Advanced Jumbo Pro

[oldmilk]

Hey Guys,

 

I came across an Advanced Jumbo Pro (AJ Pro) at Guitar Center yesterday while looking at J-45s. The thing sounds great and even comes with the LR Baggs Element. The Pro model has a different headstock logo and inlays, and is a good bit cheaper than the standard AJ. I called Gibson CS to learn more about the guitar and the guy told me that the AJ Pro is made for Guitar Center and a couple of other large retailers. My question is are there any concerns that I should have about buying a guitar that was made for GC? Do these kind of guitars hold their value as well as other modern Gibson acoustics?

[slimt]

Do you have a picture? I think a Traditional AJ is Cheap enough in price with out going to lower grade with less frills. New ones are 2200.00 .. used ones.. 1200 to 1400.00

 

Is this what your asking?

[oldmilk]

The AJ Pro is right at 2000 new. Please see attached picture.

[EuroAussie]

Ive never heard of an AJ Pro, just the HB Pro .... whats the difference to the standard AJ ?

 

is there an AJ Amateur ?

[slimt]

I kind of like that... a AJ with SJ appointments.. Rosewood too... I wonder if its Braced like a AJ...

 

although they took away the Bound Fingerboard..

 

I know Some people dont like split arrows for inlays..

[rar]

whats the difference to the standard AJ ?

 

Looks like the question should be "What's the same?" From the picture, this is a stripped-down (no neck binding, etc.) rosewood Southern Jumbo (including the belly-down bridge that some of those sported), or a J-45 Rosewood with double parallelogram inlays if you prefer. It could be long-scale (although it doesn't appear to be) or have AJ-style bracing, I suppose. But, appearance wise, this is nothing like an AJ -- no double arrowhead inlays, no neck binding, no rectangular bridge, no firestripe '30-shaped pickguard -- and the distinctive appearance of the AJ is part of what it's all about.

 

While any guitar is what it is -- and what the label says makes it neither better nor worse -- I can't imagine any motivation here (and in the case of the Hummingbird Pro) other than misleading consumers. If I were running Gibson, I wouldn't be so casual about allowing GC to dilute the meaning of the AJ (and Hummingbird) "brands" in this way.

 

-- Bob R

[EuroAussie]

Couldnt agree more. Marketing is something Gibson has generally been good at in creating a clear brand identity and distinct models, but this is an example of really ordinary marketing practicw. Quite suprising actually. Diluting such icons is not good in the long run.

 

If I were running Gibson, I wouldn't be so casual about allowing GC to dilute the meaning of the AJ (and Hummingbird) "brands" in this way.

 

-- Bob R

[Jerry K]

No kidding. It looks nothing like an AJ. Well, it's a round-shouldered rosewood dread. At least they got the body shape right this time.

 

Looks like the question should be "What's the same?" From the picture, this is a stripped-down (no neck binding, etc.) rosewood Southern Jumbo (including the belly-down bridge that some of those sported), or a J-45 Rosewood with double parallelogram inlays if you prefer. It could be long-scale (although it doesn't appear to be) or have AJ-style bracing, I suppose. But, appearance wise, this is nothing like an AJ -- no double arrowhead inlays, no neck binding, no rectangular bridge, no firestripe '30-shaped pickguard -- and the distinctive appearance of the AJ is part of what it's all about.

 

While any guitar is what it is -- and what the label says makes it neither better nor worse -- I can't imagine any motivation here (and in the case of the Hummingbird Pro) other than misleading consumers. If I were running Gibson, I wouldn't be so casual about allowing GC to dilute the meaning of the AJ (and Hummingbird) "brands" in this way.

 

-- Bob R

[slimt]

AJ Headstock? You guys are right though... Ill stick with what I have..

 

I wonder what will happen when the labels dry up and fall off...

[ParlourMan]

It looks like a remould of the Woody Guthrie, no fingerboard binding/stripped down SJ, minus the banner logo and modern tuners. I suppose once we figure out what's under the hood we can tell how close.

 

If it's as good as a Woody Guthrie they've done well, they're unbelievable guitars. If mine were wrecked I'd buy another in a heartbeat.

 

As for the dilution of names, I guess we're in a money-talks period in the business world at the minute, I can see the cynical attraction of GC wanting to secure these names for big orders. whether it harms the names, or propagates the Std and Custom lines of each which are not GC related remains to be seen.

[oldmilk]

Here are some more pics...

[oldmilk]

BTW - it is not a short scale guitar. I've always played Taylor acoustics and this one plays as well as any of my Taylors. It sounds really good, too. My only hesitation with keeping it is that it has been co-branded with GC. It reminds me of the Martin MMV series for GC and MF.

[Jerry K]

If you haven't played one of the regular AJ's I would suggest doing that before peeling the plastic off the pickguard. This Pro model may be much the same long-scale, forward shifted braces etc and sound the same. Or not.

[slimt]

I personally think you would be better off with a Actual AJ... You would certainly get what you are paying for at that time..

[Jinder]

I'm not sure I understand why Gibson make these strange mongrel guitars which don't seem to adhere to any particular constructional or decorational regimen.

 

Call me old fashioned, but I like an AJ to be an AJ, a 'Bird to be a 'Bird, etc.

 

Four things I find visually irresistable about my AJ are the rectangular through-saddle bridge, the firestripe 'guard, the arrow'n'diamond inlays and the beautiful MOP script logo on the headstock. None of these are present here, which doesn't qualify it as an AJ, to me.

 

Just my .02 though, maybe I'm being a grumpy swine because it's 1am and I've only just got home from a gig...dog tired!

[Jerry K]

We traditionalists grumble, but in a way Gibson has always done stuff like this. Think of the Kel Kroydens, Carson Robison's and so forth. These instruments could be dynamite for all we know. Hard to get past seeing a sheep and being told it's a cow.

[struma6]

Huh...gotta wonder how it got the AJ moniker. Slope/rosewood I guess.

 

I LOVE my AJ and would recommend them highly.

 

 

[je302]

With all of the oddities and inconsistencies with Gibson acoustics over the years, i'm surprised that everyone seems to dislike the "pro" models because they're a little different. If GC can put in a massive order of these h-bird, and AJ pro's and pass on a little savings, why not. These are still hand-built Gibson guitars that, from my experience, sound great, and are built just as good as anything else coming out of Bozeman. Its no different than going to Gibson yourself and ordering a custom guitar to your spec's, except your not ordering 10,000 of them so it will cost you a lot more. I own an H-bird pro, along with a J-45, and they're both great in their own way. And I was able to play an AJ pro at GC 2 days ago, it looked great ( I love the southern jumbo styling and open-back tuners), and sounded wonderful. If I had the extra scratch I wouldn't hesitate to buy one.

[oldmilk]

Thanks for everyone's input. I did get to play a used standard AJ and it sounded very similar to the AJ pro. It was a good price; however, the clear coating on the headstock was cracked and the Gibson logo looked like it wasn't placed properly. I'm leaning toward the J-45 because it seems to be a bit more forgiving of my sometimes sloppy playing.

[chasAK]

I have no objection to the economic Pro series. I have heard some good reports about the H-bird Pro. But the H-Bird Pro is not an H-Bird. It should be called something else as well as the AJ Pro.

 

chasAK

 

 

[E-minor7]

I believe mutations/variations is a part of the Gibson world - think about the whole custom concept. And I've learned to appreciate it – it creates mysterious side-roads and makes the map less square. Some guitars speak and live between the lines and naturally there is an audience for that.

Okay, if it's a model I'm really keen on and thus romantically connected to, it would be harder to accept strange or corny deviations (can't imagine a J-45 with a 200 bridge or a Dove with a tiger-stribed guard). But as an example, I have have a slope shouldered Custom Mart. D-18 (hog), which intrigues me in a sudden way. It's rare and good sounding (only 7 made) – and we have something special together. Opposite with f.x. my Bird. Here I just want to be a microscopic link in the huge, HUGE chain of 6-string post 1950's ornithologists - excuse me this lame phrase (Hartford Snyder - Van Gogh of guards - your art is in my home and I love it).

 

Regarding the AJ Pro, we cannot see inside the deer and therefor remain insecure (until you bring up the leaf-shaped mirror oldmilk). From there you have to compare it to regular AJ's and judge. Is it holding up, , , does it respond like it should etc, , , do you and this otherly Pro connect.

I repeat : Either you go unique as a couple, else you join some universal choir – both paths are equally thrilling.

The main-thing is you are comfortable with the wood'n'steel between you hands. On more levels than 1 -

[Jinder]

Both Chas and Em7 nailed it in different and poetically opposed ways.

 

I think if Gibson had called the AJ Pro the 'Modern Jumbo' or 'Advanced Dreadnought' or similar, we'd all be curious and clamouring for a strum. However, they've kept the AJ moniker but little of the AJ hallmarks which has, naturally, rattled us more traditionalist Gibsonites.

 

The point is very valid about Gibson's history of making random catalogue/special run guitars that have subsequently become desirable (who wouldn't want one of those gorgeous and featherlight Kel Kroydons? Kalamazoos too, I owned a KG21 and loved it) but these beasts survive in our hearts, perhaps because they were clearly identifiable as something Gibson-related but not, in identification terms, a derivation of an existing model. If a Kalamazoo KG21 was called a 'Gibson L30 Pro' it would be rightly chuckled at-the two look similar, but are vastly different (pressed vs carved tops, deeper body on the K'zoo, solid back on the Gibson Vs arched lam on the K'zoo).

 

I'd like to know the exact specs on the AJ Pro. If it's long-scale and has the forward-shifted X-bracing, it's an AJ with different cosmetic appointments, but if it has neither of those it's essentially a J45RW crossbred with an SJ, and, if that be the case, the name is a bit puzzling.

 

The bottom line is, though, if it plays well and sounds great, who cares?

[johnnybregar]

So I've had my AJ Pro for a week now.

 

I can safely say that this guitar has some mojo. More than most guitars. I don't know what it is - some kind of rosewood and some kind of spruce - but it is a seriously fine guitar. It has Gibson qualities, but if I had to pick a cross breed, I'd say it's like an AJ that met a Bourjeois and had a J-45. It does everything well. Loud, quiet, finger picking, it's crazy. It beat every Gibson in the showroom in Seattle when I went back with it to double check that it was the right guitar for me. A customer who was looking at guitars eventually came over and asked what I was playing. When I compared it against the AJ, J-45 and the Hummingbird they had in stock, he was as blown away as I was.

 

Yesterday my buddy Mike came over to pick a few tunes. He is a mandolin player, but owns a Collings D2H. I didn't tell him what I was playing, and he said two things that illustrate what this guitar is about: "Sometimes I don't get it when people buy more than one guitar. This one? I get it." AND "This is the kind of guitar I lust over."

 

Anyhow, make what you will of this. I have a keeper for sure. The two in Seattle that were in stock were good, but not as good as the one I own. There is one in GC Kirkland (where I bought it) that rivals it or maybe even betters it (natural finish instead of burst). There are likely other GC's that have them. Each one of the ones I was at had a burst and a natural.

[EuroAussie]

Congrats, seems like youve hit a home run !

 

Enjoy, and how about a soundsample, Id quite curious given how youve described her ..?

[johnnybregar]

Congrats, seems like youve hit a home run !

 

Enjoy, and how about a soundsample, Id quite curious given how youve described her ..?

 

I'm recording this weekend. Will post samples.