NBHab Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 Hi. I have an opportunity to purchase a WM45. It's a 2014. Condition is excellent. It plays well, no buzzing, no scratches, cracks, dings etc. The owner says it is a custom WM45 claiming it has an ebony fretboard, and is mahogany as opposed to walnut. From my research, they are all mahogany with spruce top and I think he had the fret board misidentified. Price, including Gibson hardcase in excellent condition, is $1,800 CDN. That's $1,321 US. First, is that a decent deal? Secondly, what is resale on these like? I wondered if the relatively unknown model hurts resale? I'd truly appreciate your thoughts? Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NBHab Posted July 10 Author Share Posted July 10 Photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J185cat Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 Have you checked reverb.com to see if there are any similar models and their asking price? Could be a reference point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 (edited) In my opinion, the WM Series remains the best "budget" offering to have ever come out of Bozeman. Bozeman for whatever reason though exhibited little faith in the line ending production of three of the four models in no more than four years. The WM45 though is the easiest to find because it remained in production for several years after they had pulled the plug on the others. The WM version of the J-180 in particular is a scary rare bird. Edited July 10 by zombywoof Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 1 minute ago, J185cat said: Have you checked reverb.com to see if there are any similar models and their asking price? Could be a reference point. These had a street price of $1K. It has been well over a decade though since I have seen any which did not carry a price tag higher than what they sold for new. While it is always good policy to check the usual suspects such as Reverb and completed eBay auctions, just going on memory I would think that $1350 would not be out of line depending on condition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 I was told by Hogeye (who should know!) that there is a core cost for them to build an acoustic. It’s difficult to make much profit on a “cheap” Gibson because the cost of producing any acoustic is high. Just repeating what I was told by someone who was very close to the fire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
62burst Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 Having had five J-45 based guitars at one time, which varied by wood selection, body depth, and vintage, I can honestly say that I regard my WM-45 as the J45-iest of the bunch. Simple, and dry sounding. Hard to find a Standard J-45 without electronics unless you look at some of the vintage reissues. Wish it had a rosewood fretboard and bridge, but the light color of the Morado wood suits it just fine, and makes for a more affordable Gibson acoustic. They came with a plain black pickguard, which also goes with the simple look. I did get those heavy Grover Rotomatics off of there, and treated it to some nice Waverly open backs with grained ivoroid buttons. Considering how even the price of used guitars has increased, the asking price for the one you’re considering seems reasonable, and maybe even a good deal considering the condition of the guitar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MorristownSal Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 Beautiful guitar… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
philfish Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 2004 by the serial # first and fifth digits Looks like rose wood for fret board and bridge Looks good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NBHab Posted July 10 Author Share Posted July 10 1 hour ago, philfish said: 2004 by the serial # first and fifth digits Looks like rose wood for fret board and bridge Looks good Thank you. Yes, I mistyped it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NBHab Posted July 10 Author Share Posted July 10 Does anyone know of these being 'customized' at the factory at all? For example, different fretboard, etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NBHab Posted July 10 Author Share Posted July 10 5 hours ago, J185cat said: Have you checked reverb.com to see if there are any similar models and their asking price? Could be a reference point. Yes, nothing on there at this time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 (edited) 1 hour ago, NBHab said: Does anyone know of these being 'customized' at the factory at all? For example, different fretboard, etc? You never know but it seems unlikely that you would pay to have a no frill guitar customized. The fretboard and bridge look like rosewood to me. They were using the round custom shop decals on the back of the headstock at that time. Edited July 10 by Dave F Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 4 hours ago, NBHab said: Does anyone know of these being 'customized' at the factory at all? For example, different fretboard, etc? Never heard of one being given a CS treatment. That would though kind of defeat the purpose of a budget line instrument. About the only thing I might be inclined to modify would be to shave the back braces shave which on the few (none of which were a WM45) I have seen were ridiculously thick particularly the lower down you went. Other than that, swapping out the cheesy thin pickguard is no big deal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted July 11 Share Posted July 11 (edited) I’ve had two WM45s: An early one with satin back & sides, and a later one with gloss back & sides. Every one I’ve ever seen had a morado board & bridge as speced, never ebony. It’s probably just a darker piece of morado. Price being asked is reasonable. They have a following, as they were typically good sounding guitars. Neck profile was more on the smallish side - which was to my liking. As nice as they were, they both went by the wayside for instruments I liked better, including a 2002 J-45 Rosewood that tonally still takes my breath away. Edit: Oh, and they all had mahogany bodies, never walnut - and no custom shop versions. Edited July 11 by bobouz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NBHab Posted July 11 Author Share Posted July 11 Thank you all. Cheers to you. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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