Best J45 specs?

[Dave F]

2 hours ago, zombywoof said:

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.  

1st and 10th

'42 LG1 - .933"-1.059"

'52 J45 - .869"-962"

2019 '42 Banner SJ - ,846"-.919"

[egoidealmusic]

See, I love how this has turned into a fascintating converstation!

 

I'd also have the wider nut width, but maybe because I have bigger hands.  

 

Let's go deeper.  What era burst would you pick?  The older mostly black burst, or the newer lighter burst?  Especially if you had a beautiful grain on the wood (which I assume most of us would pick).  Would you go lighter to highlight the wood, or do you love that deep almost black body?

[zombywoof]

9 hours ago, egoidealmusic said:

See, I love how this has turned into a fascintating converstation!

 

I'd also have the wider nut width, but maybe because I have bigger hands.  

 

Let's go deeper.  What era burst would you pick?  The older mostly black burst, or the newer lighter burst?  Especially if you had a beautiful grain on the wood (which I assume most of us would pick).  Would you go lighter to highlight the wood, or do you love that deep almost black body?

Favorite burst for me is easy.  That would be the mid-1920s to early-1930s hand rubbed lacquer small burst.  The blending of the colors is so subtle that the guitar changes appearance depending on the lighting. 

How well the grain shows through though is not as much a matter of how dark or light the color is as it is of thickness.  The look that many builders are attempting to capture is that of how guitars from the 1940s and 1950s appear today where after much of the finish has flaked off you can see the grain through the blackest black of the burst.

[fortyearspickn]

EIM,  you seem to be enjoying this more than the OP, from whom we've only heard crickets since (s)he posted the general question.  😀    

The real question is -  Do you have to go down a Rabbit Hole to find that perfect, ethereal Tone ?

9 hours ago, egoidealmusic said:

See, I love how this has turned into a fascintating converstation!

 

I'd also have the wider nut width, but maybe because I have bigger hands.  

 

Let's go deeper.  What era burst would you pick?  The older mostly black burst, or the newer lighter burst?  Especially if you had a beautiful grain on the wood (which I assume most of us would pick).  Would you go lighter to highlight the wood, or do you love that deep almost black body?

 

[zombywoof]

11 hours ago, Dave F said:

1st and 10th

'42 LG1 - .933"-1.059"

'52 J45 - .869"-962"

2019 '42 Banner SJ - ,846"-.919"

 

 

I have said it before but one of the most frustrating things about long distance guitar shopping is the absence of these specs.  The only guitar I have ever bought where full neck specs were provided is my Fairbanks which clocks in at .930"-1.25" what I would describe as being on the fat side of a 1950s Gibson neck with the added benefit of the 1 3/4" nut. 

But if you are looking at, say a 1950s LG2 you can readily find out the nut width and the fact it sports what Bozeman calls an Historic V neck.  But the neck on one guitar will be shaped .860"-.940" while neck specs on the same model hanging next to it will be .890"-.980".   This to me this remains the best argument for not buying sight unseen.  While I may not be able to tell a good sounding guitar from a can of tuna I sure as heck know what feels comfortable in my hands.

Edited May 21, 2022 by zombywoof

[Dave F]

19 minutes ago, zombywoof said:

 

 

I have said it before but one of the most frustrating things about long distance guitar shopping is the absence of these specs.  The only guitar I have ever bought where full neck specs were provided is my Fairbanks which clocks in at .930"-1.25" what I would describe as being on the fat side of a 1950s Gibson neck with the added benefit of the 1 3/4" nut. 

But if you are looking at, say a 1950s LG2 you can readily find out the nut width and the fact it sports what Bozeman calls an Historic V neck.  But the neck on one guitar will be shaped .860"-.940" while neck specs on the same model hanging next to it will be .890"-.980".   This to me this remains the best argument for not buying sight unseen.  While I may not be able to tell a good sounding guitar from a can of tuna I sure as heck know what feels comfortable in my hands.

When I had a Custom L00 built by a local luthier I took my L5 so he could measure it. He nailed it.

[zombywoof]

22 minutes ago, Dave F said:

When I had a Custom L00 built by a local luthier I took my L5 so he could measure it. He nailed it.

That gets us back to my original point.   If I were to design the perfect J45 I would go with specs which you did not necessarily ever find on that model but were available on others.  But you also have a wide enough frame of reference when it comes to Gibsons to be able the pinpoint a specific model and year to go with which are found on a guitar I dare say most of us have never been closer to than the pages of some vintage guitar magazine.

Edited May 21, 2022 by zombywoof

[MorrisrownSal]

I have a True Vintage, but I keep forgetting the year. i think it’s 2010. The neck is beefier than the newer Standards. ADI top. Advanced bracing. I’ve been wanting to treat it to a batwing guard, but I can’t bring myself to risk changing the tone.

by the way I have a Taylor AD17 which I adore, but as much as I like it, it makes me appreciate the TV. It simply can handle everything. It can be strummed hard, and it never breaks up. It’s punchy with a thump when you mute strings. Boy what a great guitar.

You miss it when it’s not around. I know this lesson well.

 

By the way Mr. Paul, you following the NYY this season?  🙂

Edited May 22, 2022 by Salfromchatham

[jt]

I echo the sentiments other, wiser forum members have offered, roughly: what pleases your hands and ears, pleases your hands and ears.

My own hands and ears, which have suffered the corruption of history (I met some of the women who built the first J-45s) and personal experience (I view the Banner era through rose-colored, Honduran Mahogany-accented glasses), point me toward the first year issue of the Banner models, including the J-45.

The early Banner models featured multi-ply purflings top and back and fancy rosettes. They also featured my favorite-ever, mass-produced, acoustic guitar neck carve. The necks feature 1 3/4 nuts and 2 1/8 string spacing at the bridge (both on the narrow side for my preferences) and, for my hands, perfectly-executed shoulders.

I've been, uh, privileged to work "with" Gibson on producing a limited run of reproductions of my personal collection of Banner Gibsons. IMVHO, the closer Gibson got to the 1942 specs, the better the guitars sounded (and, to my hands, played).