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1960 J 200


JuanCarlosVejar

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Gee, I don't know. . . it might not cut through in the mix. 😀.

BK^777 was making an observation recently about the overuse of hammer-ons/hammer-offs. . . it made me more conscious of it. This clip should really get his attention.

A sweet old superjumbo. And- "look at the flame on that one".

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I always enjoy a nice J-200. Of course I believe there are only nice J-200’s. Never get tired of reading about, seeing, & hearing them. Is it true that they were Ren’s favorite guitars? If so I can relate. Back in my collage days ( another lifetime away) one of my friends bought a D-18, & another friend bought a J-200. It was the first time in my life I ever had the chance to play guitars of this quality. I couldn’t afford either one, but fell instantly in love with both. The J-200 is definitely my favorite at this point in my life, followed closely by my Dove.

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We own a 1960 J200.  It is truly a beast being the heaviest guitar in the house.  And it is certainly not what anyone would describe as a "loud" guitar.  But the sound is amazing.  Thick and rich mids with clean highs.   

As I have said before, I have always thought the key to these guitars is the bracing.  In 1955, Gibson returned to the pre-War "double X" bracing with an  second wide angle X brace above the soundhole only this time pairing it with a maple body instead of rosewood. 

As this is a good excuse to post a picture here be ours.  If you look closely you can see the ghost line of a second pickguard we had removed.  As the finish underneath had been removed my repair guy had to refinish the section.  

Gibson-J-200-1.jpg

Gibson-J-200-2.jpg

 

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On 3/8/2020 at 11:52 AM, frenchie1281734003 said:

Lovely looking J-200 Zombiewoof. Is she laminated back and sides, not that it matters?

 

Yup.  Not a whole lot of flame though  but a touch of both flame and quilt.  At the time Gibson made their own laminate.

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If 55 was the year of the double-X return this one should be without it. Not sure it sounds that way, , , but what a sweet sweet tone.

Let Hoffmann take over - 

Have to say I'm a liker of the guard-line. Turn some tulips on this one and it's home. 

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26 minutes ago, E-minor7 said:

Must be a mistake  - L is almost neighbour to the J and they mirror each other. . 

. . . or could just be a Germanian slip-

LDG8GlC.png

 

Real nice clip of the '52, though. Wonderful to watch the big superjumbo in action, with that characteristic Gibson sound.

Edited by 62burst
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18 minutes ago, E-minor7 said:

Hehe, , , good point - but 52 !?

Now, I'm slippin'.

 '54.

Funny, the demo clip with Hr. Tobias Hoffmann- so much for all that "greatest strummer guitar" business. . . was there any strumming in that clip? He played that guitar like it was a little L-00.

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2 hours ago, 62burst said:

Now, I'm slippin'.

'54.

Funny, the demo clip with Hr. Tobias Hoffmann- so much for all that "greatest strummer guitar" business. . . was there any strumming in that clip? He played that guitar like it was a little L-00.

Again you could have a point. My impression is that T.H. usually presents the guitars via his style rather than testing them by 'objective' octopusish approach.  

With this gentleman you get a set - to his advantage. Does it make him a lesser demonstrator ? Perhaps yes.  

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I've seen clips of SJ-200s being strummed.   I think this is the first 'demo' clip I've seen where  Blues were hi-lighted.  It certainly ads credibility to the "King of The Flat Tops'  versatility.  The SJ-200 ,initially in RW, was offered up in the Big Band era as a rhythm instrument before  Les Paul figured out how to electrify gits  .  Now, in maple, they are not meant to be The Loudest Kid On The Block.  ' Just ' a quadraphonic tone monster !

incidentally, yesterday in line at the grocery store,  leafed through a new LIFE series book on Bob Dylan.  (Not to read the articles, just to look at the pictures, Mom).  There was one with Bobster and a half dozen other guys on stage. He and 2 or 3 others were all playing Gibson Jumbos. Looked to be SJ200s.    Coincidence?  I think not.  ( Possibly someone here has already purchased the book, and can tell us who, what, where and why.) 🙂   

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Newbie here with my first Gibson on it's way.

New 2020 Gibson Custom Shop Historic Series 1957 SJ-200 in Vintage Sunburst.

I don't know if you've seen any of the clips from 2020NAMM but the work that Gibson have put into this new Historic Series is stunning.

Thermally Aged tops, very thin varnish and 'period correct' hard cases.

I'm in Australia and ETA is 4 to 6 months ... could even be more.

1vgIev6m.jpg

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On 3/9/2020 at 8:41 PM, PatriotsBiker said:

Does the nice tone and controlled volume characteristics apply across all production years, or is it just vintage models or certain construction processes and materials?


All years (Kalamazoo ,Nashville or Montana) can be a great guitar.

 

Even some 70’s SJ 200 were awesome 

 

here’s proof:

 


The clip starts off weird but goes into the song a few seconds into it.

 

You can tell it’s a 70’s because of the winged bridge.

 

 

JC

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21 minutes ago, Brucebubs said:

Newbie here with my first Gibson on it's way.

New 2020 Gibson Custom Shop Historic Series 1957 SJ-200 in Vintage Sunburst.

I don't know if you've seen any of the clips from 2020NAMM but the work that Gibson have put into this new Historic Series is stunning.

Thermally Aged tops, very thin varnish and 'period correct' hard cases.

I'm in Australia and ETA is 4 to 6 months ... could even be more.

1vgIev6m.jpg


Bruce ,

 

I was at NAMM and I played the Natural version of your guitar...  It was absolutely amazing .Everything you want in a maple guitar.

 

I also own an SJ 200 True Vintage (same specs as the one you’ve ordered minus the thermal top)[Gibson wasn’t offering thermal tops in 2007 when my guitar was built] ... It’s been wonderful owning this guitar.The binding  started out pristine white and now most of it has become an earwax  yellow.

 

 

JC

 

 

 

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18 minutes ago, JuanCarlosVejar said:


Bruce ,

 

I was at NAMM and I played the Natural version of your guitar...  It was absolutely amazing .Everything you want in a maple guitar.

 

I also own an SJ 200 True Vintage (same specs as the one you’ve ordered minus the thermal top)[Gibson wasn’t offering thermal tops in 2007 when my guitar was built] ... It’s been wonderful owning this guitar.The binding  started out pristine white and now most of it has become an earwax  yellow.

 

 

JC

 

 

 

Thanks for that feedback JC - I really wanted one of the 2016 limited edition 1957 SJ-200's but just couldn't get one here in Australia so I kind of gave up ... but when I saw the 2020 was almost identical - Adirondack  on the 2016 vs Sitka Spruce on the 2020 - I contacted the Gibson distributor here in Australia and they gave the OK to place an order with a dealer.

I have a maple Huss & Dalton MJ Custom that is a superb fingerstyle guitar and good strummer but I'm hoping my new SJ-200 is a superb strummer and a good fingerstyle guitar .. if that makes sense!

I also have a Guild F-412 and a surprisingly good Epiphone EJ-200 .. so I guess I love maple jumbo's.

 

XcyluGpl.jpg

 

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1 hour ago, Brucebubs said:

Newbie here with my first Gibson on it's way.

New 2020 Gibson Custom Shop Historic Series 1957 SJ-200 in Vintage Sunburst.

I'm in Australia and ETA is 4 to 6 months ... could even be more.

That's some serious anticipation. Of course, I don't believe you. "Pics, or . . . "

Wish you were just off my paper route- I could hook you up with a loaner. Maybe pick up an Epiphone EJ-200 to really feel the change up to the SJ-2.

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