Acousticologist Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Hey, I'm busy looking to add to my beautiful flock and was looking at the J45 TV J45 Custom Can anyone give their opinion on these two guitars? I wont be able to play either one before buying, so if you have any thoughts at all - they would be appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st elvis Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I tried a few J45's at Sam Ash and Guitar Center in New York City, and was not impressed. I tried one J45 Custom, and with a swipe of my credit card, walked out with a great guitar. I have a Martin D41, and the J45 Custom has a lot of the same feel physically, but I think the scalloped bracing makes the Gibson more gutsier and mellow at the same time. The Martin will give you that beautiful Neil Young acoustic sound, but the J45 Custom will let you rock and roll too! The Baggs Element pickup it comes with also sounds pretty good through my Loudbox amp. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acousticologist Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 I tried a few J45's at Sam Ash and Guitar Center in New York City, and was not impressed. I tried one J45 Custom, and with a swipe of my credit card, walked out with a great guitar. I have a Martin D41, and the J45 Custom has a lot of the same feel physically, but I think the scalloped bracing makes the Gibson more gutsier and mellow at the same time. The Martin will give you that beautiful Neil Young acoustic sound, but the J45 Custom will let you rock and roll too! The Baggs Element pickup it comes with also sounds pretty good through my Loudbox amp. Hope this helps! Thanks for that... I already own a standard J45. Was looking at going to the J45 TV (True Vintage) with the adirondack top.... Was your comparison with the Custom to the standard J45 or the TV model? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jchabalk Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I've got a J45TV with red spruce top from 2008. there are a couple of other forum members with them. the overall consensus is, "+1" ;) i've played a few J45 standard/modern classics too and they really aren't drastically different, it's a great guitar and with a spruce top and hog back it works really well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Can I ask why you already are looking to buy the next guitar when you just bought the Martin CEO and already have a big stable ? Im just curious .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acousticologist Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 That's a fair question. With ny response - im Probably answering you as much as selling it out for myself.... 1: I'm obsessive about guitars. I run a guitar school and teach guitar all day. Then I perform 2-3 gigs every weekend, and the guitar consumes most of my waking hours.... 2: After many years of hard work building my guitar school and reputation as an artist, I can finally afford a few luxuries that I couldn't before. 3: I'm in pre-production for my next CD, and it's a strictly acoustic only CD. So I want a few flavours to play with. 4: with the current exchange rate, guitars have never been so "affordable". I guess I'm trying to "get it while I can". But the real question is : how much is enough?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st elvis Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Thanks for that... I already own a standard J45. Was looking at going to the J45 TV (True Vintage) with the adirondack top.... Was your comparison with the Custom to the standard J45 or the TV model? Standard D45 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ramseyrails Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 I just purchased a J45 Custom and I can't say enough good things about it, it is truly one of the best/easiest guitars I have ever played. I am currently trying to sell my J200 because I never play it anymore. I'm waiting to try out a J45TV as soon as Sweetwater, conveniently located 30 min from my house gets one in. I have heard nothing but great things about it also. Just my 2cents. Ramsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 OK, that makes sense given you're basically fully dedicated to the art both professionally and in spare time. I asked because in my local shop there is an absolute killer J-45 standard right now (sounds better than the TV next to it). It ticks all the boxes and i basically could walk home with it right now as its within my means. BUT, I know that i dont need this guitar right now and i also know that if i bought this guitar i would not spend enough time with my other guitars which I also love and want to play. So I keep on resisting for now, or until Im able to genuinely justify to my self the purchase. So for me, how much is enough I would say is if you have a stable that complements each other but still gets enough air time individually. Of course what that exactly entails and how many guitars it takes is purely subjective ... btw: looking at your current collection wouldnt a maple J-200 balance it out perfectly ? You have quite a bit of rosewood and a good splash of mahogany, what about maple ? That's a fair question. With ny response - im Probably answering you as much as selling it out for myself.... 1: I'm obsessive about guitars. I run a guitar school and teach guitar all day. Then I perform 2-3 gigs every weekend, and the guitar consumes most of my waking hours.... 2: After many years of hard work building my guitar school and reputation as an artist, I can finally afford a few luxuries that I couldn't before. 3: I'm in pre-production for my next CD, and it's a strictly acoustic only CD. So I want a few flavours to play with. 4: with the current exchange rate, guitars have never been so "affordable". I guess I'm trying to "get it while I can". But the real question is : how much is enough?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Acousticologist Posted March 2, 2011 Author Share Posted March 2, 2011 OK, that makes sense given you're basically fully dedicated to the art both professionally and in spare time. I asked because in my local shop there is an absolute killer J-45 standard right now (sounds better than the TV next to it). It ticks all the boxes and i basically could walk home with it right now as its within my means. BUT, I know that i dont need this guitar right now and i also know that if i bought this guitar i would not spend enough time with my other guitars which I also love and want to play. So I keep on resisting for now, or until Im able to genuinely justify to my self the purchase. So for me, how much is enough I would say is if you have a stable that complements each other but still gets enough air time individually. Of course what that exactly entails and how many guitars it takes is purely subjective ... btw: looking at your current collection wouldnt a maple J-200 balance it out perfectly ? You have quite a bit of rosewood and a good splash of mahogany, what about maple ? You've got a growing collection in your fleet too I see... Do you do much songwriting? I find that different guitars bring out comepletely different sides to the song writing spectrum. Picking up the 000 with sweet highs leads me to Fingerstyle/ sweeter songs, while the CEO or j45 leads me to a darker place with driving and thumping chords... Tend to write where the instrument sounds best and inspires... How do you utilize your fleet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 How do I utilise my navy fleet, OK, here's my logic that got me to where i am right now.. (1) Country Western - I use this guitar primarily for songwriting and recording. It has that classic, woody old mahogany tone that has both warmth and clarity which records amazingly well. (2) SWD - this is my primarily gigging guitar when we play larger venues. It also has the dark, chocolately rosewood tone to provide contrast to mahogany. When i play out just with a singer the rich overtones provide a lot of dynamics and depth, ideal for this scenario. (3) Furch OM - I use this guitar to play fingerstyle (well try to learn fingerstyle) and blues. It also is ideal for pub venues when I plug through my Marshall acoustic amp. Will be playing in a pub with it tomorrow nite. (4) Ibanez - its a humminbird look a like and I have it tuned permanently have a step down as it sounds great in that tuning. (5) Cort Earth - i play it at the office (luckily im the boss, that helps) and also during 'dodgy' gigs where i dont want to take out the top shelf stuff (6) Cort Mini - goes with me to the cottage and when i want to muck around on the sofa and not worry about dings and stuff. Hows' that .. ? :-) So the J-45 that i played while it has definitely a unique voice right now is a bit too close to the CW and Furch mahogany guitars, hence the reason why I havent bougth it. Otherwise it would be on my stand now for sure .. You've got a growing collection in your fleet too I see... Do you do much songwriting? I find that different guitars bring out comepletely different sides to the song writing spectrum. Picking up the 000 with sweet highs leads me to Fingerstyle/ sweeter songs, while the CEO or j45 leads me to a darker place with driving and thumping chords... Tend to write where the instrument sounds best and inspires... How do you utilize your fleet? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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