Best J45 specs?

[Robzoid]

So, I don't know how much the J45's specs have varied over the years, but I'm curious, if you were able to design your own custom J45, what specs would you choose for the best tone?

[egoidealmusic]

I'm guessing most folks would say the banner years, but a lot really like the mid 50s as well.

[Sgt. Pepper]

12 minutes ago, egoidealmusic said:

I'm guessing most folks would say the banner years, but a lot really like the mid 50s as well.

There are probably lots of J-45 specs. What specs do you want?

[zombywoof]

I prefer to stay away from this one because specs covers a whole lot of things from bracing carve to nut width.  Now if I was asked what specs I would change on the J50 I own that I could answer.  Hint - they have nothing to do with sound but were also never found on any J45 to roll out of Kalamazoo, Nashville, or Bozeman.  

Edited May 17, 2022 by zombywoof

[Sgt. Pepper]

Best is an opinion and personal to you.

Edited May 17, 2022 by Sgt. Pepper

[egoidealmusic]

Previous responders are exactly right, but I think (key phrase) the question is: if you could have a custom built J-45 what specs would you go for?

[Sgt. Pepper]

41 minutes ago, egoidealmusic said:

Previous responders are exactly right, but I think (key phrase) the question is: if you could have a custom built J-45 what specs would you go for?

There ya go. Gotta ask the right question.

[Murph]

My 2003 Rosewood/Ebony.

It's been the perfect blend of tone and punch.

[zombywoof]

Bwahaha.  Yes, I can build the perfect J45.  As a start I say in terms of sound best to just leave my '42 J50 alone as I would not change a blessed thing which has anything to do with its tone.  So, with that not being up for discussion, for me it comes down to feel.  My thing though is the specs I would go with in terms of creating the perfect for me guitar are those which as far as  know have never graced any J45 to have rolled out of Kalamazoo, Nashville or Bozeman but can be found on other models.   So if I were to come up with the perfect J45 I would scream out to the heavens to give me the 2 3/8" string spacing at the bridge my L1 has.  And even though the fat round shoulder C neck on my J50 is a slice of heaven there is always room for a bit of improvement.  So I would go with my all-time favorite Gibson neck which is that on my L3 .  While giving up nothing to the J50 in terms of thickness, it combines a 1 3/16" nut with a soft V carve.  I would then top the whole thing off by again turning to the L3 and go with a hand rubbed shellac spirit varnish finish.

Edited May 18, 2022 by zombywoof

[fortyearspickn]

OP -   So, is short scale, hog , slope shouldered a given?   Are you just talking about 'everything else' ?   

[RBSinTo]

My j45 suits me just fine as is, and sounds very nice.

Spruce/mahogany, and it even came with the coveted custom broken and re-glued headstock option, so except that I would prefer if it was blond instead of sunburst, there would be no other custom changes I could possibly desire.

RBSinTo

 

[Hall]

"Jest neber bind me neck Boss, dat is all I ask!"

[egoidealmusic]

This makes me wonder how many folks--if you were building your dream J-45--would go with the torrified top?  If money was no object, is that something you'd go for or would you go for the standard, non-baked top?

[Dave F]

1 hour ago, egoidealmusic said:

This makes me wonder how many folks--if you were building your dream J-45--would go with the torrified top?  If money was no object, is that something you'd go for or would you go for the standard, non-baked top?

Based on my personal experience, I would go with the baked top. I had one of Martin's and I have two of the Gibson baked top.

I have a few vintage and have moved a lot of vintage ones. It took me a while to figure out what a good vintage sounds like and I'm sure I have not heard the best there is. 

Unfortunately my hands cannot handle the large Vee necks associated with most of the vintage classics.

If I were to build a J45 Hog I would have it built to the early (2007-2010) Legend (I had a 2010 Legend) specs with an aged top, very dark burst and  a standard C shape neck.

[egoidealmusic]

Great take, Dave.  I just took a look at Reverb and it's interesting that there are a lot of the brand new historic series being listed as "Legend" series, though that's not how Gibson themselves is pitching them.  Wonder if there's much difference or if the historic series is going for the same vibe.  Interestingly, the actual "Legend" one available is almost 2k more than the new ones.

[E-minor7]

I guess the threadhost is trying to fish up some vital'n'valued components that would lift the model to a max. A rather diffuse Q and idea, but a fictional answer could be :

A beefy neck, a narrow nut, absolutely nylon nut, a cut through bone saddle, 3 on a plate white oval tuners and a thick batwing guard. 

A combination probably pretty hard to find, which again makes the game slightly absurd.*                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      But talking existing versions one could pick a fx a Banner, , , or an early 60s adjustable solid rosewood bridge ceramic saddled nylon nut faded cherry burst. 

I have very fine experiences with the latter category - in fact also the hollow plastic bridge variant.

                                                                                                  But Robzoid - it's SO individual and has to do with you and your taste, style and feel only. 

*  Thinking twice perhaps not that hard after all. . 

 

[thegreatgumbino]

I've owned a couple different versions including a SCSJ Supreme, J50 and currently a 2018 J45 Vintage with thermally aged Adirondack top.  I've spent a lot of time thinking about the what the perfect combo would be for me.  

My pick would be:

• Banner headstock
• Three on a plate tuners with white buttons
• Chunky neck, preferably like the Vintage, 50's version or Legend
• Thermally aged Sitka top - I own the aged Adirondack, but prefer Sitka
• Thermally aged mahogany back, sides and neck - I played a Fuller's 1942 Legend a few years ago with this combo and it was phenomenal.
• Fire stripe pick guard
• Regular, non cut through saddle
• Hide glue throughout
• No pickup

[E-minor7]

8 hours ago, E-minor7 said:

A combination probably pretty hard to find, which again makes the game slightly absurd.*                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      But talking existing versions one could pick a fx a Banner, , , or an early 60s adjustable solid rosewood bridge ceramic saddled nylon nut faded cherry burst. 

I have very fine experiences with the latter category - in fact also the hollow plastic bridge variant.

Have to add that the contemporary versions, indeed including the black-nut Standard, are VERY good guitars. Forgetting that would be unfair.  

[egoidealmusic]

2 hours ago, thegreatgumbino said:

I've owned a couple different versions including a SCSJ Supreme, J50 and currently a 2018 J45 Vintage with thermally aged Adirondack top.  I've spent a lot of time thinking about the what the perfect combo would be for me.  

My pick would be:

• Banner headstock
• Three on a plate tuners with white buttons
• Chunky neck, preferably like the Vintage, 50's version or Legend
• Thermally aged Sitka top - I own the aged Adirondack, but prefer Sitka
• Thermally aged mahogany back, sides and neck - I played a Fuller's 1942 Legend a few years ago with this combo and it was phenomenal.
• Fire stripe pick guard
• Regular, non cut through saddle
• Hide glue throughout
• No pickup

I love the batwing, but other than that this is pretty much exactly what I'd have!  I would add a pickup, though, and since money is no issue how about a Sunrise? 🙂

[egoidealmusic]

Ah, to hell with it.  If I'm going full custom craziness I want a firestripe batwing!

[zombywoof]

The way I see it is I could probably find an existing J45 which matched the specs I could come up with.  So, the only money in it for me would be to go with specs the guitar never had. I might just go gonzo and ask for a 1 13/16" nut, 13 frets, 25" scale, un-tapered body, elevated fingerboard, herringbone soundhole trim or rope top binding, three tone bars, and who knows what.  

Edited May 20, 2022 by zombywoof

[Mr. Paul]

I would match my favorite neck with my favorite tone. True Vintage + the neck of the current Custom Historic 1942 SJ with 1.77 nut.

I do like the dry tone of the 40s and think the current baked tops do a good job of recreating that. Personal preference for the smooth rich tone of the TV.

 

Edited May 20, 2022 by Mr. Paul

[Dave F]

9 hours ago, Mr. Paul said:

I would match my favorite neck with my favorite tone. True Vintage + the neck of the current Custom Historic 1942 SJ with 1.77 nut.

I do like the dry tone of the 40s and think the current baked tops do a good job of recreating that. Personal preference for the smooth rich tone of the TV.

 

I'm liking that neck shape also.  They have it listed as a 'C' profile. About the same feel as my  '42 LG1 and '52 J45

[zombywoof]

1 hour ago, Dave F said:

I'm liking that neck shape also.  They have it listed as a 'C' profile. About the same feel as my  '42 LG1 and '52 J45

I have always called those neck carves round shoulder C.  While the nut width is nice it only tells part of the story,  There is obviously also depth and taper.  While I know Bozeman neck carves do vary, I found a Custom Historic 42  SJ Wildwood had sold which listed the depth as .830" at the 1st fret and .880" at the 9th.  So baby ain't gotta a whole lot of back. Far slimmer than what I would expect the neck specs on your '42 and '52 to be.  

[BluesKing777]

On 5/19/2022 at 12:05 AM, zombywoof said:

Bwahaha.  Yes, I can build the perfect J45.  As a start I say in terms of sound best to just leave my '42 J50 alone as I would not change a blessed thing which has anything to do with its tone.  So, with that not being up for discussion, for me it comes down to feel.  My thing though is the specs I would go with in terms of creating the perfect for me guitar are those which as far as  know have never graced any J45 to have rolled out of Kalamazoo, Nashville or Bozeman but can be found on other models.   So if I were to come up with the perfect J45 I would scream out to the heavens to give me the 2 3/8" string spacing at the bridge my L1 has.  And even though the fat round shoulder C neck on my J50 is a slice of heaven there is always room for a bit of improvement.  So I would go with my all-time favorite Gibson neck which is that on my L3 .  While giving up nothing to the J50 in terms of thickness, it combines a 1 3/16" nut with a soft V carve.  I would then top the whole thing off by again turning to the L3 and go with a hand rubbed shellac spirit varnish finish.

 

I prefer L-00 size guitars usually and J45 territory is covered by my 2002 pawn shop Gibson J50 as is - someone had a go at relic'ing it, possible had a pass through the pizza oven to bake it a bit, soaked the nut and saddle in tea leaves to brown them but forgot to set them up (awful) so they were ditched for new high density bone bits when it got setup by my luthier........but the fake bake  worked I think - it has tone, tone, tone and the only change I am considering is to go back to 12s instead of the 13s....

ZW - the Waterloo WL-KJ Deluxe is a jumbo with the Waterloo V neck plus 1 3/4" nut and the big 2 3/8" bridge spacing and a deep 5" body, and you can order one 'aged' - I would love to give one a belt - love my Waterloo spacing and V necks! They don't sell many though and there is one sitting in a lot of shops confusing the L-00 lovers!

https://www.waterlooguitars.com/wl-jk-deluxe/

 

BluesKing777.