Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

SJ-200 Slope Shoulder !?


Lars68

Recommended Posts

After years of my HD-28 I showed up to a jam at a friend's house with my J-200.  When I opened the case he gave me a wide-eyed raised eyebrows look and shielded his eyes. 😀  I guess I'm one of those traditional guys; I like both a plain old dread and my big ol' Gibby which I call my Cowboy guitar, but I'm not necessarily a fan of the hybrid look.  

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

With me the first question I ask myself is do I like a guitar enough that I would trade, in this case, either my 1942 J50 or 1960 J200 for it.  The answer has aways been a resounding no.  But the next question that pops into my head is would I give it a home?  Based on the video, that M2M guitar would be a distinct possibility.   Best guess is while the bling is meaningless, maple body J45s have never failed to intrigue the heck out of me. I always wondered why Bozeman did not go in that direction more than they did - say a Russ Barenberg signature J45.  Now if I could only overcome the feeling that spending any money on another guitar is just plain silly.  I just passed on a 1950s Epiphone Century with a New York pickup which I could have snagged at a local auction for around $400 so a Magic 8 Ball would reply  "Outlook Not So Good" when it comes to the question of whether I am ready to jump that broomstick again.

Edited by zombywoof
Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 minutes ago, Dave F said:

J200 Neck, Pickguard and Bridge plus the maple is standard J200.

Thanks Dave, I figured you’d come through.  I get the bridge might transfer differently, that makes sense.  To push it just a bit, with tone-woods being equal, wouldn’t the body shape have a more direct effect though on the sound than the neck or the bridge?  (I’ve always assumed pickguards are sorta immaterial sonically) Or does the J200 neck make for a markedly different playing experience than the 45?  I’m seriously asking because I thought I wanted a j-45 because of the slope shoulder sound.  My search waters are getting seriously muddied.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, scriv58 said:

Interesting- yet another expensive solution to a non-existent problem

 

 

 

 

That's where you're wrong. The problem was how could Gibson get us to spend our money for something we do not need. They were successful with me.

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds great but I can’t make myself like the modern sort of orange peel-y matt lacquer finishes Gibson are shooting these days. Makes everything look like the old Epi Masterbilt range from years ago. 
 

Some of the best guitars I’ve ever played have been maple J45s. I had a Maple AJ for several years which was astonishingly good. This guitar sounds like the best of both of those, and I quite like the 200 appointments. Pickguard could have been scaled down a touch perhaps.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Dave F said:

That's where you're wrong. The problem was how could Gibson get us to spend our money for something we do not need. They were successful with me.

Not wrong for me- my 67 year old Gibson is enough to keep me from leaking precious funds. I can only play one at a time anyway.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 hours ago, Dave F said:

J200 Neck, Pickguard and Bridge plus the maple is standard J200.

So, it's a long scale guitar?  Gibson, of course, turned out J45s sporting maple backs and rims in 1944 and 1945.  Best guess though is they were laminate.

Edited by zombywoof
Link to comment
Share on other sites

40 minutes ago, zombywoof said:

So, it's a long scale guitar?  Gibson, of course, turned out J45s sporting maple backs and rims in 1944 and 1945.  Best guess though is they were laminate.

Apparently according to an older post I found here trying to figure this out, they also issued a limited number in 2016? of true maple j-45s.  The poster bought it as their first guitar, just wanting a j-45 and not knowing what 1/75 meant, chuckle.  I also found an old listing on google for at least one solid (supposedly) Banner, not laminate. Hence my head scratching as to the differences beyond the aesthetics.  The neck explains it.   

Edited by PrairieDog
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Jinder said:

Sounds great but I can’t make myself like the modern sort of orange peel-y matt lacquer finishes Gibson are shooting these days. Makes everything look like the old Epi Masterbilt range from years ago. 
 

Some of the best guitars I’ve ever played have been maple J45s. I had a Maple AJ for several years which was astonishingly good. This guitar sounds like the best of both of those, and I quite like the 200 appointments. Pickguard could have been scaled down a touch perhaps.

Agree-o. It seems like Gibson sensed that distressed finishes are all alike. But orange peel is the easiest to recreate, rather than 50 years of aging. And yes, I've found maple to be the liveliest incarnation of the the J-45.

1 hour ago, zombywoof said:

So, it's a long scale guitar?  Gibson, of course, turned out J45s sporting maple backs and rims in 1944 and 1945.  Best guess though is they were laminate.

It does look to be long scale, which, combined with the maple, would seem to move it much further away from the standard J-45 sound:

https://www.tfoa.eu/en/shop/rs5557m2m0825-gibson-m2m-tfoa-limited-sj200-slope-shoulder-edition-sunburst-100122#attr=626788,626789,626790,626791,626792,626793,626794,626795,626796,626797,626798,626918,626828,626829,626830,626831,626832,626833,626834,626835,626836,552056,626837,626838,626839

Link to comment
Share on other sites

How odd - like the tall king and his proud stallion merging into one. Helo !
 

That said it sounds tempting. A guitar it would be necessary to try in real life. Too weird for me to own it though. 

 

                       Good post

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...