Dave F Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Locally for sale asking $3500 The luthier I use fixed this up for one of his customers and they want to sale it. He took off the warped plastic bridge, made a new one and put a new maple bridge plate https://www.zeilerknightrepairs.com/?fbclid=IwAR2YnGqd12BW1nDe1J_4xY5cRdUEVe1WV7mvXCuuTWVF-yeOhnaSSRwfIeg Jamonn Zeiler does great work. He's currently in business with Ben Knight who is also doing great work. Both are working performers. Ben is the son of Chris Knight Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holiday Hoser Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 They had a plastic bridge in '63? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted October 10, 2019 Author Share Posted October 10, 2019 2 hours ago, Holiday Hoser said: They had a plastic bridge in '63? Yep. If you google it you’ll find a lot of info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Looks like nice work. The photo of the top with the plastic adj removed clearly shows all the holes in the top involved with that bridge/saddle arrangement. Of course, 30 years from now someone may say "I can't believe they removed that original plastic bridge back in 2019. They ruined the guitar." Personally, I think they did the right thing. But that's just me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted October 10, 2019 Author Share Posted October 10, 2019 40 minutes ago, j45nick said: Looks like nice work. The photo of the top with the plastic adj removed clearly shows all the holes in the top involved with that bridge/saddle arrangement. Of course, 30 years from now someone may say "I can't believe they removed that original plastic bridge back in 2019. They ruined the guitar." Personally, I think they did the right thing. But that's just me. The bridge and plate were warped so there weren’t many options. Jamonn has made a few bridges for me. They all look good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boyd Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Isn't that a bit expensive for a 1963 J-45? Or maybe there's something exceptional about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 57 minutes ago, Boyd said: Isn't that a bit expensive for a 1963 J-45? Or maybe there's something exceptional about it? A '63 will still have the 1 11/16" nut, so it is generally more desirable than, say a '65. That one looks to be in beautiful condition, with a very nicely faded cherryburst. The price seems fair to me. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boyd Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 (edited) Interesting.... I bought my 1965 J-50 specifically for the narrow neck. 🙂 Was just looking on Guitar Center's site and they have a 1962 J-50 for $2500 and another 1962 J-50 for $2700. But maybe there's a good reason why they're so much cheaper? Does the burst make the J-45 worth more? I always preferred the natural finish on the J-50 myself. Edited October 10, 2019 by Boyd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheLeadFlatpick Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 (edited) 6 hours ago, Boyd said: Interesting.... I bought my 1965 J-50 specifically for the narrow neck. 🙂 Was just looking on Guitar Center's site and they have a 1962 J-50 for $2500 and another 1962 J-50 for $2700. But maybe there's a good reason why they're so much cheaper? Does the burst make the J-45 worth more? I always preferred the natural finish on the J-50 myself. If your looking for one of those actually, go for the $2500 one, its older, you can tell by the double soundhole purfling, which ended sometime during ‘62. All J45s came with an ADJ bridge starting in ‘61, before that it was optional, and I believe mine is ceramic, not plastic. Later ‘60s J45s had thicker “tone altering” pickguards, and eventually they even put plastic bridges on them, not just saddles! My ‘61 J45 I acquired last week or two has a 1 23/32” nut. I believe sometime after ‘61 (haven’t been able to pinpoint when yet) the braces got beefed up more and got a plywood bridge plate, which would be another value effecting difference. A J45 from ‘61 is exactly the same as a ‘57-60 with an adjustable saddle, with the exception of the color (cherry Sunburst didnt come out until ‘60) Edit: just realized the OP said that J45 had a plastic bridge, so apparently ‘62 is when they started using plastic bridges, which is why a ‘61 is worth considerably more. That ‘62 J50 from GC for $2500 looks to be the same as a ‘61, so that makes it a pretty good bargain unless I’m missing something Edited October 11, 2019 by TheLeadFlatpick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 8 hours ago, TheLeadFlatpick said: If your looking for one of those actually, go for the $2500 one, its older, you can tell by the double soundhole purfling, which ended sometime during ‘62. All J45s came with an ADJ bridge starting in ‘61, before that it was optional, and I believe mine is ceramic, not plastic. Later ‘60s J45s had thicker “tone altering” pickguards, and eventually they even put plastic bridges on them, not just saddles! My ‘61 J45 I acquired last week or two has a 1 23/32” nut. I believe sometime after ‘61 (haven’t been able to pinpoint when yet) the braces got beefed up more and got a plywood bridge plate, which would be another value effecting difference. A J45 from ‘61 is exactly the same as a ‘57-60 with an adjustable saddle, with the exception of the color (cherry Sunburst didnt come out until ‘60) Edit: just realized the OP said that J45 had a plastic bridge, so apparently ‘62 is when they started using plastic bridges, which is why a ‘61 is worth considerably more. That ‘62 J50 from GC for $2500 looks to be the same as a ‘61, so that makes it a pretty good bargain unless I’m missing something Sometime around 1960-'61, the necks got thinner in section (not nut width) compared to slightly earlier versions. Zombywoof here has a pretty good grip on the timeline for what he calls the "backless" necks. The electrics, at least the ES series, followed the same pattern, getting thinner in section beginning sometime in 1960. For the ES electrics, 1959 was the last year of the "fat necks", and modern '59 re-issues generally cite the "fat neck" as a selling point. You can recognize the plywood bridgeplates pretty easily, as they are larger, and the edges where visible clearly show multi-ply construction. I have one of them from 1968 in my spare parts box, along with the rosewood adj bridge that went with it. In that case, they were not "production line" parts, but were installed by the Kalamazoo repair shop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boyd Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 9 hours ago, TheLeadFlatpick said: If your looking for one of those actually, go for the $2500 one, Not looking for one, just curious about the pricing. I'm happy with my 1965 J-50, which I got at Guitar Center in 2015, it's in very good condition with the rosewood ADJ bridge. They had originally priced it at $3300 and it sat there for about 8 months, so they lowered the price to $2400. A couple months later, I offered $2000 and they accepted it without even haggling. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted October 11, 2019 Share Posted October 11, 2019 Knight Guitars certainly have a great rep. Even I have heard of them. It was not so much sound that was an issue for me but the feel of 1960s Gibsons with all the fast playing neck stuff. Then there were those design decisions which came out of left field such as plastic bridges and thick pickguards. On the other hand, concern with structure and warranty issues did not start trumping sound until 1968. So there is a pretty good window in that decade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted October 13, 2019 Share Posted October 13, 2019 If only 1 J-45/50 was allowed in here it probably wouldn't be an ex with the hollow plastic bridge. That said, it must be must underlined that my p-bridged ceramic saddled 1963er gives away some of the most intriguing sounds of the entire herd. Fingerpicked and fx capoed on the second, it's one of the guitars here which generates lOVE. Can't be said 'bout all acoustics, you know - necessarily not the real high-end ones either. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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