36 J 35 Historic vs an actual 38 J 35

[JuanCarlosVejar]

Folks ,

Check it out:

 

It seems to me the reissue sounded almost exactly like the 38 (the experience might vary in person) .

 

Great job Gibson !

 

JC

 

 

[bobouz]

Wow - Very impressively close!

Thanks for posting, JC.

[kelly campbell]

Cool stuff...I often have wondered how any re-issue or historic would compare to an original.  thanks

[zombywoof]

Cool! And thanks.  A noticeable difference between the two guitars.   A late-1930s three non-scalloped tone bar J35 remains at the top of my X'mas wish list.

[Hall]

Very close and nice.  Thank you Juan.   Wish they didn't so darn much.    

 

[BoSoxBiker]

Nice! Sounds like the differences are similar to going from one guitar to the next of the same make & model on a wall. One's got more mids while one's got thicker low end. Probably predictable, too, with the older being wide open. Same sort of sound, though.

I wonder how much closer to the 1938 open sound it would be if Gibson was to make an all torrified version? Meaning more than just the top being baked. I've heard a few other makes' efforts online done that way and was very impressed. Much bigger $$....

[zombywoof]

4 hours ago, PatriotsBiker said:

Nice! Sounds like the differences are similar to going from one guitar to the next of the same make & model on a wall. One's got more mids while one's got thicker low end. Probably predictable, too, with the older being wide open. Same sort of sound, though.

I wonder how much closer to the 1938 open sound it would be if Gibson was to make an all torrified version? Meaning more than just the top being baked. I've heard a few other makes' efforts online done that way and was very impressed. Much bigger $$....

 

To my ears the '38 has thicker more pronounced mids while the '36 Historic has more upper end cut.  

I also do not think any amount of baking is going to make much difference.   A '38 J35 was structurally a very different beast than the modern take.   Tom though who has spent far more time with J35s than me is the one who could do a much better job of discussing differences

Edited September 7, 2020 by zombywoof

[Dave F]

4 hours ago, zombywoof said:

 

To my ears the '38 has thicker more pronounced mids while the '36 Historic has more upper end cut.  

I also do not think any amount of baking is going to make much difference.   A '38 J35 was structurally a very different beast than the modern take.   Tom though who has spent far more time with J35s than me is the one who could do a much better job of discussing differences

I wish I lived close enough to Tom to  compare some that I've had/have.

Old vs. New I've done twice.

'42 J45 vs J45 Legend, the Legend won. The '42 had a rough life and was not a stellar example.

'42 Hog Top LG1 vs 2013 LG2 Banner RI Mahogany, the '42 had a rough life but luckily was all original and only needed a few repairs. The '42 won.

 

 

[BoSoxBiker]

8 hours ago, zombywoof said:

 

To my ears the '38 has thicker more pronounced mids while the '36 Historic has more upper end cut.  

I also do not think any amount of baking is going to make much difference.   A '38 J35 was structurally a very different beast than the modern take.   Tom though who has spent far more time with J35s than me is the one who could do a much better job of discussing differences

Agreed on what you hear. I do wonder why the higher mids (the thicker bright area) did not have more to say from the 36 Historic.

[tpbiii]

All right -- I'll bite.

Most of you know I actually have a 1936 all original J-35 -- although it was not called that until later.  Mine was called a Trojan first and then a JUMBO35.  Mine is a bit iconic because it is the only Trojan actually identified by name and FON in the shipping ledgers.

I read all I could about the reissue -- it looks like a nice guitar, but they missed by a mile in MHO.  First, they said they used AJ bracing -- HUH?  That is quite different -- the angle on the AJ X is larger.  And that is a big deal!  Here are a couple of Henkograms of my 36 AJ and 36 Trojan.  Remember my AJ is a rare 3 tone bar example.

Also, the 1936 Trojan/J-35 is a very different guitar from 1938 J-35.  The 36 models had basically a deeper JUMBO body while the 38 has an AJ body.

I don't know why they do this -- there is nothing wrong with the way a 36 Trojan/Jumbo35 sounds.👍

http://vintageacousticinsruments.blogspot.com/
http://www.vimeo.com/tpbiii

 

 

Best,

 

-Tom

Edited September 8, 2020 by tpbiii

[zombywoof]

An interesting example of how different ears can hear very different things.  If anything though Gibson  would have been closer to the mark had they dubbed this latest version of the J35 a 1941 or 1942 Historic.  But I guess 1936 sounds a lot sexier.