snkysnake Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 A friend of mine recently inherited this J45 when a friend of his passed away. At one time he told me that it is a 1947 , but another time he thought it was a 1964. It has plenty of finish checking, the pickguard is not original , the tuners are also not original . But....I got a chance to play it on a gig for about thirty minutes, and wow ! For some reason, it seemed smaller , lighter, and sweeter than my modern classic. Plenty of voice to it , just a vintage sound to it I guess. Plus the fact that it is Hog and my is RW. Two regrets for me, he lives about two hours away, so I may not get to play it very often, and I should have taken more detailed pictures. I couldn't see any numbers on this git, other than J45 stamped on the center seam of the back. Nothing on the neck block, and if there are any numbers on the back of the headstock they are unreadable. There is a very slight chance that I might be able to purchase this one down the road, so nailing down the year (era) would certainly help. Also if you have any idea of the value please let me know. Thanks in advance for any help you might have for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acousticworship Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Very nice! My grandad has an early/mid 50's Southern Jumbo (essentially a dressed up J-45) that I get to play quite a bit. Compared to my J-45 MC, it is a little louder and has a little less top end. A little looser in the bass. Very sweet sound. Similar weight though. The weight difference between the two guitars is probably the Rosewood on yours. A friend's J-45RW is a lot heavier than my Mahogany J-45 MC. I'm certainly no expert, but based on the modern gold logo, the belly up bridge, and the 20 fret neck, I'd say the 1964 date was more accurate. Pretty sure it's not a 1947. I'm sure some more knowledgable guys here on the forum will chime in, but here's a couple of sites that have some J-45 info. http://www.provide.net/~cfh/j45.html http://vintage-guitars.blogspot.com/2005/12/gibson-j-45.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted May 14, 2009 Share Posted May 14, 2009 Odd it does not have a number on the neck block or back of peghead. From the sunburst patten I would say late 50s, 58-60. During this time they were easy to date with the neck block number which has a letter prefix, the reverse alphabet system which started with Z in 1952 went through 1960 I believe. Not a 1947; would have a different sunburst pattern, through saddle on the bridge, 19 fret neck. Not a 1964; a 64 would be cherry sunburst with adjustable bridge. (this bridge appears to be original) They went back to this style of sunburst in the late 60s, but would have a different bridge and a narrow neck. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snkysnake Posted May 14, 2009 Author Share Posted May 14, 2009 Thanks for the feedback guys, it's gonna take some more research on my part. My modern classic was so thickly sprayed on the back of the headstock that you can just faintly see most of the Serial number , so maybe that's the case with this one. I'll see if I can arrange a road trip and a closer look. I'm pretty sure I scoped the neck block and saw nothing, but in the excitment of the moment I may have missed it if it was lightly stamped. I'll take an inspection mirror and my camera too. I'll post updates as I get them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suburude63 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 47s had banner headstocks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 47s had banner headstocks 1946 is considered the year guitars had the old script logo without the banner. 1947 would be the newer block logo, no banner. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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