jt Posted April 28, 2020 Share Posted April 28, 2020 (edited) 18 hours ago, tpbiii said: Hey, put a picture or two of yours up. As much as these were discussed in the early days, I never got to see how close the were. I think they are adjacent batches -- I don't remember without checking. Let's pick, -Tom Here's mine, Tom, back at its birthplace a few months ago. It's one batch away from yours. (Yours is 7705H, right? Mine is 7706H). And, also in the old factory, with singer Jennifer Nettles, to whom I've loaned the guitar (I loaned the other guitar, a went-to-WWII SJ to Emily Saliers). Edited April 28, 2020 by jt Added image 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 (edited) So nobody can measure the nut of their (real) vintage Banner LG2? Anyway, the list price of the "Historic Series' (new) 1942 Banner LG-2 with 1.69" nut etc - is $4,299 at Sweetwater - if I could buy it direct, can't, it would arrive at my door by Fedex at about $AU7,222..... (Travel, Customs, bank fee, insurance, dollar exchange rate - all added). And surprise of all surprises, I have found on our Australian Ebay a 1942-3 Gibson LG2 Banner (real one, with 'chunky neck') for $AU7,500! Hmm, big choice, eh? https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1942-Gibson-LG2-Banner-Logo/293299349137?hash=item444a00e691:g:K78AAOSwpyBdtSVn BluesKing777. Edited April 29, 2020 by BluesKing777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucebubs Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 39 minutes ago, BluesKing777 said: So nobody can measure the nut of their (real) vintage Banner LG2? Anyway, the list price of the "Historic Series' (new) 1942 Banner LG-2 with 1.69" nut etc - is $4,299 at Sweetwater - if I could buy it direct, can't, it would arrive at my door by Fedex at about $AU7,222..... (Travel, Customs, bank fee, insurance, dollar exchange rate - all added). And surprise of all surprises, I have found on our Australian Ebay a 1942-3 Gibson LG2 Banner (real one, with 'chunky neck') for $AU7,500! Hmm, big choice, eh? https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1942-Gibson-LG2-Banner-Logo/293299349137?hash=item444a00e691:g:K78AAOSwpyBdtSVn BluesKing777. Free courier, full refund if not happy with the guitar, seller has 245 transactions with 100% rating - those are good signs, it's all up to you now! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 2 hours ago, Brucebubs said: Free courier, full refund if not happy with the guitar, seller has 245 transactions with 100% rating - those are good signs, it's all up to you now! Just the small matter of $7,500..... Currently investing the princely sum of $100 to get my 2002 J50 repaired and playing better with a new fat high density bone nut and saddle installed. And that will probably be all in this financial climate. I will see (hear) how well that goes and then get some other stuff done. Frets? Anthem pickup? BluesKing777. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucebubs Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 22 minutes ago, BluesKing777 said: Just the small matter of $7,500..... Currently investing the princely sum of $100 to get my 2002 J50 repaired and playing better with a new fat high density bone nut and saddle installed. And that will probably be all in this financial climate. I will see (hear) how well that goes and then get some other stuff done. Frets? Anthem pickup? BluesKing777. That's a good price for that work. I can make saddles easy enough but nuts require skills and tools I don't have. I had Phil Haworth make a new bone nut for my Martin Grand J12-40E Special 12-string a few years back and he did an amazing job. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 (edited) 43 minutes ago, Brucebubs said: That's a good price for that work. I can make saddles easy enough but nuts require skills and tools I don't have. I had Phil Haworth make a new bone nut for my Martin Grand J12-40E Special 12-string a few years back and he did an amazing job. The nut on my J50 is a full home made shocker! The G string slot is way too low and buzzing while the others are uneven and all over the place. I could have done that! There was someone here that does nuts of perfection and a work of art with all corners rounded and polished and slots beautifully done. Can't remember who it was... My new one won't be that nice but it will be professional. (read that as done well but in a hurry😠) I was looking and playing it before and it may not need a saddle once the nut is replaced and neck tweaked, just a file and a re-seat of the saddle with the broken pickup removed. Previous owner left a battery to rot in the holder and when I changed the battery, the terminals were fused to the battery and one broke off! I snipped the rest off, purchased a new connector but the pickup still doesn't work. A 2002 Fishman stock Gibson undersaddle - out it goes! I will get the guitar playing better, all going well and then look getting a nice pickup later (after the apocalypse). BluesKing777. Edited April 29, 2020 by BluesKing777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 (edited) So, the deed is done......2002 J50 taken to luthier, coming up - a nice fat bone nut and a nice fat one saddle and a tweak to make it play nice. We both banged on it a bit at the workshop, hard to do as there is no room to sit and play, but he said he thinks it has ‘a big sound’ and it should come up great. He also said it was ‘surprising to see me playing it near the 12th fret with that action!’ A week or so of sleepless nights coming up! 😎 And the LG2 is forgotten. BluesKing777. Edited April 29, 2020 by BluesKing777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 9 hours ago, BluesKing777 said: So nobody can measure the nut of their (real) vintage Banner LG2? Anyway, the list price of the "Historic Series' (new) 1942 Banner LG-2 with 1.69" nut etc - is $4,299 at Sweetwater - if I could buy it direct, can't, it would arrive at my door by Fedex at about $AU7,222..... (Travel, Customs, bank fee, insurance, dollar exchange rate - all added). And surprise of all surprises, I have found on our Australian Ebay a 1942-3 Gibson LG2 Banner (real one, with 'chunky neck') for $AU7,500! Hmm, big choice, eh? https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1942-Gibson-LG2-Banner-Logo/293299349137?hash=item444a00e691:g:K78AAOSwpyBdtSVn BluesKing777. The grain of that top looks like mahogany, not spruce. It appears to be a replaced bridge. That also looks it might be one of the gum fretboards, rather than rosewood. Not saying these things are bad, but they may change the way you look at it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted April 29, 2020 Share Posted April 29, 2020 12 hours ago, j45nick said: The grain of that top looks like mahogany, not spruce. It appears to be a replaced bridge. That also looks it might be one of the gum fretboards, rather than rosewood. Not saying these things are bad, but they may change the way you look at it The price changed the way I looked at it! I could get 7 used local guitars and 3 used Gibbies at the pawn shop for that!😁 What do you mean by 'gum' fretboard? And I did think it looked like a mahogany top on the photo, but they said it was sitka. And no specs. And still no nut measurements from the Banner LG2 owners.....but I am going with 1 3/4" inch PLUS and a big fat neck if no trussrod..... BluesKing777. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 49 minutes ago, BluesKing777 said: What do you mean by 'gum' fretboard? And I did think it looked like a mahogany top on the photo, but they said it was sitka. And no specs. And still no nut measurements from the Banner LG2 owners.....but I am going with 1 3/4" inch PLUS and a big fat neck if no trussrod..... BluesKing777. Apparently, Gibson substituted "gumwood" or rubberwood or something similar for fretboards when rosewood got short during the banner era. I may not have the wood species right. The top on the banner LG looks like mahogany to me, and I've looked at and worked with a lot of mahogany and spruce over the last 50 years. I don't care what the listing says. A lot of people would just assume a sunburst top on a Gibson is spruce. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, j45nick said: Apparently, Gibson substituted "gumwood" or rubberwood or something similar for fretboards when rosewood got short during the banner era. I may not have the wood species right. The top on the banner LG looks like mahogany to me, and I've looked at and worked with a lot of mahogany and spruce over the last 50 years. I don't care what the listing says. A lot of people would just assume a sunburst top on a Gibson is spruce. I like a good mahogany top for a focused and bluesy tone....hmmm, oh no. Sold a few I had when I bought a 44 Martin 0-17 - the newer mahogany tops need a good 70 years or so to break in! I had already decided to lose the new ones and keep the 44 and as a doublecheck, asked the Better Half what she thought and played them all - "That one, no contest!", she said. I have a National in all mahogany but that is a laminate top that is very thick. And of course, Murphy's Law says that the LG2 for sale locally has "gumwood" which is probably not even on the CITES banned list, instead of the usual Brazilian Rosewood fretboard and bridge of the old Gibbies that is fairly impossible to import, or easily let me say........ Oh, oh.....😁 Though a clever blues picker that wanted an all mahogany, should probably buy the fabulous 12 fret Waterloo WL-12Mh, just delightful and warm and luscious and...cheap (well, cheaper) and replaceable....I mean, "Have a listen to this!!!" as Bill Collings walked around exclaiming! This is the opposite of the thread title - 'another historic gone wrong' - this has everything going right..... https://www.waterlooguitars.com/wl-12-mh/ BluesKing777. Edited April 30, 2020 by BluesKing777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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