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Good comparison of a (new) 50s J-45 and a J-45 Standard


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How great it is to see a girl with enthusiasm for a certain model - and she plays fine as well. 

Both are good sounding, but the Std. may be a  bit more muffled. Is it bassier too. . 

The nuances are so subtle they should be played/heard/sensed 'live'.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Will look further into her work. . .

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OK, I give up,  What is this strengthened "impaneled" (at least that is what it sounds like the young lady is saying) bracing system which added strength.  From the very beginning, Gibson never even bothered feathering the ends of the braces so they tucked beneath the lining.   Maybe some of you Pros from Dover can shed some light on this one.  

When it comes to girls playing J45s this is she whom I think of.  The J45s are talked about during the first 2 minutes of the gear rundown.

 

Edited by zombywoof
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26 minutes ago, zombywoof said:

OK, I give up,  What is this strengthened "impaneled" (at least that is what it sounds like the young lady is saying) bracing system which added strength.  From the very beginning, Gibson never even bothered feathering the ends of the braces so they tucked beneath the lining.   Maybe some of you Pros from Dover can shed some light on this one.  

 

Now you show us the raw side of Lassie. I'm usual the one who can't hear various terms'n'phrases and need help, but here it's my turn to play assistant.                                                                                                                                            "The J-45 had a strengthened internal bracing system, which helped to give it a lot of extra resonance compared to the original J35."

Well, one can agree or not and I know nil about 35s (eeeehh, 'cept Mart Ds) so have to let that statement fly. . .

But here thing I almost forgot (once learning). A little tinny sounding old slopes, but the tune ! , , , simply is a stunner. . 

I am of course prepared to hear you shoot it down, no mercy. Don't hold yourself back 😉

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12 hours ago, E-minor7 said:

Now you show us the raw side of Lassie. I'm usual the one who can't hear various terms'n'phrases and need help, but here it's my turn to play assistant.                                                                                                                                            "The J-45 had a strengthened internal bracing system, which helped to give it a lot of extra resonance compared to the original J35."

Well, one can agree or not and I know nil about 35s (eeeehh, 'cept Mart Ds) so have to let that statement fly. . .

But here thing I almost forgot (once learning). A little tinny sounding old slopes, but the tune ! , , , simply is a stunner. . 

I am of course prepared to hear you shoot it down, no mercy. Don't hold yourself back 😉

My thanks for the "translation."  A '42 J45 though sported the same two-tone bar scallop bracing which after a decade of experimentation Gibson had settled on by 1941.  

Sorry but I have no reason to take pot shots at your choice in singers.  While I am not about to make a mad dash to change the station on the radio or TV if Kacey comes on, I am also not going to go out and buy one of her records.  More than a few fall into that category.

Anyway, here is some Lucinda.  And yes, I do buy her records.  To be honest though, I do not give a flip what guitar she is playing.  It is all about the lyrics.

 

Edited by zombywoof
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As to the original comparison video she points out that they have different pickguards, and different tuners.  As to the tone of the guitars I can't hear any difference because she plays them through the pickups.  So we're not hearing the guitars tone, but rather the pickups tone.

Glad you are happy with the one you chose.

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The second half of the video is the actual acoustic sound where I think you can tell a difference.  As folks have talked about before the big 50s chunky neck is a pretty noticable difference.  Now if that accounts for a difference in sound I guess is still up for debate.

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My take on most modern Gibsons is they are lovely sounding guitars.  You pick one up and it just sounds good.  They really do.  But based on the video neither of the J45s demonstrated comes close to reigniting the GAS which I have been totally free of for years now and get me close to bringing my drool bucket out of retirement.  

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When I bought my J-45 standard last year I also bought a 50's J-45 with the intention of returning the one I liked the least and I was curious to see if I liked the 50's better. I'm left handed so there's not a lot of options out there so going to a store to compare them was out out of the question. 

My experience with these two guitars was the standard blew the 50's out of the water which sounded anemic next to the standard so the 50's was sent back. The standard had that beautiful resonance that I've come to know and love about the J-45 and the 50's was just flat sounding. That doesn't mean the 50's is an inferior guitar, it just meant that between these two particular guitars there was a huge difference in sound. It could have easily gone the opposite way. On a side note: My standard came stock with a bone nut and saddle, I've talked to other lefties who said the same thing. My guess is that Gibson doesn't/didn't have left handed versions of the tusq nut and saddle so they went with bone.

Edited by The dman
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On 5/10/2023 at 2:16 PM, The dman said:

When I bought my J-45 standard last year I also bought a 50's J-45 with the intention of returning the one I liked the least and I was curious to see if I liked the 50's better. I'm left handed so there's not a lot of options out there so going to a store to compare them was out out of the question. 

My experience with these two guitars was the standard blew the 50's out of the water which sounded anemic next to the standard so the 50's was sent back. The standard had that beautiful resonance that I've come to know and love about the J-45 and the 50's was just flat sounding. That doesn't mean the 50's is an inferior guitar, it just meant that between these two particular guitars there was a huge difference in sound. It could have easily gone the opposite way. On a side note: My standard came stock with a bone nut and saddle, I've talked to other lefties who said the same thing. My guess is that Gibson doesn't/didn't have left handed versions of the tusq nut and saddle so they went with bone.

Good to know that also the left-handed version of this model is impressive. There is a reason the black nut Std. became such a huge hit.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         The resonance you mention plays a part indeed. 

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