Revelation Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 (edited) It seems everyone wanted a Martin guitar, and then perhaps a Taylor when they got more popular in the 2000's. Gibson had the reputation of a big full sound. The Everly Brothers J200's were the ones that stuck out in my mind. I actually saw them when they had their reunion tour at Jones Beach, NY with Albert Lee on guitar. The Hummingbird is the Gibson guitar that has caught my eye. Hopefully production can continue to move forward with the Covid-19 situation. Sam Ash, Guitar Center and Sweetwater are struggling to get Gibson (and other brands) in their stores. Edited January 30, 2021 by Revelation 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 (edited) Aaaaah. Jones Beach. I spent many idle days there. 100 years ago. Although I was pretty young and stupid - I never brought my Gibson. Come to think of it - in spite of all the Gidget movies, I don't think I ever saw anyone with a guitar at the beach back in the day. Today - we need lawyers to etch warning labels on everything to prevent us from doing stupid things. Saw a joke - "When I was young, the manual with my first motorcycle showed you how to take the engine apart. Today - the manual tells you not to drink the contents of the gas tank." Welcome Aboard. Yes - a smaller maker like Gibson Bozeman cannot begin to compete with either Marin or Taylor in Volume. Especially since the Gibbies have more 'hands-on" work. Edited January 31, 2021 by fortyearspickn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brucebubs Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 I ordered my Custom Historic 1957 SJ-200 in Feb last year - picked it up in October - pretty sure it's the only one here in Australia - seen it listed here but 'Not in Stock'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Comparing Gibson & Martin Acoustics is like comparing Gibson & Fender Electrics... Both make the greatest Guitars.. Yet they are very different.. My Acoustic Martins sound nothing like my Acoustic Gibsons.... I’m happy they both exist, are different sounding Guitars & love playing them.... The same is true of my Electric Gibsons & Fenders..... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 4 hours ago, Revelation said: It seems everyone wanted a Martin guitar, and then perhaps a Taylor when they got more popular in the 2000's. Gibson had the reputation of a big full sound. The Everly Brothers J200's were the ones that stuck out in my mind. I actually saw them when they had their reunion tour at Jones Beach, NY with Albert Lee on guitar. The Hummingbird is the Gibson guitar that has caught my eye. Hopefully production can continue to move forward with the Covid-19 situation. Sam Ash, Guitar Center and Sweetwater are struggling to get Gibson (and other brands) in their stores. You serious? Until Taylor got big it was either CFM, Gibby or every once and a while you would see a Guild. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuestionMark Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 11 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said: You serious? Until Taylor got big it was either CFM, Gibby or every once and a while you would see a Guild. I agree with you. That’s how I recall it. QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 1 hour ago, Sgt. Pepper said: You serious? Until Taylor got big it was either CFM, Gibby or every once and a while you would see a Guild. Also agree. CFM and Gibby for a long time. Gulild came on strong in the later 60's and 70's. "Boutique" guitars got popular in the 90s. I recall Taylor having a hard time being taken seriously until the last decade, especially since they've been paying more attention to their sound when Andy Powers took over guitar design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted January 30, 2021 Share Posted January 30, 2021 Historically, Gibson and Martin have been the dominant two names in the US steel-string acoustical guitar market. They were pretty much the only two guitar brands (other than Guild) you would consider when I started playing in the mid-1960s. Guild had its own following, and when it came to 12-strings, the bullet-proof Guilds might have been slightly more favored in the "folk" circles I was involved in. The folk rock group I worked with in the early 1970s featured a Hummingbird and a Martin dread for guitars. Most folkies and acoustic blues artists in the 1950s through 1970s played either Gibson or Martin acoustics, if they could afford them. All you have to do is look at album jackets and PR photos from that period to get the feel for it. When I bought my first beat-up old J-45 in 1966, I thought I had died and gone to heaven. I still feel that way 55 years later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ratherbwalkn Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 (edited) I had one of those 80's Cherry d-25s Guild, that thing was built like a tank, it didn't sound bad, just way over built, Im glad I had it, it was a good campfire (type) guitar. I sold it for a 93 d-16h which was as light as a feather. Edited January 31, 2021 by ratherbwalkn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvi Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 pretty sure Harmony sold a LOT of gits "in the day".... some good ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 I owned one Guild a JF-30 and it was a tank. I think it was heavier that my Gibby BB King or any LP I ever owned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 17 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said: You serious? Until Taylor got big it was either CFM, Gibby or every once and a while you would see a Guild. OP wrote: ...everyone wanted a Martin and Gibson was famous for their big full sound until the 2000s when Taylor began to catch people's attention. So Gibson and Martin were The Top Two until Taylor became a contender in the 2000s. Taylor's big surge occurred between 1999 and 2004. Expanded into Europe in 2011. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 (edited) When I came of musical age in the 1960s the Big Three were Martin, Gibson and Guild. We also, of course, had Harmony and Kay but as they could not break their image of producing "cheap" guitars suited only for beginners even their upper end offerings could not cross that line into "good" guitar territory. I keep coming back to the fact that with the advent of the internet and forums came a landslide of opinions. And opinions are based largely on anecdotal evidence with everyone wanting to prove they chose widely. That law that your guitar is always the best of the breed and the other guy's is the dog. For me the learning curve when it comes to guitars was pretty steep. Took me long time to figure out what worked best for how I approached an instrument and what wanted to pull out of it. Adding to the confusion was that would change. Moving from wanting a heavy woofy low end to preferring a more mid-rangey sound to favoring a dry and slightly compressed sound or whatever. Edited January 31, 2021 by zombywoof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Let's not forget the 7 years when everyone except Dylan and CSN&Y got Ovations. Gibson went on a wave around the millenium and for good reasons gained huge momentum the following decade - it's not over yet. . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 2 hours ago, E-minor7 said: Let's not forget the 7 years when everyone except Dylan and CSN&Y got Ovations. Gibson went on a wave around the millenium and for good reasons gained huge momentum the following decade - it's not over yet. . When did Jimmy Page or Steve Howe use and Ovation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 (edited) 35 minutes ago, Sgt. Pepper said: When did Jimmy Page or Steve Howe use and Ovation? Ovation guitars were a later entry into the market not showing up until I believe after 1965. As I was never a fan of Yes I do not have a clue what guitar Howe used. I have seen photos of Page playing a double neck Ovation acoustic. The acoustic guitar though Page is intimately associated with is the Harmony H1260. Story goes he worked out the songs for the first three Zep LPs with one and used it in the recording of Stairway. He went to a Gibson J200 which was owned by producer Mickey Most. Edited January 31, 2021 by zombywoof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 (edited) 16 minutes ago, Dave F said: Money whores. Zep ended in 79 or 80. Was Bonzo there? I just lost respect for Page. Edited January 31, 2021 by Sgt. Pepper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sgt. Pepper Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 14 minutes ago, Dave F said: Steve Howe looks weird. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, zombywoof said: Ovation guitars were a later entry into the market not showing up until I believe after 1965. As I was never a fan of Yes I do not have a clue what guitar Howe used. I have seen photos of Page playing a double neck Ovation acoustic. The acoustic guitar though Page is intimately associated with is the Harmony H1260. Story goes he worked out the songs for the first three Zep LPs with one and used it in the recording of Stairway. He went to a Gibson J200 which was owned by producer Mickey Most. And a D-28, if I'm not haze-lost. . 2 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said: When did Jimmy Page or Steve Howe use and Ovation? More or lesss, , , U know what 👁️ mean. It may in fact have been a whole decade - 1975 - 85. Apart from the fact the 80s decapitated the acoustic guitar. . Edited January 31, 2021 by E-minor7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 1 hour ago, Sgt. Pepper said: Steve Howe looks weird. I thought so too;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 31, 2021 Share Posted January 31, 2021 I recall somebody once saying that the Martin sound is what it is right out of the starting gate while with the Gibson sound takes a little more time to get used to and figure out what is going on with it. I do think though Gibsons get their fair share of attention. But they also do not seem to elicit the same ooohs and ahhhs you see when somebody posts about their Froggy, Taylor, Collings, Santa Cruz. Bourgeois, and yes Martin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 My personal choice is & have been for years are Martin, Gibson, Guild & Harmony... They are the Bar. I don’t get the interest in Taylor’s They ain’t got no soul... I do get the interest in Collings... They got mucho soul! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kidblast Posted February 1, 2021 Share Posted February 1, 2021 18 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said: Steve Howe looks weird. last time I saw a photo of Mr Howe he looked quite a bit like Sméagol.. this aint that.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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