SJ 200 Historic Rosewood demo

[JuanCarlosVejar]

Folks,

Check it out:

 

 

JC

[Brucebubs]

Nice .. I'm hoping you find a demo of the  new 2020 maple1957 SJ-200 soon too.

I've had mine on order since Feb 6 this year but boy! a lot has happened since then!

Here's a picture of one for sale at Wildwood Guitars.

Edited June 18, 2020 by Brucebubs

[j45nick]

Listening to that demo of the rosewood version makes me feel like that's the right wood for this guitar. I generally struggle to warm to maple versions, unless you are beating up on it like Pete Townshend.

[E-minor7]

This guitar got a friend, , , will probably have a whole lot more soon.  How I wish those blue dots was green. 

Btw. played an all original maple (T-O-M) 67er the other day - such a giant to sit yourself down with. Sounded smooth - but loud, , , not really. . 

[Paul14]

55 minutes ago, Brucebubs said:

Nice .. I'm hoping you find a demo of the  new 2020 maple1957 SJ-200 soon too.

I've had mine on order since Feb 6 this year but boy! a lot has happened since then!

Here's a picture of one for sale at Wildwood Guitars.

I’m with you on this one. I have a friend who owns a custom rw J-200. Nice guitar, but I prefer Maple! Not so many years ago, I had the attitude, that if a guitar wasn’t rw, I wasn’t interested. Not sure what happened but, my taste changed. I have a dozen guitars now, only one is rw.

[slimt]

These are very much the same as the 94 Centennials   And there really was not a bad guitar in the bunch.   The Montana Specials from 92 were excellent.  

[jw3571]

I have this guitar and the 1957 SJ, they are both fantastic.  

[Brucebubs]

20 minutes ago, jw3571 said:

I have this guitar and the 1957 SJ, they are both fantastic.  

Please tell us more and post some pictures if you have some - love to see them!

[BluesKing777]

3 hours ago, Brucebubs said:

Please tell us more and post some pictures if you have some - love to see them!

 

Is this the same one I showed you a while back, Bruce?

It was sold and must have been returned? Problems maybe? Or a whole other guitar?

Don't see many!

 

https://guitaremporium.com.au/collections/acoustic-guitars/products/gibson-sj-200-historic-collection-sunburst-2005

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2020 by BluesKing777

[Brucebubs]

26 minutes ago, BluesKing777 said:

 

Is this the same one I showed you a while back, Bruce?

It was sold and must have been returned? Problems maybe? Or a whole other guitar?

Don't see many!

 

https://guitaremporium.com.au/collections/acoustic-guitars/products/gibson-sj-200-historic-collection-sunburst-2005

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

 

I think that's a different one - the newer 2020 Historic Series 1957 SJ-200's have 'thermally aged' sitka spruce tops and very thin varnish.

[BoSoxBiker]

That sounded great. I know EM7 was speaking of a different guitar, but this one left me thinking the same word. "Smooth"  It's quite something after only hearing only my Maple SJ-200.

[62burst]

20 hours ago, Paul14 said:

I’m with you on this one. I have a friend who owns a custom rw J-200. Nice guitar, but I prefer Maple! Not so many years ago, I had the attitude, that if a guitar wasn’t rw, I wasn’t interested. Not sure what happened but, my taste changed. I have a dozen guitars now, only one is rw.

There was a major rosewood (maybe Sgt Pepper served under the Major?) thing going on for me until a few years ago. Almost all came and went. The first to go was via an accidental a/b with (and Brucebubs, didn't this superjumbo escalation for you start with an Epi EJ-200?). . .  the purchase of Epiphone's laminate version of this guitar as an experiment. The Epi was easy on the wallet, and a great way to get close to the sound, on the cheap. If Epiphone added a slightly more expensive version of the EJ-200 with non-plastic inlay, it might've ended there. But playing that guitar next to the rosewood Martin D-41, the maple, and it's superjumbo body shape couldn't have made the difference more clear. Emphasis on the "clear". As in clarity.

To have the chance to have rosewood, maple, and mahogany to spend a period of time with, the rosewood guitars began to sound as if their voice was coming through something before it got out of the soundhole. But never say never. Body shapes, like the 000-28VS, the guitar's setup, and wood selection like the OP guitar Juan Carlos introduced us to, can give the reminder to not generalize. The torrefied wood combined with the Adirondack top/ebony 'board & bridge gives the one that Milo is playing for TFOA an almost AJ-like edge. Anyone thinking that the 4-ribbon bridge decreases dynamics should give a listen to the above TFOA demo.  (Pick strike in the demo @ t = 1:00? No worries; is that a bound soundhole?)

17 hours ago, jw3571 said:

I have this guitar and the 1957 SJ, they are both fantastic.  

Maybe you could share your impressions of how these sound compared to each other (?)

1 hour ago, PatriotsBiker said:

That sounded great. I know EM7 was speaking of a different guitar, but this one left me thinking the same word. "Smooth"  It's quite something after only hearing only my Maple SJ-200.

The word "Lush" often comes to mind when listening to the maple '200. 

Edited June 19, 2020 by 62burst

[Brucebubs]

Yes, my appreciation for maple actually started with my Guild F-412 then built with my relatively inexpensive EJ-200 and was solidly confirmed with a Huss & Dalton MJ Custom.

The H&D is a superb finger-style guitar that also strums well - I'm hoping the SJ-200 will be a superb strummer that does finger-style well too.

Edited June 19, 2020 by Brucebubs

[E-minor7]

2 hours ago, 62burst said:

To have the chance to have rosewood, maple, and mahogany to spend a period of time with, the rosewood guitars began to sound as if their voice was coming through something before it got out of the soundhole.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

Maybe you could share your impressions of how these sound compared to each other (?)

 

 

Eeehh, curiosity awoken - could you elaborate. 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Idea excellentos

[62burst]

1 hour ago, E-minor7 said:

 

Eeehh, curiosity awoken - could you elaborate. 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Idea excellentos

It was most notable when played against the mahogany. Mahogany is honest. Pure. The 'rose, on the day of the sit-down, had the sound difference of when you hear, just slightly, someone speaking through their CoronaV mask. The deal was done.

[E-minor7]

4 minutes ago, 62burst said:

It was most notable when played against the mahogany. Mahogany is honest. Pure. The 'rose, on the day of the sit-down, had the sound difference of when you hear, just slightly, someone speaking through their CoronaV mask. The deal was done.

 

A reason there to ask - the rosewood wore a mask. 
Have to add I find the difference between the 2 woods as fascinating as mystifying. I enjoy and play both - but everytime my rationale tells rose is the king, the hog makes me sing. 

Why it unfolds in this way remains impossible to figure. Perhaps it's all a placebo-type-effect, , , after all these years behind the D-35. Or maybe I'm a deep-down-#2 supporter - just like when watching Le Mans or English soccer as a kid. 

[62burst]

13 minutes ago, E-minor7 said:

 

A reason there to ask - the rosewood wore a mask. 
Have to add I find the difference between the 2 woods as fascinating as mystifying. I enjoy and play both - but everytime my rationale tells rose is the king, the hog makes me sing. 

Yes, Rose wore the mask.

Maybe mahogany doesn't compete with vocals- as Rose, with all of those overtones...

Why it unfolds in this way remains impossible to figure. . . 

" . . .  all these years behind the D-35. Or maybe I'm a deep-down-#2 supporter - just like when watching Le Mans or English soccer as a kid. "

🙂.  Sentimental wood. But all of the above I'd mentioned never stopped the likes of the most harmonious CSN and sometimes Y.

 

Edited June 20, 2020 by 62burst

[E-minor7]

5 minutes ago, 62burst said:

Maybe mahogany doesn't compete with vocals- as Rose, with all of those overtones...

 

 

Too many overtones is a mess. I introduced the ghost-tone-issue on these pages a couple of years ago :

When a terrific guitar - rose, hog, maple, whatever - makes that high A distort if not destroy a plain G-chord.

[BoSoxBiker]

I went on a Youtube journey yesterday, sampling a bunch of SJ Demos. There was a lot of variation from demo to demo, as would be expected. I then circled back to the OP's posted video with the RW. It gave me a lot more appreciation for Rosewood and Maple, yes, but the real winner was the SJ-200 itself. I know it's not loud in the neo-traditional sense of bright, loud projection of tone, but it is still a powerful monster sitting in one's lap. Thinking about it a bit, it takes a ton of power to push out low end warmth compared to brighter tones. Think of the old tweeter and sub-woofer purposes and how much more a subwoofer needs to do it's job. This guitar is pushing out a balanced, well managed low-mid warmth in a similar fashion to how some guitar push out bright. That's power you feel as much as you feel the power of a booming and bright D-41(or D-28 and D-35) and the brilliance that is the great HB.

What a great guitar! 

15 hours ago, 62burst said:

The word "Lush" often comes to mind when listening to the maple '200. 

I have an appreciation for the use of "lush" to describe the SJ Maple that I didn't have until this week and the work I put into mine. Nothing really changed in my description before this week, but now it's more evident. Eliminating some raised fret overtones and improving my nut slots this past week has learning a whole new layer of appreciation for the SJ. It is truly "Lush", as you say.

[JuanCarlosVejar]

I think this is a similar situation to the prewar Herringbone/Scalloped D 28’s vs the postwar No Herringbone/Straightbraced D 28’s “which is better argument” .Both have a place and so do both versions of the Super Jumbo.

Pete Townsend showed us that if you have a constant strum/rhythm on a Maple SJ you can achieve a bunch of volume.In essence what he does is not allow the notes to die.

I rarely play with a constant strum ... I like to use my  maple Super Jumbo almost in the opposite way ,with separation between notes and  to the point where the notes are like ghosts because they fade away quick.

I’ve never heard any other wood  with this ”ghostly“quality  and for that reason maple remains my favorite guitar timber.But I always say that if I was to live out my days on a desert island a Hummingbird would be the weapon of choice because mahogany has more variety.
 

 

JC