NGD (Sort of) - Gibson J-50

[ajohansson8]

This is my Gibson 60's J-50 from 2021 that I bought back in April.  I just got it back from the workshop for a setup and a new fixed bone bridge instead of the adjustable one and it sounds great!

It had a crack under the bridge that was repaired before I got it as you can see on the third picture.

 

It currently has D'Addario XS PB Lights on but I have some D'Addario Nickel Bronze and Martin Retro strings that I'm gonna try. Does anyone have any other string tips?

 

Also, does anyone know what the "Mod" text at the back of the headstock means? It has a K&K Mini Pure pickup inside it, could it be that?

 

[gearbasher]

Gibson has a MOD Collection:

https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Collection/gibson-mod?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9Km3BhDjARIsAGUb4nyGQt2Th9I82-iSM8GL6lNXFgOPVCfbpLWJ-Y7k2-62c-o-sUEKyJsaAjsQEALw_wcB

Edited September 18 by gearbasher

[MorristownSal]

That model is not in the Modern collection.

i think the MOD is akin to a factory demo. Gibson has an outlet store in Nashville that sells guitars marked like this. They are sold that way used without warranty, and have a small imperfection usually.

whoever did that bridge change… sweet job!

right up my alley this one…

[Boyd]

I have a 60's Original J-50 (2020, IIRC) and one of the main reasons I got it was for the ADJ bridge, so removing that seems bizarre to me... but to each their own! These models did not include a pickup, according to Gibson's site (the 50's original had a pickup). But I got mine used from Guitar Center as a very good deal and it did have a pickup with sensors crazy-glued inside the guitar.

I wrote about this in another thread - I ended up removing the pickup, which was very difficult due to the crazy-glue. The problem was, it was emitting RF interference when I put a mic close to the guitar. This was interesting because it was a passive pickup with no batteries or amplifier. But evidently the signal was still strong enough to create some very annoying interference when a microphone was close.

I also have a J-50 Modern Classic from 2008. It is really very similar to the 60's original but the neck is just slightly fatter and it doesn't have the ADJ bridge. It did come with an under-saddle pickup that I removed. It also had the really big, ugly rotomatic tuners (replaced these with Kluson replicas). It's interesting... you have turned your 60's original into something that is very close to my Modern Classic!

Anyway, they're great guitars - enjoy!

Edited September 18 by Boyd

[fortyearspickn]

Classic look -  clean and iconic. Congrats@ 

[Dave F]

As Sal said, they did a good-looking job filling in that pocket for the bone saddle.

I've had two J50's. A 1954 and currently a 1968. I tried the adjustable bridge with tusk and rosewood but preferred solid bone saddle on rosewood bridge sound. To each his own.

Enjoy!

[egoidealmusic]

NIce work!  Looks like maybe the origianl saddle was a bit too far back given that the new saddle sits a touch outside of the fixed saddle line.  

[zombywoof]

Cannot help with strings.  My J50 is your guitars great granddaddy having been birthed as part of the first batch shipped in 1942.  In deference to its age and light build I have been using Newtone Heritage 12s.  While Heritage remains my favorite strings they apparently once again have no U.S. distributor, so you have to order direct from the factory in England.

As to the D'Addario NB strings my experience with them has been they work best with heavier built instruments.  I do at the moment, however, have my 1961 B45-12 strung with NB 11s (I string it Big Joe Willam 9 string style).  While they get the job done, I am not overwhelmed by them.  But in the end, what do I know.

[E-minor7]

14 hours ago, egoidealmusic said:

NIce work!  Looks like maybe the origianl saddle was a bit too far back given that the new saddle sits a touch outside of the fixed saddle line.  

Very good eyes there, sir  👁️👁️ - and this pic seems to underline your detection.

On 9/18/2024 at 10:24 AM, MorristownSal said:

, , right up my alley this one…

The video below may be of interest - for U and hopefully many more. A bit unfortunate it's an 160E, but the A/B/C/D still gets the point across.
 

The relatively recent re-launch of adjustables should be with white porcelain, not tusq.

[E-minor7]

On 9/18/2024 at 9:38 AM, ajohansson8 said:

This is my Gibson 60's J-50 from 2021 that I bought back in April.  I just got it back from the workshop for a setup and a new fixed bone bridge instead of the adjustable one and it sounds great!

Great to hear you are happy - whenever you're ready, we should hear some hot sounds too. .

Gibson strings, both bronze and phosphor ditto, are worth trying. Lights = 12-53.

[Boyd]

I have been using an odd combination of strings on my J-50's, but after lots of experimentation, it's what I like. I use Martin Acoustic SP Mediums (.013-.056) on the bottom 3 strings and Martin Acoustic SP Lights (.011-.052) for the upper 3 strings. This gives a nice solid bass while still allowing "bending" the upper strings for blues. Of course, this wastes 6 strings however I don't change very often, so it's not really a problem. 🙂

Edited September 19 by Boyd

[E-minor7]

5 hours ago, Boyd said:

I have been using an odd combination of strings on my J-50's, but after lots of experimentation, it's what I like. I use Martin Acoustic SP Mediums (.013-.056) on the bottom 3 strings and Martin Acoustic SP Lights (.011-.052) for the upper 3 strings. This gives a nice solid bass while still allowing "bending" the upper strings for blues. Of course, this wastes 6 strings however I don't change very often, so it's not really a problem. 🙂

Wow, , , 😮 - The 6 left you should donate to the neighbors daughter.