no dice. Oh well, maybe ill try an original gibson gospel someday :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted August 26, 2018 Share Posted August 26, 2018 I'm not sure that the ebony fingerboard and bridge actually change much, tone wise, but I do like them and prefer them on a guitar. I'm with you there, Jim. I've got ebony boards on my Guild F50R and JF30-12, and I don't know if it's just looks or "status" or what, but they're super cool. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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