rocky_raccoon Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 Anyone had the chance to play this guitar from the 2020 historic series? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted July 14, 2020 Share Posted July 14, 2020 I have one on order Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw3571 Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 I have one. It's a great guitar. I've purchased a few of the 2020 and this is probably my least favorite, but it's more that the other guitars are just exceptional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 51 minutes ago, jw3571 said: I have one. It's a great guitar. I've purchased a few of the 2020 and this is probably my least favorite, but it's more that the other guitars are just exceptional. I’m hoping for more. I’ve had a J45 Custom RW that was disappointing and a Honky Tonk Deuce RW that was the most comfortable guitar I’ve ever played but the sound didn't cut it. I’ve had a few other Gibson RW’s (J200, CJ165, ‘34 Jumbo RI, AJ) that didn’t do it for me. RW’s that did do it for me sound wise are the Stage Deluxe and Nick Lucas. I have a J45 Legend I like and I’m hoping this SJ will be its RW counterpart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocky_raccoon Posted July 15, 2020 Author Share Posted July 15, 2020 14 hours ago, jw3571 said: I've purchased a few of the 2020 Which ones did you get and how would you rate them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 15, 2020 Share Posted July 15, 2020 Are these the ones with the terrified top? I have never played a Gibson with that particular feature and am curious as to how close it gets you to the parched dryness and clarity of a guitar which has hung around for nearly 80 years. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw3571 Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 I purchased the following, I'll list them in order of my preference for them. SJ 200 Pre War, 1957 SJ200 Original Jumbo 1960's Hummingbird 1942 Southern Jumbo They are all really fantastic, i've owned a number of Gibson acoustics over the year but these are all awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 (edited) 16 hours ago, zombywoof said: Are these the ones with the terrified top? I have never played a Gibson with that particular feature and am curious as to how close it gets you to the parched dryness and clarity of a guitar which has hung around for nearly 80 years. Just my own experience, I opted to keep my J45 Legend and move my vintage 1942 J45. I opted to keep my vintage LG1 and move the RI version. Both cases, the RI's impressed me enough to seek out an original. Other newer guitars that impress me that would tempt me to gamble on a vintage are my L5 and L00. I think the modern guitars are more consistent with less issues (if you find one you like) where as the vintage market is a hit or miss. Being 80 years old can be welled played, abused or an unplayed closet queen. I'm sure the results will vary. If you find a good one it's a real treasure but how many frogs are you willing to kiss? I've got warts all over my lips. I currently have two frogs at the luthier ('40 Recording King and a '52 J45) and one shiny new torrified top on order. Edited July 16, 2020 by Dave F Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leonard McCoy Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 5 hours ago, Dave F said: Just my own experience, I opted to keep my J45 Legend and move my vintage 1942 J45. I opted to keep my vintage LG1 and move the RI version. Both cases, the RI's impressed me enough to seek out an original. Other newer guitars that impress me that would tempt me to gamble on a vintage are my L5 and L00. I think the modern guitars are more consistent with less issues (if you find one you like) were as the vintage market is a hit or miss. Being 80 years old cna be welled played, abused or an unplayed closet queen. I'm sure the results will vary. If you find a good one it's a real treasure but how many frogs are you willing to kiss? I've got warts all over my lips. I currently have two frogs at the luthier ('40 Recording King and a '52 J45) and one shiny new torrified top on order. True and to the point. As with any vintage instrument, it always feels like a gamble for the one lucky drop of THE instrument that may, or may not, exist somewhere or only in one's imagination. The hunt may be fulfilling, for a time, in and of itself, but once the instrument materializes at your door step you will most certainly be in for a first disappointment. There are exceptions of course, but even if your luthier is skilled enough to straighten the instrument out, it involves considerable time and monetary effort, and you will be rolling the dice again on the final result, to fulfill the expectations you built up for so long during the hunt. Out of these reasons I will gladly stick to the modern Gibson Custom Shop and be more than content doing so with the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62burst Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 16 hours ago, zombywoof said: Are these the ones with the terrified top? I have never played a Gibson with that particular feature and am curious as to how close it gets you to the parched dryness and clarity of a guitar which has hung around for nearly 80 years. Torrefied is nice, but it's still a luck-of-the-draw thing, as they're all individuals, too. All of the other things, not just the top aging, that are going on with an octogenarian guitar also come into play, imho. But evaluating old guitars that have many cracks, repaired, or yet-to-be-repaired, and expecting to draw a meaningful conclusion, is folly. Along with the each-as-individual thing, toasted top is nice, but it's not a must-have. And it's kind of hard to evaluate a guitar before and after that toasting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 16, 2020 Share Posted July 16, 2020 (edited) 13 hours ago, Dave F said: Just my own experience, I opted to keep my J45 Legend and move my vintage 1942 J45. I opted to keep my vintage LG1 and move the RI version. Both cases, the RI's impressed me enough to seek out an original. Other newer guitars that impress me that would tempt me to gamble on a vintage are my L5 and L00. I think the modern guitars are more consistent with less issues (if you find one you like) where as the vintage market is a hit or miss. Being 80 years old can be welled played, abused or an unplayed closet queen. I'm sure the results will vary. If you find a good one it's a real treasure but how many frogs are you willing to kiss? I've got warts all over my lips. I currently have two frogs at the luthier ('40 Recording King and a '52 J45) and one shiny new torrified top on order. I am the opposite in that I owned originals and then started eyeing RIs. It was not as much choice but necessity as once upon time these guitars were just "used" and often cost less than a bright new shiny one. As I really did not know a good guitar from a can of tuna the old lumber was probably initially wasted on me. I would agree that modern guitars are more consistent certainly than anything Gibson produced particularly prior to the early-1950s. As a general rule though, once you get any initial issues on an old guitar resolved, I have found them no more troublesome than a new one. So that is not something I worry about. Based on what I have here , my '42 J50 still sits on top. While I know it was luck of the draw, I have not played any J45/50 old or new that captures the voice of this guitar. This is the guitar that the second generation luthier who fixed it up for me said his father used to call "a once in a blue moon Gibson" meaning its voice is a marriage between an Advanced Jumbo and a J45. Anyway, I guess I was just curious as to close a nuked top gets you to the parched dryness and clarity a guitar with 75 or 80 under its belt has. Edited July 16, 2020 by zombywoof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rocky_raccoon Posted July 16, 2020 Author Share Posted July 16, 2020 On 7/14/2020 at 7:48 PM, Dave F said: I have one on order let me know how it sounds when you get it. I’m thinking about swapping my Martin hd28 for one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted July 17, 2020 Share Posted July 17, 2020 (edited) 8 hours ago, zombywoof said: Anyway, I guess I was just curious as to close a nuked top gets you to the parched dryness and clarity a guitar with 75 or 80 under its belt has. While I played some J45 Vintages at the shop but don't own a Gibson with toasty top, I own 2 other makes with terrifiedness. One is my Taylor 717e BE slope shoulder dread, which has no old version to compare the top to as it has only just been invented! The other is my Martin OM18 Authentic and I have never seen or played the original 1933 model...and unlikely to ever buy at approx $40K 😁 Both are fabulous builds, fabulous tone but I doubt anyone else would mistake them for being 'old'. As soon as I get to play a reissue J45 Banner, I will let you know! But my Blues King L-00 sounds not one thing like my 1937 L-00! BluesKing777. Edited July 17, 2020 by BluesKing777 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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