63 j45 - thoughts and feelings

[jefleppard]

does this look like a good deal?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Epiphone-J45-Limited-Edition-Acoustic-Guitar_W0QQitemZ150233880356QQcmdZViewItem?_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

 

edit-sorry, didnt see that someone mentioned one (same one?) for sale lower in the thread. still, comments welcome.

[tedkul1281734018]

There seems to be 2 different versions of this guitar:

 

As listed on Musicians Friend, and elsewhere, the '63 J-45 has white "bean" tuners, no fretboard binding, and a 24.75 scale neck with a 1.72 nut width. Like a Gibson '63 J-45.

 

The guitar on ebay has grover tuners, cream binding around the fretboard, and (from the looks of it) Epi's standard nut width (1.68) and neck scale (25.5). Apparently they changed the specs somewhere in this guitar's run.

 

Compare these images from a japanese website with the ones on ebay:

 

 

 

 

Of course, both versions differ from a Gibson 1963 J-45 in a number of respects. Most visibly notable is the lack of Gibson's crazy Plastic bridge with adjustable ceramic saddle.

[jefleppard]

there is one that keep popping up on ebay. the guy wants $300 for it. i remember guys here talking about them, though. didnt they come out for $199 and there was a price hike at some point that took it up to $400? does anyone know why the price was raised? this guy has relisted a couple times so i think everyone knows it isnt gonna move at that price.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Epiphone-Limited-Edition-1963-AJ-45-Acoustic-Guitar_W0QQitemZ130262609995QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item130262609995&_trkparms=39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A10%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

[theDeuce]

Buying guitars off the *bay is a crap shoot. If ya gotta do it, buy from a well respected seller. Check feedback thoroughly.

 

I'm pretty sure MF ran these at $199-250 for a while as they were calling to me too. I didn't pull the trigger due to them being 25.5 scale and the real Gibby is 24.75.

 

I wonder if they lowered the price to move out the long scale (incorrect vers.) and have the $400 price for the short scale? Who knows? MF could have had the description wrong too.

 

MF is clearing them out and only has the black color now for $400, ouch!

 

Side note, there seems to be a lot of discontinued/clearance Epi's right now. They are scaling back their range for some reason. Maybe they're getting ready to bring out the new models. Or just cutting back until the economy comes

'round.

[stone1281734000]

I grabbed one when it was SDOTD last year for $149. No way I'd pay the $400 they're asking for them now, though. Too many other great choices out there at that price point.

[TommyK]

Epiphone specs have been known to change without much notice. 25.5 then 24.75 and back again.

 

Could be the seller is trolling for 'just the right customer' to jump on at an inflated price. Sometimes getting the big pay-off takes patience and an uninformed buyer. Christmas is coming and the uninformed buyers (legions of 'santa clauses') are about to come out of the woodwork needing to get a guit tar for Little Timmy.

[jefleppard]

thanks for the info, guys. that guitar sold for 152.50. i put up the min bid of 149 before i went to work just to take a shot in the dark and it sold to the next bidder. oh well. this stuff comes along regularly and i wouldnt have gone any higher.

how about this one. anyone ever heard one? it looks nice but the electronics suck,imho.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Epiphone-Gibson-Electric-Acoustic-Guitar_W0QQitemZ220298862774QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item220298862774&_trkparms=39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A1%7C240%3A1318&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14