Thoughts on J-45 rosewood standard

[The dman]

I have a J-45 standard which I absolutely love and I've been eyeing the the standard J-45 with rosewood back and sides, not to replace but to compliment what I already have.

I wanted to ask those that have or had one their thoughts on that guitar vs the mahogany J-45. I have a HD-28 which I like but don't love as much as my J-45. I've watched  the Youtube videos and there were only a few that impressed me but that had more to do with the actual recordings and the way they were playing them.

FYI I'm left handed so I don't have a lot of choice on available guitars.

Thanks

 

P.S. The Songwriter intrigues me too

Edited July 18 by The dman

[fortyearspickn]

I  was simply going to  be the first to blurt out 'Go For It !'   We live to encourage others to acquire more Gibson acoustics.   But then I read "I'm a Southpaw" !   That significantly makes it tougher (you know better than I)  so you'll be hard pressed to be able to actually play one before buying.   Unless you're able or unwilling to do the test drive - try it before you buy it thing, you might either consider plunking on Righties  just to get the sound/tone question answered. You know the fit/feel will be the same - you just need to A/B with a hog and an RW.   You might even find a big box store where you can get a sales guy to sit in front of you and play one and then the other.   G'Luck.  Tone wood makes a difference - for sure ! 

[PrairieDog]

I don’t think you can go wrong, especially if you buy from a place that will let you do a return.  While I’m still searching for the right J-45 hog, for me, I have a couple other mahogany guitars as well as rosewoods, and I love the sounds from both and they play very well together. I think you will find it very complimentary with your mahogany.  I will second 40’s disclaimer though.  We tend here to be “very” encouraging 😄 Looking forward to a NGD from ya! Good luck!

[The dman]

Thanks for the replies 

PrairieDog that's my thinking.  I'd rather buy from a store with a good return policy.  I know it's the luck of the draw  but it's more time efficient and probably cheaper to do it that way. 

21 minutes ago, PrairieDog said:

I don’t think you can go wrong, especially if you buy from a place that will let you do a return.  While I’m still searching for the right J-45 hog, for me, I have a couple other mahogany guitars as well as rosewoods, and I love the sounds from both and they play very well together. I think you will find it very complimentary with your mahogany.  I will second 40’s disclaimer though.  We tend here to be “very” encouraging 😄 Looking forward to a NGD from ya! Good luck!

 

[Dave F]

I’ve always loved the sound of a good Martin D40 series RW but prefer the looks and feel of a Gibson. I’ve been through quite a few Gibsons before I found a few I thought are comparable sound wise. The ‘42 SJ Banner RW with a baked top, Nick Lucas 12 fret RW and an L00 12fret RW with the baked top. I’ve had a half dozen other ones I did not care for sound wise. 

[J185cat]

I have a 2016 RW J45, they labeled them as Custom then, more bling. I have one of the Montana 20th Anniversary J45’s with Zebra wood that some compare to RW but to me sits somewhere between Hog and RW. I also have one of the Wildwood Custom D28’s which has Adi top and braces so there are differences to take into account but here is what I would say, Turns out the RW J45 is getting the most play right now. As you would expect it has a deep, strong bass that blooms some but nothing like the D28. The mids are still a little more forward than the D28 but less pronounced than the Hog J45’s I have played. Trebles are bright and depending on the strings you pick can be a little strong. So overall it has the qualities you expect from RW with just a nice touch of that Gibson “cut thru the crowd” punch if that makes sense. It’s also the easiest to play acoustic I have. My LC AJ is my favorite still but the RW J45 is right up there for me.

[62burst]

Some time back, when on a serious Gibson rosewood jag, there were 2 J-45 R's that were here at the same time, under the naive idea of "get them both, keep the nicer sounding one" delusion. . . Obviously, they both ended up staying longer than the trial period. One of the rosewood J-45's had more striking grain, the other had a more mid-range sound. They both sounded more lush than the mahogany J-45, with more bass. A J-45 purist would be looking more for the dry, quick decay, a real contrast to what a long scale rosewood Martin rarely brings to the table. For your interests, the biggest thing that a rosewood J-45 would give you would be more perspective on what the iconic mahogany J-45 sound is, when compared to the similar model made with rosewood b/s.

 

Edited July 18 by 62burst

[The dman]

A beauty 

16 minutes ago, 62burst said:

 

 

 

[62burst]

4 hours ago, J185cat said:

 I have one of the Montana 20th Anniversary J45’s with Zebra wood that some compare to RW but to me sits somewhere between Hog and RW. I also have one of the Wildwood Custom D28’s which has Adi top and braces so there are differences to take into account but here is what I would say, Turns out the RW J45 is getting the most play right now.

.  .  .  .   I have. My LC AJ is my favorite still but the RW J45 is right up there for me.

I remember the Zebrawood offerings a while back- got a pic? 

.   .   .   and what is the "LC"  AJ ?

[Dave F]

The list of the Gibson RW ones that didn't give me the sound or feel -

Dwight Yoakam SJ Honky Tonk Deuce (rolled fingerboard made it the most comfortable guitar I've ever played but the sound was lacking. I wished I would have kept that one)

SJ200 Custom Shop RW (was very nice, sound wasn't there. I think maple is the only wood for the SJ200. Traded for a vintage '52 J45)

CJ165 RW (no sound)

'34 Jumbo RI (no sound)

J45 Custom RW (no sound)

Standard AJ (Sound was good, didn't care for the extreme wedge-shaped bridge which kept the bass strings high by design)

Stage Deluxe RW (Sound was good but didn't like the thin wide neck)

[Larsongs]

There are only a handful of Spruce/Rosewood Acoustics I’d consider. Martin, Gibson, Guild & Collings.

For Spruce/Rosewood I’d have to go Martin D-28.

[Dave F]

6 minutes ago, Larsongs said:

There are only a handful of Spruce/Rosewood Acoustics I’d consider. Martin, Gibson, Guild & Collings.

For Spruce/Rosewood I’d have to go Martin D-28.

I had a couple D28 but found I liked the forward bracing sound better. I had about a dozen variances of the Martin D but when I downsized a few years ago I only kept a HD40MS basically because it had the most comfortable neck. 

[62burst]

35 minutes ago, Dave F said:

 

CJ165 RW (no sound)

'34 Jumbo RI (no sound)

J45 Custom RW (no sound)

that's funny. Brutally right to the point, but funny. 

[Dave F]

11 minutes ago, 62burst said:

that's funny. Brutally right to the point, but funny. 

For me, to get the tone and sound that I want from a Gibson RW, it needs to be an aged top (naturally or baked), or a deeper body (NL or Smeck) or a long scale (AJ, Jumbo ). Just my personal opinion. 

[62burst]

16 minutes ago, Dave F said:

For me, to get the tone and sound that I want from a Gibson RW, it needs to be an aged top (naturally or baked), or a deeper body (NL or Smeck) or a long scale (AJ, Jumbo ). Just my personal opinion. 

Interesting.  "Maybe" (🙂) you've had both at the same time- it would be interesting to hear your thoughts re:  comfort and sound, between the smaller, but deeper-bodied Nick Lucas rosewood, and it's bigger brother, the rosewood Jumbos. I mean, the deeper-bodied  NL might still be a bit of a reach-around (?).  Scale length (?)

[Dave F]

1 hour ago, 62burst said:

Interesting.  "Maybe" (🙂) you've had both at the same time- it would be interesting to hear your thoughts re:  comfort and sound, between the smaller, but deeper-bodied Nick Lucas rosewood, and it's bigger brother, the rosewood Jumbos. I mean, the deeper-bodied  NL might still be a bit of a reach-around (?).  Scale length (?)

My Nick Lucas is very comfortable, a short scale. Because of the L00 shape, the deeper body is not that noticeable. The '34 Jumbo RI I had was from the Centennial group. It was long scale. I always thought it sounded like it was full of wet socks. I put it in the case with some packets to dry it out for a year. After a year, it was better but not great. Slim brought it to my attention that Gibson sprayed the inside of the bodies that year (1994). That explained a lot. I had three models from the Centennial collection and moved all of them. I imagine the vintage ones are killers.

[J185cat]

5 hours ago, 62burst said:

I remember the Zebrawood offerings a while back- got a pic? 

.   .   .   and what is the "LC"  AJ ?

Luthiers Choice Advanced Jumbo.  It was one of the early 2000’s Music Machine Stinger series, incredible guitar.

[J185cat]

1 hour ago, Dave F said:

My Nick Lucas is very comfortable, a short scale. Because of the L00 shape, the deeper body is not that noticeable. The '34 Jumbo RI I had was from the Centennial group. It was long scale. I always thought it sounded like it was full of wet socks. I put it in the case with some packets to dry it out for a year. After a year, it was better but not great. Slim brought it to my attention that Gibson sprayed the inside of the bodies that year (1994). That explained a lot. I had three models from the Centennial collection and moved all of them. I imagine the vintage ones are killers.

Interesting your experience with the Centennial 34Jumbo and that it sounded like full of wet socks. I still have one and my experience is almost the opposite. When I first got mine (gift from my wife) it sounded brittle and almost harsh. I would have moved it except that it was a gift. Over time it has  mellowed and has its own unique sound. Thirty years later I’m glad I still have it although my friends play it more than I do.

[Dave F]

34 minutes ago, J185cat said:

Interesting your experience with the Centennial 34Jumbo and that it sounded like full of wet socks. I still have one and my experience is almost the opposite. When I first got mine (gift from my wife) it sounded brittle and almost harsh. I would have moved it except that it was a gift. Over time it has  mellowed and has its own unique sound. Thirty years later I’m glad I still have it although my friends play it more than I do.

I bought mine used so who knows how it was taken care of. 

[62burst]

4 hours ago, J185cat said:

Luthiers Choice Advanced Jumbo.  It was one of the early 2000’s Music Machine Stinger series, incredible guitar.

Oh, that's right-  Brazilian.

nice.