New all mahogany LG-2

[egoidealmusic]

Now that is a good looking new Gibson...

[62burst]

Definitely looks like they were going for the dark-meat look of the original Martin 17 series. The bridge seems to be a little larger than the one on the all mahogany LG-2 that was reissued in 2013. However, that 2013 mahogany LG-2 had a neck that was so fat, it was in the "be careful what you wish for" category. There was no mention of neck profile on this new mahogany LG-2, but Paul did mention Music Villa only had five of these made for this run. Could be a very cool guitar.

[Dave F]

Definitely darker. I think it's closer to the original color-wise but like you, it looks like a Martin. I also think it looks like a budget guitar with the binding. Here's a re-issue I had that John Thomas had in his video comparison. The vintage one was before I had the bridge replaced. Below that is the limited specs from MV.

• Back & Side Wood: Mahogany
• Body Size: LG-2
• Top Wood: Mahogany
• Nut Width: 1.725"
• Neck Profile: Round
• Bracing Pattern: Traditional Hand Scalloped Advanced X Bracing
• Scale Length: 24.75"
• Pickup: Optional
• Tuners: Grover Strap Cream Button
• Case: Vintage Hardshell

 

[rustystrings]

It's a lot like someone took an LG-0 and built it with X-bracing and no binding and the rosette of an LG-1 or LG-2.   It's a nice guitar, but the $3,399 price makes me wince - the current $2,599 for a standard LG-2 is bad enough.

If Gibson decided to build this guitar in Sapele or similar wood without a soundport at a price-point comparable to their Generation series, I would be very interested.  The GLG-0, priced comparably to Martin's 00-15, would be a cool addition to their lineup.

[Murph]

I'd like to have it.

[BluesKing777]

 

In the video it looks very brown but sounds green!

It is going to have to be played very hard to break it in and my bare fingered picking probably won’t do it.....I had a bit of a mahogany top frenzy last year and bought a Martin OMC-15ME and a Maton EBG808 (all blackwood).

I ran my Tonerite on the Martin but smoke came out of the buzzer and it is the end. Did something a bit.

I have played both hard with fingerpicks, works some, played and played, but they are now.....lighter shade of green.

My 1944 Martin 0-17 all mahogany is the measuring stick tonewise, but it has 1 11/16” nut while one of the reasons for buying both Martin and Maton is the wider nuts.

So to get my dollar, the LG2 mahogany top in the video needs.......1. Torrefaction 2. Aging  3. Toneriting  4. Hammered by someone like John Hammond Junior or Leo Kottke! 

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

[Murph]

I'll open that puppy up!

A few weeks down the cabin and she'll sound just fine.

[zombywoof]

For me all-mahogany guitars are like 12 strings - one will do.  Like BluesKing777 I own an all-mahogany guitar which has carved itself out a nice niche in between its spruce top kin.   In my case it is a 1942 Harmony H165 Stella.  Grand concert figure 8 body with a 1 3/4" nut and a humongous V neck carve.   

Judging anything from videos though, is, of course, an "approach with caution" thing.  In this case though I agree with others that as an advertisement it sure as heck does not get me running for the drool bucket.   Nothing I heard which would fill me with enough confidence to buy one sight unseen or would make me go out of my way to seek one out.  So, it will remain one of those guitars which if I do run across might turn out to be a pleasant surprise albeit one with a unpleasantly high price tag,

[zombywoof]

22 hours ago, Murph said:

I'll open that puppy up!

A few weeks down the cabin and she'll sound just fine.

I always joke that if you want a guitar relic'd just give it to me for a few weeks,  The way my hands are going though I figure I do not have the time to let a guitar really come into its own.  It has to pick me up by the collar and throw me against a wall from the get-go. 

[BluesKing777]

2 hours ago, zombywoof said:

For me all-mahogany guitars are like 12 strings - one will do.  Like BluesKing777 I own an all-mahogany guitar which has carved itself out a nice niche in between its spruce top kin.   In my case it is a 1942 Harmony H165 Stella.  Grand concert figure 8 body with a 1 3/4" nut and a humongous V neck carve.   

Judging anything from videos though, is, of course, an "approach with caution" thing.  In this case though I agree with others that as an advertisement it sure as heck does not get me running for the drool bucket.   Nothing I heard which would fill me with enough confidence to buy one sight unseen or would make me go out of my way to seek one out.  So, it will remain one of those guitars which if I do run across might turn out to be a pleasant surprise albeit one with a unpleasantly high price tag,

 

Over 20 years ago, I had a Martin 15 series with 1 11/16” nut.........and reading the forums at the time discovered THE mahogany top Martin for blues fingerpickers was the 1937 Martin 00-17......1 3/4” nut, sometimes 2 5/16” bridge spacing and chunky neck. In real estate terms they were/are ‘tightly held’ ! And if for sale, quite expensive - the word was out. (I think Jackson Browne and maybe Kenny Sultan bought all of them!).

Then I saw my 1944 Martin 0-17 going cheap online, splits and unloved and really nobody at the time wanted it, or that model with 1 11/16” nut. But I got the old mahogany scalloped brace tone.....slightly chunky neck....but TONE, TONE, TONE!!! I always capo up a few. I have never played the 1937, but my Martin CEO7 is 1 3/4” nut with 2 5/16” spacing and V neck......so I sort of can imagine the older guitar specs.....and now the prices of the 40s mahogany top Martins have gone through the roof and heading to Mars. And so that is probably goodbye and good luck, eh?

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

Edited August 5, 2022 by BluesKing777

[zombywoof]

2 hours ago, BluesKing777 said:

 

Over 20 years ago, I had a Martin 15 series with 1 11/16” nut.........and reading the forums at the time discovered THE mahogany top Martin for blues fingerpickers was the 1937 Martin 00-17......1 3/4” nut, sometimes 2 5/16” bridge spacing and chunky neck. In real estate terms they were/are ‘tightly held’ ! And if for sale, quite expensive - the word was out. (I think Jackson Browne and maybe Kenny Sultan bought all of them!).

Then I saw my 1944 Martin 0-17 going cheap online, splits and unloved and really nobody at the time wanted it, or that model with 1 11/16” nut. But I got the old mahogany scalloped brace tone.....slightly chunky neck....but TONE, TONE, TONE!!! I always capo up a few. I have never played the 1937, but my Martin CEO7 is 1 3/4” nut with 2 5/16” spacing and V neck......so I sort of can imagine the older guitar specs.....and now the prices of the 40s mahogany top Martins have gone through the roof and heading to Mars. And so that is probably goodbye and good luck, eh?

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

Funny but I have never been much for capos and prefer to play around the nut. Part of it may be that most of my guitars do not have the preciseness of a Martin so tend to sound a little off with a capo.  On the other hand, I am a sucker for chord runs with a liberal dose of diminished 7ths all the way up the neck.

If you go back to pre-WWII guitars though finding one with a 1 3/4" to 1 7/8" nut and a string spacing at the bridge of 2 5/16" or 2 3/8" was not all that difficult.  It seems though that shortly after the War everything started to get slimmed down which I assume was to accommodate modern tastes.  But as they say everything old is new again and in past twenty or so years those old specs have started re-surfacing,

With regard to my H165, I prefer these old "curvy" Harmonys to the square shoulder guitars which began appearing in the mid-1950s.  They have a wider 14 3/4" lower bout so the same as a 1930s  Gibson L series and were lighter braced than those which came after.  The sound is loud and snappy with a bit of a percussive ring to the lower mids.  One of the cool things is while Harmonys were consistently built with a 1 3/4" nut, mine also sports a pinless bridge which means I can have the guitar converted to a pin bridge with a 2 3/8" string spacing (the pinless bridge clocks in at 2 1/4") with no fuss or muss.   Just need to get off my butt and git her done.  

Edited August 5, 2022 by zombywoof

[BluesKing777]

 

Should have mentioned that I capo up to get a whisker more room between the strings, but it gives less room along the neck and chord shapes need to be shrunk a whisker to fit. This is assuming the neck has taper as it widens to the neck join - some modern guitars don’t have much difference..eg Martin ‘high performance neck. But on say, my 59 LG3, capo on 3 gives probably about the same room for a chord as an open 1 3/4” nut guitar, except more squished long ways.....😄

The end result is I can extract some vintage tone goodies from a vintage 1 11/16” nut guitar that should otherwise go to the.......pawnshop!

There is probably some kind of formula for working out how the tune you learned with no capo plays with a capo on 3,  (X+4+3-4+12=😐but easiest way is to try it a few times. (I mainly use Shubb capos with the ‘Tony Rice Method’ - put the capo right on the dotted line of the fret and it is normally nicely in tune!)

 

P.S. Can’t keep doing this all the time, with capo, or hands shrink! So we need to move to another guitar with wider specs before that happens...or........buy more guitars! So then we move to a guitar with V neck 1 3/4 and 2 3/8.....ha, ha, put the capo on 3 also ha ha and the formula is then  X+4+3-4+12+a little bit more= Dunno.

 

BluesKing777.

 

Edited August 5, 2022 by BluesKing777