E-minor7 Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 2010 Standard meets 2005 Historic Collection. (Acoustically only - no pick-ups involved) Saturday-night kitchen jam : Must admit I looked forward to this one. My good friend Mortimer - a serious Santa Cruz player - got his Historic Collection last weekend and now was the time to meet, watch and listen : First, , , , the bursts were almost identical. I thought his would be lighter, but no, it was just as dim as mine, fine. Couldn't be said about the headstocks. The shape yes, but the HC had white-button tuners and the golden logo which both suit the J-45 so well (I dig my mop logo too and learn to like the much heavier nickel Grovers). The HCs t.r. shield was thin and all black. Needed some quality support and Mort thinks about replacing it. Ah but help, , , what what can be done about the little blue/yellow HC decal on the backside – it's a mistake and somehow ruins the illusion of a timeless instrument. The nut : white opposed to my black – both splendid, (I enjoy the black one next to my daring leopard shield). Well well, not only head-wise did the HC appear lighter. Also when talking sound it delivered a more elegant, tiptoe very even tone. Not so loud as the Standard, but interestingly clearly snappier when played fast. And this might be the main clue. There have to be a slight difference in the bracing somewhere. Though so lyrical, the Standard roars with stronger projection, no doubt - but the cost is the built in compressor effect that slows down or delays the response. It's a heavier horse to ride where this 5 years older HC tends to dance – almost younger blooded. As expected, his neck was 1½ mm narrower than mine. Extraordinary smooth to play after he'd givin' the truss rod a minor twist. We didn't remove the strings to check the under-top, but the back braces seen through the sound-hole were similar. So were the bridges – his with a nice grain pattern and white pins – mine more straight with dark (white-spotted) horn pins found on the Bay. And talking 'bout white, he had followed my advice (picked up here) and givin' the far too white bindings/tuners the famous brown shoe-polish treat. In the not too lit up folk-temple, it was a bit difficult for me to see the exact change, but it obviously bended to the aged style of the Standard. The MC had Martin bronze 12's put on last Monday. The Standard had Martin ph. bronze 12's put on Wednesday. In the beginning the Standard was decisively louder – as the night roll by they got more even. Still the Standard had overvoice when we reach the hour of the earliest birdsong – especially regarding bass and mids. Yeeees, that's about it. I'm not that much for setting genders on guitars, but in this case of siblings it would be an idea to use a traditional image. The Standard is kind of big, has some sort of chewy feel to it and speaks up with a powerful, somewhat muddy tone. The MC is more discrete, beautifully clear/balanced – absolutely a 45, still simply closer to a 'normal flattop'. Brother/sister might be a cliche, I know. But as an archetype based metaphor, it's not a bad way to sum up the sides of this 6-string summit. For the fun of it, we have decided to go out and try yet another J-45 Standard in the week to come. With a third - maybe even a forth - unit in the game, we will begin to achieve a more realistic perspective. . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted May 1, 2011 Share Posted May 1, 2011 . Interesting comparison. Keep us updated as you continue to check other ones out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefty Guy Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Fabulous story Em7, from your description of the HC she could have been mine (although clearly not a lefty). Very light, lovely balanced tone across the range....& that narrower nut which I'd love to be a bit wider. Plus of course the sunburst that only Gibson can do! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chasAK Posted May 2, 2011 Share Posted May 2, 2011 Em7 Thanks for your interesting analogy. The stronger projection of the Standard coincides with a former post. There the Standard was louder but he MC had a stronger bass. He chose the Standard. My MC also seems to have a softer projection than some Standards I’ve played. It is fairly balanced; I still get the strong but warm mellow mids in the second and third position. I played a 45 that had the Advance bracing and Sitka top. It had a definite bassier tone on the low end than Standard in the shop and my MC. There seemed to be no delay in the response. Keep us updated on your continued adventure. chasAK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted May 3, 2011 Author Share Posted May 3, 2011 For the fun of it, we have decided to go out and try yet another J-45 Standard in the week to come. With a third - maybe even a forth - unit in the game, we will begin to achieve a more realistic perspective. . . The one we had in mind was sold today and the other (fourth) possibility is a so called 'dog' or at least dull. Besides it's located in a shop as crowded as the Central Station so it's impossible to hear/judge. We'll search on, , , and keep everyone informed - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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