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Gibson Faded Series


Jalex

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Interesting. I wonder why this is cheaper than the other J-45 versions?

https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Acoustic-Guitar/ACCWWH301/Faded-Sunburst

I guess the pickup is more expensive, maybe the tuners? But $350 is a pretty big difference.

https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Acoustic-Guitar/ACCSRX331/Vintage-Sunburst

 

Edited by Boyd
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16 minutes ago, Boyd said:

Interesting. I wonder why this is cheaper than the other J-45 versions?

https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Acoustic-Guitar/ACCWWH301/Faded-Sunburst

I guess the pickup is more expensive, maybe the tuners? But $350 is a pretty big difference.

https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Acoustic-Guitar/ACCSRX331/Vintage-Sunburst

 

Satin finish doesn't require as much work as a full gloss finish.

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on some guitars the satin finish looks just right   I have a godin 5th Ave Kingpin with a "Semi" gloss (that's what they call it) and it looks just right.

on others, it just doesn't seem work to my eyes 

with these? I'm on the fence here, I'd have to see one up close and person.   they look decent, and they seem to have "the sound" we'd expect

hey ya  know,..  It's a subjective thing all the way.

but overall, I'm with Ben, if it gets Gibson acoustics into more players hands, that IS a good thing.

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I just picked up the 30's J-35 a couple hours ago  always loved these and I am glad I got this version with the open gear tuners.  I actually bought it over a week ago but could not take it with me as  Sweetwater mistakenly put it out before today and I bought it but then the sales engineer came down and informed me of the fact it can not be released until today. LOL  so I had to wait until today.   Anyway so far so good and they comped a few thing to take care of me for the inconvience.

 

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I wonder exactly what "satin" means on a Gibson? Isn't nitro shiny by nature? When it comes to polyurethane finishes (admittedly, something completely different), I read up on these a number of years ago when doing some home remodelling. All polyurethane is shiny, so to acheive a satin finish they add a mineral powder to make it more rough and less reflective. Seems to me it was either mica or gypsum?

Anyway, I had built a new staircase and was choosing a finish for it. Satin was not recommended because the addition of the mineral dust made it less durable and likely to wear down faster.

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I’m glad that they stuck with a hard case instead of dropping to a bag.  I like the looks of the J45, but I suppose three would be just too many…well, three’s not a lot really.   Hmmmm…

roger

Edited by rbpicker
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$2,500 is still a lot of money for me. $2000 is the most I've ever spent and that was my 1965 J-50 ADJ. The only new acoustic I've bought since 1974 was a Martin D-15M and that was just under $1000 in 2011. But I suppose inflation changes everything now - especially for those of you outside the US.

Edited by Boyd
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48 minutes ago, egoidealmusic said:

Pickup is the same, at least on the J-45, so it must be the tuners and the lesser time spent on the finish (fewer coats).

 

I think that J-45 is gorgeous!

Fewer coats and time spent at the buffing wheel, "time is money" as they say.

Edited by Jalex
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I would always go with a good dealer, even if you pay more.

 

First off they will negotiate, so your price will be better. They will also set it up and never let the instrument leave the shop with a high fret, etc.

I made the mistake of ordering a cheap Fender Squier  Tele from Fender on sale, and direct. Ooooof. No setup. A hot mess. Warped Pickguard. Sat in a warehouse for a year. And they shipped it right out, without even examining it. The silver lining is that I learned to correct many issues with YouTube as my guide; instead of returning it I used it to practice modding skills. It just would have been easier and cheaper if I bought from Russo’s.

Edited by Salfromchatham
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 10/4/2022 at 5:19 PM, Boyd said:

$2,500 is still a lot of money for me. $2000 is the most I've ever spent and that was my 1965 J-50 ADJ. The only new acoustic I've bought since 1974 was a Martin D-15M and that was just under $1000 in 2011. But I suppose inflation changes everything now - especially for those of you outside the US.

 Are you really in the Pine Barens?? 😄  I'm super fascinated by that area of NJ.

Yep, I'm with Sal here, and if I may suggest a dealer I used back in 2015--  If anyone is wanting/thinking of getting one of these, or any Gibson, check E.M. Shorts Guitars.  They're in Wichita, Kansas, attached to Wichita Band.  They were doing almost 50% discounts off of Gibson's old retail prices.  Now Gibson does list, and we're in a pandemic with a supply shortage and recession.  But I bet they're still discounting as much as they can.  I got my SJ-200, Les Paul Jr, and J-15 all from them, great deal all three times.  They're wonderful to work with.  wbic@wichitaband.com is their e-mail.  They were not able to list their Gibsons on their website back when (unless they stopped carrying them, which would be sad after my sales pitch here).  But e-mailing will get you their folks who do the local Gibson sales, and they are allowed to sell via e-mail/etc, just not allowed to advertise (that's what they said back when).  They're nice folks.  I don't suppose they'd remember me.

They do great (included) setups, too.  When I bought my J-15, I asked them to put a bone nut/saddle on.  They also removed the pickup for me and put a different one in. 

Just don't pay list price for gosh sake.  I know sometimes there's no choice, but if a person can get a healthy discount on one of these, I think they'd be a pretty great deal compared, unless a person hates the finish.

Edited by Jesse_Dylan
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Also throwing my opinion in, which is worth about what it weighs.  🙂 I like that they're trying to do affordable guitars.  It reminds me of my J-15, which was maybe underpriced at the time.  Or who could forget the WM series?  A WM-45 went for as much as Martin DM back in the day, about $500.  Martin DMs still go for $500, but WM-45s don't.  The DM had well-laminated back/sides, nice guitar, but a WM-45 or my WM-00, is on another level.  Gibson has always tried to do some budget guitars that still have all the important building blocks of the rest of their line while Martin has moved to using non-traditional neck joints, hybrid bracing, a-frame bracing...  I'm not so sure about the Generation series, but it was an attempt.  I think this is a better attempt, though of course "affordable" is not the right word to use...  less cost anyway.  Definitely not in the same range as the G series, but anything costing less than the standards, but still packing what the standards have, is exciting.

As for satin finish, it's funny how some makers trump it up, and others use it on budget models.  Martin uses a vintage satin finish on their Authentics.  I got a discount on a custom Martin choosing satin finish back in the day (2010).  Now the custom shop charges extra for satin, and it's probably their vintage satin finish (similar to Gibson Montana's "VOS" finish or whatever--but I don't mean to imply they're using VOS on the faded series... or maybe they are? if so, it's a great finish).  I doubt there is too much difference between one of these extra cost premium satin finishes and regular satin finish, but I could of course be wrong (and even if I'm right, they'd want to keep their VOS and Martin's Authentic whatever on another level, not "more affordable!")

Sorry for word count

 

Edited by Jesse_Dylan
my posts are a ****ing mess
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I'm curious about the satin finish also. My Noel Gallagher J-150 has what they call an aged finish but it almost looks like a type of satin finish to me. The neck is already starting to get a shine to it. I've no doubt the satin finish could be buffed out. I remember many people who owned Larrivee 3 series guitars with all satin finishes would buff them out by themselves.

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16 hours ago, Jesse_Dylan said:

 Are you really in the Pine Barens?? 😄  I'm super fascinated by that area of NJ

Yes I am - why would I lie about that? 😆 

You might enjoy my free web app, which has the most comprehensive maps of the region you will find anywhere:

 https://boydsmaps.com/#15.00/39.818698/-74.535594/legacy24k/0.00/0.00

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  • 2 months later...

I have the j35 faded, the finish is umm different.  The back and sides look cool, looks like no grain filler was used to me.

the headstock, the guitar top, and the back of neck to me looked just bad, and the neck felt bumpy , so I cut and polished in them places,  from 1000 grit to 3k , the polish , med to fine , leaving still a rustic look, but no orange peel. The headstock I did not cut. Due to the logo. Just polish, it has some orange peel, not much I can do about that.

If you like the stock look, don’t polish it. It looks bad if you do.  And ware over time will polish it. 

changed the tuners, ripped out the pickup, filled the hole with a mammoth ivory end pin , the bridge pins , the saddle also mammoth.

This took a 4 pound guitar down to 3.9 pounds . 
 

it’s lighter . Louder and prouder now. 
I think this finish idea need some work. 

 

 


 

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I have a Martin that came with a satin finish neck. At first I was not sure about that but quickly realized I liked how smoothly it played. I’ve owned the guitar about 2.5 years and have noticed that just from playing and wiping down with a guitar cloth (no polish) it has become more like semi-gloss. So if you have a faded/VOS whatever and use a polish on it you may over time see some subtle change.

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