SJ Impressions

[zombywoof]

I have now spent several days test driving a 1956 SJ - the one with the rattler tail inside. This is my first experience with an SJ.

 

There are things about this guitar that send shivers up and down my spine. But there are also things that I am a bit less than thrilled about.

 

To start, the guitar is in fine shape - no structural issues. The usual assortment of nicks, scratches and checking you would find on a guitar this age. The original tuners have been rolled for a set of Grovers.

 

The playability is excellent and ya just gotta love the 50s roundback neck. I like it a whole lot better than the thinner neck on my '60 J200. The SJ is a great strummer but then again I have rarely met a Gibson that wasn't. The highs are brighter with more sparkle to 'em than my J200 which I would describe as having fat and fluid highs. The bass is warm and chunky. What I am less impressed with are the mids - they seem somewhat mellow and almost muted, particularly when you play higher up the board. I am figuring on playing around with different string guages to see if this makes a difference.

 

I have a few more days before I have to make the call on keeping it or not. While the owner is a friend and offering me the guitar on the lower end of the price range which these usually fetch, it is still a chunk of change and the only way I can afford it is to hand over one of my favorite electrics.

 

Decisions, decisions, decisions.

[Gilliangirl]

Boy, I'd not want to be in your situation in making a decision like that. Your favorite electrics? If they're already your favorites then it sounds like you're giving up something of real personal value for something that you're not sure about. That being said, does a guitar exist that has perfect highs, mids and lows on all points of the neck? That would be a perfect guitar and I really wonder if that's even possible. And, they can change at any time because they're vulnerable pieces of wood.

 

Good luck with your decision. Hey, if it's a friend who is selling it, maybe he'd be willing to just let you play it every now and then without the commitment of buying. Just a thought.

[Rambler]

Wow. As GG, says, tough call. Some thoughts. How much time do you spend on acoustic as opposed to electric? If its less is it departing from a workhorse? A some what mellower (some might say muted) voice is not atypical of Gibsons after 55, when they changed over to a non-scalloped bracing pattern (worse still after 63 when they enlarged bridgeplates), so Im not sure how much a diff strings would make. An SJ TV or WG, while still a considerable chunk of change, is going to be less than vintage (if not as 'cool') and will have scalloped bracing. Good luck. J

[zombywoof]

Wow. As GG' date=' says, tough call. Some thoughts. How much time do you spend on acoustic as opposed to electric? If its less is it departing from a workhorse? A some what mellower (some might say muted) voice is not atypical of Gibsons after 55, when they changed over to a non-scalloped bracing pattern (worse still after 63 when they enlarged bridgeplates), so Im not sure how much a diff strings would make. An SJ TV or WG, while still a considerable chunk of change, is going to be less than vintage (if not as 'cool') and will have scalloped bracing. Good luck. J [/quote']

 

 

Good info here, thanks. I really play very little electric these days. But I know what you are talking about. Years back I sold my 1950s Tele. I had owned it since it was just a used guitar back before the term "vintage" entered our lexicon. I had nightmares about selling that guitar for weeks. My sole consolation was the sale of the Tele allowed me to buy the J200.

 

I am not hung up on owning a vintage guitar as I have had my share of them. This one just popped up and I had the opportunity to take it home for a proper test drive. Did the same thing when I bought my J200. In that instance my wife actually told me you are not returning this guitar. Yeah, it is nice to be married to a woman who absolutely loves Gibsons.

[ballcorner]

Any time you are giving up an electric for an acoustic you are making progress.

 

If the mids are tight going up the board I would always ask this: Has the guitar ever been played up the board? It is possible that the guitar has never been worked out past the second position - even after all this time.

 

Can you take the guitar into a large shop and compare it against other instruments in the same price range?

[zombywoof]

Any time you are giving up an electric for an acoustic you are making progress.

 

If the mids are tight going up the board I would always ask this: Has the guitar ever been played up the board? It is possible that the guitar has never been worked out past the second position - even after all this time.

 

Can you take the guitar into a large shop and compare it against other instruments in the same price range?

 

 

Most of the board wear is on the first three frets so I would say no.

 

Round these parts going to a "large" store would mean GC or MF in Kansas City which might not be a bad idea. But I am in no hurry to buy. If this one doesn't work out something else will come down the pike. And usually they find me.

 

Thanks for the advice.

[fp]

Zomby, what's there to think about ? It's a mid 50's SJ in good shape and the price is right. Buy it !

[ballcorner]

 

 

 

Thanks for the advice.

 

I am always happy to offer what I can. I like the fact that you trust the guitars to find you. If you had asked me twenty years ago what I would be playing now I surely would have said pre-war Martins and I am actually regularly playing a group of five guitars that are less than 6 years old.

 

There is a fit and feel that just seems right with some things regardless of age or price.