Info on J-45 N

[oldandintheway]

I acquired this Gibson with OHSC today. It is a 2005

and the paper interior label is J-45 N. It has a sitka

top and mahogany sides and back. It has dot markers

on the fretboard and a simple rosette (3 rings?) It has

a built in sound control board on the upper side. It has a

phase control,volume control and a treble, bass and mids

knob and a brilliance control. It has gold open frame tuners

that seem to be good quality. It has a rosewood fretboard

and bridge. It plays easily and looks new. It does not have

a backstripe. Can anybody identify this model? Thanks in advance.

[rar]

... Can anybody identify this model?

 

You already did -- it's a J-45 N (as in "natural"). The J-50 was officially (but not in practice) discontinued during this period and replaced by the J-45 N as a standard production model. Traditionally, a J-50 is simply a J-45 with a natural finish. But, relatively recently, "J-50" has come to imply having late-50s style pickguard rather than the J-45 teardrop. For example, my natural maple 2006 J-45 is a" J-45" rather than a "J-50" because of the pickguard.

 

Anyway, bottom line is that your guitar is a 2005 J-45 with a natural rather than sunburst finish -- that's all there is to it.

 

-- Bob R

 

Added slightly later: Forgot to address the electronics. These could have been factory-installed -- having them installed was (and is) an option -- or added aftermarket. If you tell us exactly what's in there, or better yet post a picture, people may be able to make a more informed guess as to which.

[onewilyfool]

How on earth can anyone keep track of all these models and their 'floating' specifications????

[BigKahune]

Welcome.

 

And congrats on yer new Gibson J-45 N.

 

 

How about posting a couple pics?

 

Pic posting help - http://forums.gibson.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=21335

[oldandintheway]

I appreciate the answers I've received, so far. I am very impressed with this

Gibson. An additional question I forgot to ask - does this model have scalloped braces?

It sounds as if it does. It also retains it's tuning when capoed. I am a Martin guy, but I've

looked far and wide for a Gibson with the sound I expected. This J-45 is it for me. An

excellent strummer, a good flat picker and has good volume as a fingerstyle guitar.

The search is most of the fun.

[oldandintheway]

Additional info; This preamp is a Fishman prefix pro model. The Fishman name is not present.

The amp is professionally labeled as a Gibson unit! As far as pics go - I'd like to post them, but I am computer

challenged on pics. I'd be glad to send some pics to a poster's Email.

[rar]

Additional info; This preamp is a Fishman prefix pro model. The Fishman name is not present.

The amp is professionally labeled as a Gibson unit!

 

I believe that's what went in J-185 ECs and the like at the time. Undoubtedly factory-installed then.

 

-- Bob R

[oldandintheway]

I finally found a used 2005 J-45 N on line that has all the features listed

in the above posts. This listing reinforces the info from my Gibson forum

colleagues and answers all my questions. Thanks to all for your inputs

about this model. I will post pics ASAP. By the way - I am "oldandintheway"

on the UMGF.

[zombywoof]

How on earth can anyone keep track of all these models and their 'floating' specifications????

 

Aint that the truth -hard to believe that at one time if you wanted a J-45 the only choice you had to make was which of the three cases you could get with the guitar did you want.

[Guest rogerb]

Email the serial number to service@gibson.com we will be happy to roll the number in the Gibson database for product information.

[rar]

Aint that the truth -hard to believe that at one time if you wanted a J-45 the only choice you had to make was which of the three cases you could get with the guitar did you want.

 

Well, maybe you can find some solace in knowing that the early days of the J-45 were, by some measure, ever more chaotic. In the first four years of production alone, there were Adi tops (2- and 4-piece), Sitka tops, and hog tops; there were (1-piece and 2-piece) hog backs, solid maple backs, and laminated maple backs; there were hog necks and laminated maple necks; there were truss rods and no truss rods; there were at least four different kinds of tuners; there were firestripe pickguards and tortoise pickguards; there were rosewood and gumwood fretboards; there were poplar and hog neck blocks; there were who knows how many neck profiles (since the answer depends on how much of a difference counts as a different profile); etc. If you ordered a J-45, heaven only knew what the specs of the instrument that showed up would be, beyond being J-45-shaped and sunburst.

 

Your nostalgia for the days of yore when there were "just J-45s" reminds me of a friend from South Africa who resented being asked what he wanted on his roast beef sandwich. And having three different the roast beef sandwichs on the menu was even worse. In South Africa, this Just Isn't Done (or so I was told). You order a roast beef sandwich, and it comes with whatever it comes with (which is, of course somewhat unpredictable). If you have preferences -- no mustard, extra horseradish, whatever -- you can express them and have it made the way you want. But being asked what you want on it is an unreasonable imposition, because you have to waste a lot of mental energy making additional choices beyond "roast beef". "Why doesn't the chef decide what goes best on it instead of making me choose?" he would complain. "Why have the Old San Francisco Roast Beef Sandwich and Sausalito Roast Beef Sandwich both on the menu? Having just a one roast beef sandwich would be so much simpler!" he would explain to the waitstaff. He was a nice guy, so we tolerated this minor eccentricity.

 

-- Bob R