One must go.....which to choose, help!!!!

[butterscotch]

I am in the fortunate or unfortunate position of owning 3 Custom Shop Historic guitars. They are the 1942 Banner J45, 1957 J200 (Maple B&S), and 1960 Fixed Bridge Hummingbird. I adore all three. However, one must go. I won't get into the reasons.....but one must go. I play mostly at home on my couch with the occasional coffee house gig thrown in..... or more rarely in a full band folk rock situation.  If you had to choose one to part with, which would it be? Any advice would be great. 

[Sgt. Pepper]

I don’t have a horse in this race, it’s your call. 

[sparquelito]

Which of the three do you play the least?

I myself have had guitars that I loved, and just had to have. 
But later on, I sold them because I was rarely if ever drawn to pick them up. 

Just thinking out loud. 

😕

[butterscotch]

Hi, thanks. I guess I play the Bird and the 200 most. However, the 45 is the best of the lot. It would be my go to for any type of gig even if it isn't the one most played at home. I don't think I could part with that one. It probably mostly comes down to the HB and the 200. I'm hoping some of the folks on here may have played or owned these and might have some advice that I'm not considering. Perhaps owning a HB and a 45 is somewhat redundant because both are mahogany. But, maybe not. The 200 is of course unique in the lot of 3 because of the Maple and long scale. Each are spectacular. I feel stupid even asking but I'm struggling with this decision.....poor me, I get it....lol. 

[duane v]

1 hour ago, butterscotch said:

I am in the fortunate or unfortunate position of owning 3 Custom Shop Historic guitars. They are the 1942 Banner J45, 1957 J200 (Maple B&S), and 1960 Fixed Bridge Hummingbird. I adore all three. However, one must go. I won't get into the reasons.....but one must go. I play mostly at home on my couch with the occasional coffee house gig thrown in..... or more rarely in a full band folk rock situation.  If you had to choose one to part with, which would it be? Any advice would be great. 

for me it would be the Hummingbird.

 

 

[OrdinaryNimda]

Guitars are made for playing. So this is a very simple decision - the 2 that you play the most stay.

[Phil OKeefe]

While I love the look of the J-200, I've never owned one because I've never found one that had a neck that I was able to bond with. For that reason, I'd probably sell that one if I was in your shoes. But then again, it is a Jumbo maple body, which is different than the dreadnought-sized mahogany bodies on other two. While they do have the same body woods, there is a difference in sound between the round shoulder Banner J-45 and square shoulder Hummingbird IMO, so they're not quite as similar as they might otherwise seem. Picking between those two would be harder for me, but if you think the J-45 is the best of the three, then sell the J-200 or the 'bird–whichever one you like and play the least.

 

[butterscotch]

All good points folks. Thank you. It is a tough decision. 

[OrdinaryNimda]

5 minutes ago, butterscotch said:

All good points folks. Thank you. It is a tough decision. 

We hope you will tell us of your decision. Plus it'd be nice to see photos of the 3, including the one that has to go.
(I had a 79 Strat, beautiful sunburst with the proverbially thick finish and gigantic sound. Sold it some years later... been crying about it ever since.)

Edited Thursday at 06:31 PM by OrdinaryNimda

[gearbasher]

Hummingbirds never appealed to me. That would be my choice.

[sparquelito]

Can you keep all three, and just sell a kidney?

😗

[RBSinTo]

Butterscotch,

This is a decision only you can make.

Questions such as yours invariably result in as many different answers as are possible to calculate, and so to my mind while well intentioned, are not useful.

I hope whichever you decide to keep satisfies your musical needs.

RBSinTo

 

 

[duane v]

My decision was based on I have all three instruments.

My reasoning 

my j-45 sounds better than my Dove

my j-200's sound better than my J-45 and Dove.

lose the Dove

 

[Larsongs]

Unless it’s a money issue I’d keep all 3. But, if I had to narrow it down to keeping just one it would be the Banner J-45. One of the best all around Guitars you can own.

[fortyearspickn]

I only have 3 guitars- same models as yours, different 'versions'.   I often ask myself that hypothetical question :"Which would I grab in a fire?",  never going to deeply into it.       Not a  "Sophie's Choice" decision if you aren't required to make it.    But, I play the J-45 (custom koa) 3x as much as the other two combined.  And the SJ200 maple is just too great sounding.  So, if I had to sell off one - it'd be the H'Bird TV.  Which, of course is fantastic in it's own right and the most comfortable to play.     You might ask yourself, since your looking for outside input,  which of the three do you see out and about most often - being played by those who seem to have zeroed in on a favorite.    G'Luck. 

[kidblast]

To me, J200s are in a class of their own.  So my choice would be keeping that.

Moving down the list, I'd probably want to hang on to the slope shoulder

Since it has to come to one going, I'd probably chose the dreadnaught to be on the outbound train.

[Notes_Norton]

Keep the one you like playing the most, and the one you play at the coffee house.

[sparquelito]

I have sold guitars before because I was hit with huge veterinary bills or medical bills. 
More than a few times. 
Baby needs a new pair of shoes. 
It's alright. 

They keep making more guitars, as it turns out. 

🙂