ksdaddy Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 My father passed away in 1999. He had already given me his Martin back in '94. He had another guitar, a 1985 J-100. I remember him calling Gibson in Nashville and chatting with someone there who said they were trying very hard to go back to the way they used to make Gibsons. He ended up ordering a new J-100, stamped late June 1985. He swapped back and forth between the J-100 and the M-38. Pretty sure he was holding the J-100 on the cover of his second album. I'll try to dig it up. The only mod I know of is the engraved truss rod cover. Unusual for this model is the J200 style bridge. No idea how that happened. Typical Gibson I would say. Note I put a set of D'Addario J17 on it in May of 1998. They still sound fine. This has been tucked away in his music room until today, when I was told to take it. I always do what I'm told. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Man that’s a beauty Scott. What a fantastic legacy. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuestionMark Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Beautiful guitar and story. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62burst Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Sycamore? Ezzy's Music. . . google says that is UP there. Laminated set list- do you know or do any of those songs? It's nice that you'll be playing dad's guitar. Just let those strings settle in a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 Mike Ezzy owned a music store until dementia and an early death took him in 2011. His music store is (was) about 22 miles north of me. My Telecaster was in one of his tv commercials in 1978, as the camera panned the row of Fenders. Mike was a good guy. He had a good racket going on, since he had dual citizenship. His store was a stones throw from the border and if a Canadian bought from him, he would deliver to Canada duty free. Which amounted to him loading up the gear in his Ford van and taking a ten minute drive (round trip). I have the magnetic sign off his van framed in my man cave. As to the songs, yes, I probably know most or all. 95% of dad's songs were Wilf Carter (Montana Slim) songs. The other 5% was Slim Clark's. I met both of them and played Slim's 1939 J-100. Monster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliasphobias Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 That's a fine looking J100. Does it have the double dovetail or "paddle" at the neck block? I think your Dad was a visionary to order one of the mid '80s Gibson acoustics, or a gambler. I wish I had the opportunity to play more of the Nashville acoustics Gibson put out. The ones I have have been great. Incidentally, I had a J100 ('94 or '97) that had the same bridge complete with the MOP ribbons. Enjoy that beauty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Your dads second LP?? Any chance ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hall Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 You deserve a well done for doing as you were told. Fine lines and simplicity are always true eye catchers. Play that one back to active! edit: love the burst. …. And the guard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted January 15, 2019 Author Share Posted January 15, 2019 Does it have the double dovetail or "paddle" at the neck block? Yes it does. I think your Dad was a visionary to order one of the mid '80s Gibson acoustics, or a gambler. Definitely a gambler. Less than a year before buying the J-100, he unceremoniously dumped a 1973 J200 that he bought new in 1979 or so. He got a good vibe from the conversation with the guy in Nashville and went with it. He was always very happy with it. Your dads second LP?? Any chance ? I've only recently been brought kicking and screaming into the late 20th century and I now have the technology to digitize stuff. I was able to save some old family stuff from old reel to reel tapes and I will likely convert some of his music from LP or cassette to mp3 and put some of them up on youtube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted January 15, 2019 Share Posted January 15, 2019 Beautiful,Scott...I remember you sharing pics of this beauty some years ago, maybe ten years back now, and saying it was in hiatus but maybe one day it would be yours to take home. So glad that it's come home to roost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livemusic Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Beautiful, and cool story. Love the yodeling setlist cards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holiday Hoser Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Nothing like a Fathers love. I so miss my dad he gave me Grandma's 1950 ford we fixed it up so she can sing as well. What a beauty cherish her and the music she makes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 There sure are a lot of J-100 variations out there. The '96 I used to own had a mustache bridge without ribbons, a plain tortoise batwing pickguard, decal headstock logo & crown, and a mahogany body. My current '00 has the same bridge & pickguard, but with an abalone rosette, MOP headstock logo & crown, and maple body. They typically seem to be wonderful guitars, and yours includes a wonderful connection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I've only recently been brought kicking and screaming into the late 20th century and I now have the technology to digitize stuff. I was able to save some old family stuff from old reel to reel tapes and I will likely convert some of his music from LP or cassette to mp3 and put some of them up on youtube. I think this is a brilliant move on your part. It will preserve his music and legacy for years to come, perhaps decades. Future generations (I'm talking after you're gone....) will have the ability to listen to his music, style, voice, etc. I'd like to think youTube videos will stay up forever, but we all know at some point there will be an end. Nobody 50 years ago could have comprehended Sears being pretty much gone, they were the largest retailer in the World and were on the verge of putting the tallest building in the World in Chicago. All things must pass. Awesome, Scott. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorrisrownSal Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 That's great Scott. What could be better than playing your dad's instruments? My dad is still with us. He gave me an Italian accordion he bought in NYC in the 60s. I remember him playing it in our living room. I have that accordion, yet I dont know how to play it. It sits. I would love to get it into the hands of those who would play it. It would be great if accordion was still "a thing"; I'd donate it without a second thought to my local public school, but I am not sure they would even know what to do with it. Anyways, beautiful guitar. Play it with warmth and happiness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aliasphobias Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I wonder if Hogeye could give any info on production numbers? It would be interesting to know. Gibson was in the infancy of their return to Gibson as we know them. I would bet the numbers to be fairly low. I have a J 30 S.O.R.S. from '87 and a brochure from the same time frame and the there were very limited models being offered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Cool! That your Dad's guitar even exists is a minor miracle. When Norlin was taken over by a private investment banking firm which already owned Piezo in 1984, they nixed initial plans to keep the Kalamazoo plant open as a repair facility and maybe turn out one line of guitars opting instead to phase out all musical instrument production. For whatever reason, the guys in Nashville decided to try and resurrect the acoustic line including the J-45 which, with sales having dropped to less than 1,000 a year, had already been ordered discontinued in '82 or '83. They also decided to return to late-1950s specs displaying their new line at NAMM in 1985. These guitars were arguably the best instruments Gibson had turned out since the mid-1960s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 That's great Scott. What could be better than playing your dad's instruments? My dad is still with us. He gave me an Italian accordion he bought in NYC in the 60s. I remember him playing it in our living room. I have that accordion, yet I dont know how to play it. It sits. I would love to get it into the hands of those who would play it. It would be great if accordion was still "a thing"; I'd donate it without a second thought to my local public school, but I am not sure they would even know what to do with it. Anyways, beautiful guitar. Play it with warmth and happiness. My father in law (since passed) was once an Irish champion accordion player I never had the pleasure of hearing him unfortunately Although he did have an LP out which is now available thanks to Spotify and the like The wife would’ve lived to have inherited his accordion but he willed it to a young up and coming player so it’s in good hands and will do what it’s meant to Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cougar Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 ....This has been tucked away in his music room until today, when I was told to take it. I always do what I'm told. Yes, youngsters must be obedient. What a beauty! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62burst Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 ‘Woof- good of you for filling in some blanks in an often overlooked era of so much transition for Gibson. A n d . . . while you’re at it, there is a new member in the Introduce Yourself section who had a question about his old Country Western that would most likely be an easy one for you: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/84093-introduce-yourself/page__view__findpost__p__1969057. Hopefully he’s still around. ‘Still wondering if anyone else is seeing Sycamore as being the wood used for the edge-bursted back of ksdaddy’s father’s guitar (?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrairieSchooner Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 A fine story and a fine guitar; thanks for sharing. I'm looking forward to more pics, etc. as you sort through that family history! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted January 16, 2019 Author Share Posted January 16, 2019 ‘Still wondering if anyone else is seeing Sycamore as being the wood used for the edge-bursted back of ksdaddy’s father’s guitar (?) Definitely Sycamore from the tennis racket factory. Hogeye can tell the details of that much better than I can. The Nashville era acoustics had their own persona. I haven't played enough of them to establish prejudice but I would have no more problem pulling the trigger on one of them on ebay as I would any Montana guitar. Kalamazoo in the latter days, well, I'd be careful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted January 16, 2019 Author Share Posted January 16, 2019 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 Awesome cover! And His Rodeo Pals - Love it! . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted January 16, 2019 Share Posted January 16, 2019 I love posts/stories like this.. Thanks for sharing Scott Well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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