Texan or EJ160E?

[clarkuss]

I haven't played a Texan apart from a quick strum in a shop but acoustically is there much difference? I know the EJ160 has a longer scale but aren't the body shapes and tonewoods etc very similar. The Texan I believe has a solid back but i don't think this makes much difference as this part of the guitar is uually against your body. The pickups are completely different but acoustically I'd like to know the reasopn why the Texan would sound better? Of course this is subjective!

 

The EJ sounds much deeper and darker and not at all as bright and lively as the Texan or other acoustics. I think the finish on the texan makesa big difference because there's only a light coating because it's a natural looking guitar. The neck and body feel smaller, lighter and overall it's more woody than the EJ as well as the scale length beign a bit of a pain if you're planning on standing up with a traditional strap.

[Ashleyb]

My (Gibson) J-160E has "Beatles Tone," in spades...why wouldn't it?

It's what they used! Acoustic, and/or electric, in the early days.

 

The J-160E, plugged in, sounds like a hollow body "electric guitar,"

due to the magnetic (P-90) pickup.

 

I am after a j160e (Gibson) and have found I a mine field of different specs from the "beatles" original if yours has the p90 not the p100 what model / year is it? And is it a laminated top or solid?

 

Thanks

 

Ash

[Aster1]

AshleyB,

 

If you don't want to spring for the big $$$ for a vintage '62 Gibson J-160E then I'd recommend getting in touch with Jeromy w/Fuller Guitar in Texas. It is ladder braced, laminated ply's of wood style of top, P90 & lot's of Beatles MOJO. Got mine in just about 1 yr ago now & just love it. It is a Fuller 1962 Reissue and the only thing I didn't like, and have now changed out, were the tuners. I like the vintage look of the double ring tulip Kluson tuners. Also, I think I'd like the original ceramic saddle for the adj. bridge instead of the Corian. I just won't spend $100+ for an old beat up original ceramic saddle however.

 

It's a great electric guitar (that's how I use it), plays nice and I have flat wound stings on it. My hands won't deal with 12's anymore and had to go with 11's as the hands just give out bar cording these days with heavier strings. Couldn't be happier (unless I could have bought it for 1/2 price that is!). I guess it is about 1/2 price from what a vintage '62 would sell for.

 

Aster

[Red 333]

I am after a j160e (Gibson) and have found I a mine field of different specs from the "beatles" original if yours has the p90 not the p100 what model / year is it? And is it a laminated top or solid?

 

Thanks

 

Ash

 

 

There are two eras of J-160E construction.

 

The first was from 1954-1979. During these years, the Gibson J-160E had a laminated top and was ladder braced (except for its first year, 1954). The neck joined the body at the 15h fret. The pick up was a P-90. For the majority of these years, the guitar also had an adjustable bridge. A laminated top, ladder bracing, P-90, and adjustable bridge are the hallmarks of a Beatle-spec J-160E.

 

From 1970 to the end of its original run, the J-160E became square-shouldered.

 

When Gibson reintroduced the guitar in 1991 as the J-160E Standard, it was once again as a slope-shouldered model with 15 frets clear of the body, except now it had a solid top, x bracing, a fixed bridge, and P-100. The Epiphone EJ-160E is built to these specs (with one exception: the Epiphone is long-scale). This guitar sounds very different from the '60s versions, especially acoustically. To give it a little more Beatle flavor, Gibson began using the P-90 again, sometime in the mid-to-late 2000's (Epiphone did not).

 

From time-to-time, Gibson makes laminated top, ladder-braced reissues with adjustable bridges and a P-90's. This '60s spec version (available from Fuller's and some other 5-Star dealers, or as the "Peace" or other various Lennon-signature models) is what you want if you want one that sounds like the guitars that John and George played both acoustically and electrically. The J-160E Standard/EJ-160E will get you in the ballpark electrically, but less so acoustically.

 

One final note: even though the Gibson J-160E Standard and Epiphone EJ-160E do not sound much like the '60s spec Gibsons acoustically (they are meant to be an improvement), they are fine instruments in their own right. Also be aware that even though they share similar specs, the Gibson J-160E Standard and Epiphone EJ-160E do not sound much like one another acoustically, either.

 

Red 333

[RaysEpiphone]

I got my FT-79 Texan last spring, this is the natural finished one, a cheaper version of the Paul McCarthy (1964 Ed Sullivan show) signature Texan. It's all solid wood with a spruce top and mahogany body, less than $400.00 US brand new. There was a sunburst one that was a copy of the Lennon Epiphone 160 with the P-90 pick-up in the store too, it was no where near as full sounding and the pick-up was not very good ether IMHO. If it had been all solid wood it may have sounded better but I cant say for sure, the 160 was a bit higher priced (not much more).

 

The pick-up in the Texan FT-79 is no prize but it was better than the one in the 160, could be a niche for certain sound's that the P-90 would fit with but I was looking for an all around guitar so I put it down and got my pick for the best sounding/playing guitar in the store in my price range.

 

That's what it comes down to, a "quality" solid wood instrument is not cookie-cuter made you got to check them all, solid wood has memory, lament wood don't.