pocaloc Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 (edited) I just bought this today! I’ve dreamed of a vintage J45 for many years. It sound great, dry and loud. The serial number is W282520. I see that the W was used in 1955. How can I tell what day by the numbers? Edited July 29, 2022 by pocaloc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egoidealmusic Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 Oh, that is gorgeous! I think those of us who've bought the 50's J-45 dream of exactly this! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 A good straight yellow amber burst J-45 - CONGRATULATiONS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pocaloc Posted July 29, 2022 Author Share Posted July 29, 2022 Thanks for getting my picture up. 😀 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 Really Nice. I have a couple 56 J45s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pocaloc Posted July 29, 2022 Author Share Posted July 29, 2022 5 minutes ago, egoidealmusic said: Oh, that is gorgeous! I think those of us who've bought the 50's J-45 dream of exactly this! One of the guitars I traded in was a reissue ‘50s J45. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egoidealmusic Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 "one of the guitars" being the key phrase! So is it everything you'd hoped for? Share a clip!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pocaloc Posted July 29, 2022 Author Share Posted July 29, 2022 1 minute ago, slimt said: Really Nice. I have a couple 56 J45s. Awesome! I also tried a 1952 at a different store. It was amazing as well but I couldn’t get into that one price wise . I’m really happy with this’55 though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pocaloc Posted July 29, 2022 Author Share Posted July 29, 2022 2 minutes ago, egoidealmusic said: "one of the guitars" being the key phrase! So is it everything you'd hoped for? Share a clip!!! 😀yeah, I traded three guitars for it. I usually wouldn’t trade but the store has had this since at least April when I first saw it. They were willing to deal. I think it was a fair trade, especially when I work in the tax I was able to avoid. It is everything I hoped it would be. My reissue sounded very similar to be honest. There is this dryness and volume increase on this one though. I love the actually real aged binding and checking into the finish. The history part makes it worth it for me. I drove from Spokane to Seattle and I’m in a hotel now. I’ll try and get a clip up when I get home. I tried four vintage j45’s and a vintage country and western today. Three were great and two were pretty underwhelming, so what they say is true about making sure you play one first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egoidealmusic Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 So long as the one you ended up is "the one," and it sounds like you found it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, pocaloc said: 😀yeah, I traded three guitars for it. I usually wouldn’t trade but the store has had this since at least April when I first saw it. They were willing to deal. I think it was a fair trade, especially when I work in the tax I was able to avoid. It is everything I hoped it would be. My reissue sounded very similar to be honest. There is this dryness and volume increase on this one though. I love the actually real aged binding and checking into the finish. The history part makes it worth it for me. I drove from Spokane to Seattle and I’m in a hotel now. I’ll try and get a clip up when I get home. I tried four vintage j45’s and a vintage country and western today. Three were great and two were pretty underwhelming, so what they say is true about making sure you play one first. You remember Reds Vintage guitars in Post Falls. He had a pile of vintage guitars there. Also the restaurant with the 59 Caddilac sticking out the roof on Division had the ceiling covered in Vintage Gibson acoustics. Nothing newer than 1958. Gone long ago. I think its a Asian Buffet now. Edited July 29, 2022 by slimt 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pocaloc Posted July 29, 2022 Author Share Posted July 29, 2022 I remember the Cadillac sticking out of the roof but I don’t recall the vintage acoustics. I never did know of Red’s vintage guitars in Post Falls. It must’ve closed before I got heavily into guitar. That would be amazing to have a cool shop like that in the Spokane area now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 Very nice find. Man, that beauty was 48 years old when my 2003 was born. And it's about to turn 20. Congrats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbpicker Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 Wow! That’s the stuff dreams are made of. Nice catch, Pocaloc. Congratulations. I think I’d trade three of mine for something like that as well. roger Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 (edited) Cool and congrats! When I started playing Gibsons I could not afford a new one so bought what were then simply "used" guitars. Started with those made in the late 1950s then just seemed to keep going earlier and earlier. The only Gibson acoustic though that I am still kicking myself in the butt for letting go of was a 1956 Southerner Jumbo. But back then I had to part with something to acquire something else. There was definitely a magic though to those heavier built Gibsons of the 1950s. 1955 though was, of course, a transitional year at Gibson. While the guitars had lost the tapered headstock and wood/fabric side supports between 1951 and 1953 in '55 they started going with the large pointy pickguards and non-scalloped bracing. But it is not like they changed the specs at the stroke of midnight on January 1 so during a year when changes were being made you can still find gets some co-mingling of old and new specs. So, it is not impossible to find 1955 Gibsons which retained the earlier scalloped bracing. By the way, I lived in Spokane for a bit from 1978 until 1980. Edited July 29, 2022 by zombywoof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 11 hours ago, pocaloc said: I remember the Cadillac sticking out of the roof but I don’t recall the vintage acoustics. I never did know of Red’s vintage guitars in Post Falls. It must’ve closed before I got heavily into guitar. That would be amazing to have a cool shop like that in the Spokane area now. I forget the name of that restaurant. I always wonder what happened to all those acoustics. I know thinking back there were alot of rare pieces in there. Reds vintage was owned by Red Bowers. He was years ago a pawn shop owner out of Nevada. He aquired some cool pieces. The back of the shop was a quansit. It was full of guitars. Martin , Gibson would of been in awe over all he had. a big lawyer in Spokane bought alot prior to Reds Passing Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuestionMark Posted July 29, 2022 Share Posted July 29, 2022 Congrats on getting the vintage guitar! QM aka “Jazzman” Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pocaloc Posted July 30, 2022 Author Share Posted July 30, 2022 10 hours ago, slimt said: I forget the name of that restaurant. I always wonder what happened to all those acoustics. I know thinking back there were alot of rare pieces in there. Reds vintage was owned by Red Bowers. He was years ago a pawn shop owner out of Nevada. He aquired some cool pieces. The back of the shop was a quansit. It was full of guitars. Martin , Gibson would of been in awe over all he had. a big lawyer in Spokane bought alot prior to Reds Passing Was the restaurant maybe Thadeus T. Thudpucker’s? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pocaloc Posted July 30, 2022 Author Share Posted July 30, 2022 10 hours ago, zombywoof said: Cool and congrats! When I started playing Gibsons I could not afford a new one so bought what were then simply "used" guitars. Started with those made in the late 1950s then just seemed to keep going earlier and earlier. The only Gibson acoustic though that I am still kicking myself in the butt for letting go of was a 1956 Southerner Jumbo. But back then I had to part with something to acquire something else. There was definitely a magic though to those heavier built Gibsons of the 1950s. 1955 though was, of course, a transitional year at Gibson. While the guitars had lost the tapered headstock and wood/fabric side supports between 1951 and 1953 in '55 they started going with the large pointy pickguards and non-scalloped bracing. But it is not like they changed the specs at the stroke of midnight on January 1 so during a year when changes were being made you can still find gets some co-mingling of old and new specs. So, it is not impossible to find 1955 Gibsons which retained the earlier scalloped bracing. By the way, I lived in Spokane for a bit from 1978 until 1980. I’ll have to check if it has some scalloped bracing. I was here in Spokane when you lived here. The place has improved since then. 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 (edited) 10 hours ago, pocaloc said: I’ll have to check if it has some scalloped bracing. I was here in Spokane when you lived here. The place has improved since then. 😀 Not saying these guitars are common just that you will run into the occasional instrument with a blending of old and new features. Depends on how early in the year the guitar was built and when Gibson used up its stock of existing parts, The 1950s though was really the birth of the modern Gibson company. In the early part of the decade Gibson had re-tooled and re-organized so gone were the days when the Daylight Plant had been a mish-mash of tools, fixtures and such or when different hands at times using different tools were producing the parts that went into the guitars. I was actually in Spokane maybe only 1 1/2 years. I must have left in late-1979 as I was back in NY by 1980. I recall having no problem with living in Spokane. One nice thing was missing having to wait on the line to get gas in 1979. Never saw it in Spokane. I do recall there being a really good record store downtown in a cluster of buildings which was at the time being used as kind of a farmer's market. Edited July 30, 2022 by zombywoof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 Where in Spokane were you located, Zomb. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 (edited) 6 hours ago, E-minor7 said: Where in Spokane were you located, Zomb. Guess I gotta break it to you that I am not quite as old as you think. Buy yeah, where I lived would have been on the map. I do not recall the address but it was in an old house sitting on a hill. I could walk my front door with my dog , jog over a couple of blocks and catch some street which would take me straight over the River to the park where the train depot had once been. Edited July 30, 2022 by zombywoof 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 3 hours ago, zombywoof said: Guess I gotta break it to you that I am not quite as old as you think. Buy yeah, where I lived would have been on the map. 😅 Had the idea you could navigate after the river bends, islands and perhaps bridges. Assume the placed rocked between 1978 and 80. It's a nice map by the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt Posted July 31, 2022 Share Posted July 31, 2022 A beautiful guitar! Congratulations and thanks for sharing it with us. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pocaloc Posted July 31, 2022 Author Share Posted July 31, 2022 Does anyone know what the original bridge pin material would’ve been on a 55 J45? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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