Jorma's Gibson Acoustic

[fiddler]

Does anyone know if Jorma's (first?) acoustic was a Gibson J-45 or a J-50? (late 50's-ish version)

 

And was this the guitar used to record Embryonic Journey? Hesitation Blues ?

 

Thanks!!

[guitarstrummer]

I think it was the J-50, but Rar would know the answer for sure.

[rar]

Does anyone know if Jorma's (first?) acoustic was a Gibson J-45 or a J-50? (late 50's-ish version)

 

And was this the guitar used to record Embryonic Journey? Hesitation Blues ?

 

Well' date=' I can't let Mike down, so here goes:

 

Jorma's first guitar was a Gibson J-45 his dad bought for him in '56. (He saw it in a music store on M St. in D.C., wanted it, and got his dad to agree to buy it if he learned two songs. He quickly learned a couple of Carter Family songs -- one was "Jimmy Brown the Newsboy" -- so they went back and got it.)

 

His "famous" '56 J-50 was purchased in 1960, when he was attending Antioch College, at Pop's in Dayton for $100. (He wanted a J-50 because he liked Al Heald's so much. Al was a roommate of Ian Buchanan at Antioch, Ian being the guy who was teaching Jorma fingerpicking. He financed the purchase by selling his '54 Triumph motorcycle.) That was the guitar used on the original recording of "Embryonic Journey" on [i']Surrealistic Pillow[/i], "Hesitation Blues" on Hot Tuna Live at New Orleans House, and many other recordings from the Typewriter Tapes right up to some of the tracks on his latest album, River of Time (recorded at Levon Helm's studio in Woodstock a couple of weeks ago).

 

-- Bob R

[guitarstrummer]

Thanks, Bob. You're a human encyclopedia! I knew you'd know the answer.

[zombywoof]

According to the guy who fitted Jorma's guitar with a pickup jack in the late 1980s, the J-50 was a 1958.

[zombywoof]

If ya go to Jorma's web page you can read the story of Jorma's days in D.C. and Ohio and buying the Gibson.

 

The guy who worked on Jorma's Gibson and Martin in the 1980s has said that the J-50 was a 1958 model.

[rar]

According to the guy who fitted Jorma's guitar with a pickup jack in the late 1980s' date=' the J-50 was a 1958.[/quote']

 

Yeah, I've seen that claim by Don Alfieri. It's possible. Jorma has said it's a '56, consistently and many times, in print -- most recently, here -- but he's actually pretty unreliable about guitar details. If anybody really cares, I could ask him whether the S/N starts with a V or a T.

 

-- Bob R

[guitarstrummer]

 

Yeah' date=' I've seen that claim by Don Alfieri. It's possible. Jorma has said it's a '56, consistently and many times, in print -- most recently, here -- but he's actually pretty unreliable about guitar details. If anybody really cares, I could ask him whether the S/N starts with a V or a T.

 

-- Bob R

 

While you're at it, why don't you invite him to Homecoming??

[amp]

I second that suggestion, Mike!

Anne

[jefleppard]

+1 on the invite. that would be so cool.

[62 sg]

sorry probly not much help but i found great info on wikipiedia about guitars