SJ TV

[PickitPaul]

I was looking at some vintage pictures of 1940's / 50's SJ and J-45's, and wonder why the present SJ TV and to a lesser extent the J-45 TV's all have a much darker finish on the back / sides. I mean, it is hard to see the grain of the nice mahogany. The only way I can see any gain of wood is to hold it in the sunlight.

 

How does the neck compare to the old ones? It is not a v, or very thick, but is it more like the later 50's neck?

[larryp58]

That would be on account of the "aged" finish on the True Vintage line. I can see the grain of the wood pretty clear on mine, although it does jump right out at you in the sunlight! IMHO, the TV line of guitars have the best sunburst finish on a guitar you can get.

[Danner]

I think part of it is that Gibson wanted to differentiate the current tobacco sunburst color. The darker color of the TV's is very distinctive, and I think it looks great. And the yellowed binding too.

 

I would like to see a cherry sunburst finish on a couple of the Gibson models. Like the Brad Paisley, but without the signature price premium.

[onewilyfool]

I think it has to do with the quality and species of Mahogany. In the old days, hog came from Cuba or Honduras, and had very tight even grain. Now-a-days, you can't get that quality, generally. So they use Sapele and other species of Mahogany that have a lot of movement and varying grain patterns, so the dark stain covers up the deficiencies. Check the grain on old Martins, or Gibsons, it is uniform and tight.