babydaddymusic Posted January 4, 2023 Author Share Posted January 4, 2023 6 minutes ago, MissouriPicker said: Vintage guitar means old guitar(and all the potential problems that come with it. I’ve never heard a guitar (old or new) that was vastly better sounding than other guitars I’ve owned/own. If you like a guitar and it represents who you are as a person, the terms “vintage” and “new” don’t mean much. If you like it, you like it. If you don’t like it, find another guitar. So I got the J45 back with the new bone saddle. In a word, stunning. It has totally changed the way that I feel about this guitar. Now I grant you that it’s brighter than the original ebony saddle, but man, does this saddle bring out the wood and responsiveness of the guitar. I’ve been messing around with recording it as a strummer (like Moonlight Mile) or finger picking like M-Ward. It does it all now. Now here’s the kicker. I just double tracked the J45 with my new L-00, and it sounds stupid crazy balls great. And… If I pan those two left and right and put the Martin 0000-15 in the middle, it sounds like Moonlight Mile on acid on fire in a toy store. If I had to rank the guitars in terms of practicality- 1966 J45 Martin 0000-15 2019 L-00 I’ve learned something in this process. I made a playlist of acoustic based songs that really resonated with me. What I realized is that some songs the player is using a pick, and many songs they are using their fingers. Most of the songs that I connect with have strings on the dead(ish) side but not 100% of the time (depends on the song). Larry Mal mentioned that the L-00 made him feel like he could take chances in his playing and I know exactly what he means. I have an emotional attachment to it and what I have learned is that what it does, it does VERY well. Could I maneuver with it as my only studio acoustic? Probably- it’s a nice strummer if you use a lighter touch. But the J45 is just begging to be strummed like Band on the Run or Take it Easy. It has a shimmer and not as much mid-wonkiness with the bone saddle. If I HAD to sell one it would be the Martin, and I can’t believe that I am saying that, but I am largely a Gibson guy I have discovered. Against the Gibsons, the Martin has a certain mid focused voicing with high overtones, which is great, it’s just different than the Gibson thing. There is a percussive thing to the Gibsons that just seems to suit me. The Martin is more polite I guess you could say. Anyway- right now the plan is to keep all three and sell some other gear so I can feel less guilty about the L-00. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 (edited) 13 hours ago, babydaddymusic said: So I got the J45 back with the new bone saddle. In a word, stunning. It has totally changed the way that I feel about this guitar. Now I grant you that it’s brighter than the original ebony saddle, but man, does this saddle bring out the wood and responsiveness of the guitar. I’ve been messing around with recording it as a strummer (like Moonlight Mile) or finger picking like M-Ward. It does it all now. Several years back I swapped out the rosewood saddle on my '61 B45-12 for a bone one. Overall, the biggest change I heard was the bone saddle increased the amount of attack I heard even more than the increase that came across with the combo of the wood saddle and ADJ bridge. But I also thought the guitar lost something with the swap which was the almost archtop-like vibe the combination of the wood saddle suspended by two screws and tailpiece had given the guitar. Oddly, it made me wonder what I would get if I took a six string ADJ bridge guitar and added a tailpiece to it. The mind wobbles. But while my initial inclination was to go back to the wood saddle, I have left it all be as I am now planning to have a new nut and saddle cut so I can string up the first two courses of strings in reverse with the thicker ones on top. If it all works out, I would like to have both a wood and bone saddle done though so I could try them both, Edited January 4, 2023 by zombywoof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted January 4, 2023 Share Posted January 4, 2023 I think a new bone saddle can take a while to ‘break in’ and the guitar tone to smooth out..... BluesKing777. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 (edited) 16 hours ago, BluesKing777 said: I think a new bone saddle can take a while to ‘break in’ and the guitar tone to smooth out..... BluesKing777. I swapped the saddle on my guitar before the pandemic lockdowns hit and as far as I can tell nothing has changed. But as I also said my early inclination was to go back to the rosewood saddle so I do not know if what I am hearing is real or if the Law of Psychoacoustics is calling the shots when it comes to my perception of what I am hearing. The problem is that one of those laws is they affect everybody but you. Edited January 5, 2023 by zombywoof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 (edited) I swapped the saddle on my J-45 for another Tusq from Stew Mac many years ago, saved the original. My J-15 also has Tusq. My 1933 Gibson mandolin has an ebony saddle. Ya gotta think that's some hard stuff to handle that kind of tension for almost a century! Edit: It's actually the whole bridge on the mandolin, but you know what I mean about HARD... Edited January 5, 2023 by Murph Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 (edited) 3 hours ago, Murph said: I swapped the saddle on my J-45 for another Tusq from Stew Mac many years ago, saved the original. My J-15 also has Tusq. My 1933 Gibson mandolin has an ebony saddle. Ya gotta think that's some hard stuff to handle that kind of tension for almost a century! Edit: It's actually the whole bridge on the mandolin, but you know what I mean about HARD... My 1920 L3 has an ebony bridge. According to the catalogs earlier instruments featured maple bridges. But I have also learned to take the specs you see in the old catalogs with a grain of salt. Gibson also claimed the L3 and other models had bodies built with "thoroughly seasoned" maple. Last time I looked the back and rim on my guitar were made with birch. Both the '61 and '63 B45--12s I owned had rosewood saddles. But as these were the only two ADJ saddle bridge Gibsons I have ever had come live with me I do not have what you would call a wide frame of reference. Edited January 5, 2023 by zombywoof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rustystrings Posted January 6, 2023 Share Posted January 6, 2023 (edited) On 1/3/2023 at 9:25 PM, babydaddymusic said: I’ve learned something in this process. I made a playlist of acoustic based songs that really resonated with me. What I realized is that some songs the player is using a pick, and many songs they are using their fingers. Most of the songs that I connect with have strings on the dead(ish) side but not 100% of the time (depends on the song). I would humble submit that you try some John Pearse Pure Nickel acoustic gauge strings, or perhaps Martin Monels or something similar. They're closer to the strings this guitar would have sold with when new, and they're similar to strings used before the coming of phosphor bronze. My experience with the JP strings over the last nine years has been that after the first day or three, they settle into a state where they are stable and clear sounding for a long, long time. I didn't change strings in 2019 and was just fine with the sound. To my ears, they sound more transparent, like I'm hearing more of the guitar and less of the string coloration, if that makes any sense. My playing is primarily bare fingers for a mix of blues, folk, jazz, folk baroque/American Primitive, etc., and those strings on this J-45 sounds fabulous to me. Note that the tension on these .012-.054 nickel strings feels lighter than the same size in phosphor bronze; when I switched over I needed to gently loosen the truss rod a quarter-turn or so. Edited January 6, 2023 by rustystrings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babydaddymusic Posted January 17, 2023 Author Share Posted January 17, 2023 On 1/6/2023 at 9:15 AM, rustystrings said: I would humble submit that you try some John Pearse Pure Nickel acoustic gauge strings, or perhaps Martin Monels or something similar. They're closer to the strings this guitar would have sold with when new, and they're similar to strings used before the coming of phosphor bronze. My experience with the JP strings over the last nine years has been that after the first day or three, they settle into a state where they are stable and clear sounding for a long, long time. I didn't change strings in 2019 and was just fine with the sound. To my ears, they sound more transparent, like I'm hearing more of the guitar and less of the string coloration, if that makes any sense. My playing is primarily bare fingers for a mix of blues, folk, jazz, folk baroque/American Primitive, etc., and those strings on this J-45 sounds fabulous to me. Note that the tension on these .012-.054 nickel strings feels lighter than the same size in phosphor bronze; when I switched over I needed to gently loosen the truss rod a quarter-turn or so. I just discovered Pearse strings on my L-00- I LOVE them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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