BluesKing777 Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) Hot off the luthier's bench! My 2002 Gibson J50 is back with a haircut, I mean, new bone nut, saddle, setup, frets filed etc and a full Baggs Anthem pickup system. This guitar now has no relationship with the one I gave him! It will take a bit longer to get used to it....there is a fraction less saddle with the new setup than I hoped but, you know, it works way better already than the 1" action before...... Photos - a little bit bright and sunny and glare there! BluesKing777. Edited May 13, 2020 by BluesKing777 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 That looks good. Very Nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucebubs Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 Nice job, I like it ... a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuestionMark Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 Looks great! QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinder Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 That looks like a pro job well done! I wouldn't worry about the saddle height. If the action wanders in the future you can always get a reset done, but for now that looks fine to me. If you contrast it with Martin saddle height (usually tiny) you're in the pink. I always find it takes me a few weeks to fall in love again with a guitar that someone else has done an extensive setup job on. The change in feel is often akin to taking your dog to the groomer's salon and being handed back a cat! I usually find myself tweaking it myself until I'm satisfied, but I'm an inveterate fiddler with setup, saddles, action, neck relief etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) I am still working (at home since theYear Dot) and every time I went to have a bite at that guitar, well......and about an hour before I normally finish work, there was a knock on the door and a tradesman we have been waiting for has turned up to measure the hail damage from January 15 on my veranda roof. No, yes, no, yes, not now. 15 minutes, he said. Hour later..... Walked dog, Boss talking on the phone when I came back- working on laptop and phone on the kitchen table! Nerves are frayed, but at last I got to my music room and got in half an hour on the J50 before having to take her to the shops......acoustically sensational, played all over the neck. Hooray!!! Anthem pickup sounds great but some fine tuning with the undersaddle versus TruMic to come! (I played it at the luthier’s for 5 seconds to check it, acoustically, plugged in array thing that sounded fabulous and threw the sound up to the roof and all around - I want one! I also showed him the settings I generally plug in with on a Maton 00! That is sensational in this array! Phew....big day, mentally.) BluesKing777. Edited May 13, 2020 by BluesKing777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 Glad she is back home where she belongs. Many years ago I remember uttering that same exclamation of relief when after an entire year stretching from one Columbus Day to the next, my 1942 J50 came home fully restored. It is a great feeling when all the anxiety of the waiting and the curiosity about changes the repair guy has wrought just evaporates into thin air. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 BK, do you reckon those individual closed-back tuners are original, or is there any evidence it originally had the typical three-on-a-plate version of those? The tuners you have are the same ones that are on my '06 1943 SJ re-issue. I love the look of your J-50. It looks more "vintage" than a lot of vintage guitars. The fact that it has some bumps and dings only makes it better, and you don't have to treat it like the Precious. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) ZW... Ha ha, I am almost ashamed to say it has been gone.......2 weeks. But it is a fabulously old school guy working alone and ‘it is ready when it is done’ and ‘the more you ring me, the longer........’ and in the past the wait has been interminable! Neck set on the 37 L-0 took forever and then I got him to make me a guitar! And then repaint the top 3 years later....Ha ha. Hee. Yi yi. (Play the crazy music). And Nick, I can’t help with the tuners as I didn’t know they were non standard. I can’t see any evidence of other marks. Will get out the magnifying glass tomorrow. And yes, this is more like the 56 I wanted than the 56! You know, with the yellowed binding, the darkened nut and saddle that was removed, the general craquelature, dark top and a few other details like being dry as a bone - unless Gibson did this for a reason in 2002, my guess is a Japanese person has given it a once through the Shou sugi ban to age it. It looks like my 59 LG3 detail...I have posted the 2 together before.... BluesKing777. Edited May 13, 2020 by BluesKing777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoSoxBiker Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 It looks awesome, BK! Congrats! It is sooooooooo funny about how long it takes to re-acclimate oneself to an improved guitar. Anything more than a string change and it takes me days to get used to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) I didn’t ask, but there is probably a few spots of glue under the new bone nut... previously, I think that takes quite a few months to ‘kick back in’. It has never had strings, the nut and saddle, and next thing BK is attempting some Lightnin Hopkins in the workshop on brand new strings, and it felt like a strange guitar when you pick it up in a shop. Frets had been worked on, so everything is a bit tight AND has loosened up a bit already...half hour of playing. We will get over it!😃 BluesKing777. Edited May 13, 2020 by BluesKing777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 I'm curious as to why the saddle was replaced. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 The nut and saddle were home made, amateur and had been soaked in tea or coffee to make them look old. But the nut slots were uneven, 3rd string slot way too low and the string touched the 1st fret. The saddle was too thin and leaned in the slot. He could have fixed it but he has ‘high density bone’ he likes to use for undersaddle pickups. I have a few of those saddles now! BluesKing777. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle fester Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 Nice BK, out of curiosity, what was your reasoning with going with the Baggs Anthem? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 The Anthem came with my Dove and it sounds good in my Boss VE8 and mixer. With in ear monitors or headphones, I can have the TruMic on full with no feedback and I found it very playable for my style. So I ordered one for the J50! BluesKing777. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul14 Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 I’ve got a 2001. You’re gonna love this guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vw1300 Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 4 hours ago, j45nick said: BK, do you reckon those individual closed-back tuners are original, or is there any evidence it originally had the typical three-on-a-plate version of those? The tuners you have are the same ones that are on my '06 1943 SJ re-issue. I love the look of your J-50. It looks more "vintage" than a lot of vintage guitars. The fact that it has some bumps and dings only makes it better, and you don't have to treat it like the Precious. I have a 2001 J-50, it has the individual white button closed back tuners like BK's - I got mine in 2010 but I don't see evidence on mine that it ever had anything else FWIW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 11 minutes ago, vw1300 said: I have a 2001 J-50, it has the individual white button closed back tuners like BK's - I got mine in 2010 but I don't see evidence on mine that it ever had anything else FWIW Thanks. For whatever reason, it seems like those were the tuners they were using then. Nothing wrong with them, they're just different from what would have been used in the late 1950s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul14 Posted May 13, 2020 Share Posted May 13, 2020 21 minutes ago, j45nick said: Thanks. For whatever reason, it seems like those were the tuners they were using then. Nothing wrong with them, they're just different from what would have been used in the late 1950s. The previous owner put Grover’s on mine. I replaced them with Kluson’s . 3 per side, with the larger washers, to cover up the mess on the face plate. Not exactly what was original, but still “ much” better. I asked if he had the originals, but he had tossed them. Oh well! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 (edited) Well, for a moment there it looked like my work software was going to need the techs to work on it for a while (last time was about 5 hours) and I would be a professional guitarist! (playing guitar while waiting for a software fix!!!). But the wind when out of the sails, so to speak, when they fixed it immediately. What is wrong with these people?😠 I suppose I will have to wait for lunchtime to play the J50..... Here are some old photos of the J50 with my 59 LG3, not very good photos but enough to see the similarities: BluesKing777. Edited May 13, 2020 by BluesKing777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncle fester Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 18 hours ago, BluesKing777 said: The Anthem came with my Dove and it sounds good in my Boss VE8 and mixer. With in ear monitors or headphones, I can have the TruMic on full with no feedback and I found it very playable for my style. So I ordered one for the J50! BluesKing777. Thank you, enjoy again! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 Good luck with the Anthem BK. I loved the way they sounded but I had issues. The first J200 I purchased in 2016 had to go back due to serious grounding issues. The second one, after a few months, developed sympathetic vibrations/rattles in the control module (the dials mostly it seemed) It was VERY audible playing unplugged.. Certain notes would send it off. you could hear this rattly over tone as it was played, not pleasant, I removed the anthem and put an Infinity in there. Didn't sound quite as good but, does not make sounds it should not make. From these two fails, I've VERY leery of the Anthem setup.. A shame really b/c it sounded very good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted May 14, 2020 Author Share Posted May 14, 2020 (edited) 9 hours ago, kidblast said: Good luck with the Anthem BK. I loved the way they sounded but I had issues. The first J200 I purchased in 2016 had to go back due to serious grounding issues. The second one, after a few months, developed sympathetic vibrations/rattles in the control module (the dials mostly it seemed) It was VERY audible playing unplugged.. Certain notes would send it off. you could hear this rattly over tone as it was played, not pleasant, I removed the anthem and put an Infinity in there. Didn't sound quite as good but, does not make sounds it should not make. From these two fails, I've VERY leery of the Anthem setup.. A shame really b/c it sounded very good. Yeah, I have read your posts about the Anthem before, thanks KB. The Anthem that came with my Dove (free!) needs the control unit pushed into the putty holding it to the guitar, or it will buzz against the wood. I lean my fingers in and press, and it is ok for a a few days. It is probably the disadvantage of having a 'removable system' - it wants to remove itself. I am needing some time working with the new one in my J50, adjust the blend a bit, etc... The very best pickup system, my opinion, is the one in my Matons - fantastic - pickup + condenser mic and great controls including sweepable mids to help get rid of the oinks. I haven't had any trouble and I have 3 Matons (808 size), but I am sure it can go wrong like anything made of stuff! You would make a large commitment putting a Maton AP5-Pro pickup in any of your best guitars though - it needs the bridge removed, a large slot cut in the top for installation, a hole cut in the guitar bout for the control/preamp and another hole in the lower bout for the guitar jack...... Hmmm, which guitar will I sacrifice? 😁 (it has 6 indiviual piezos!): https://reverb.com/au/item/2736396-maton-ap5-pro-complete-pickup-system BluesKing777. Edited May 15, 2020 by BluesKing777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 that's a pretty "involved" setup BK.. I'd hate the nightmares trying to plan that one out! 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelsegui Posted May 15, 2020 Share Posted May 15, 2020 That guitar is pretty much perfect in my book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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