Scotto Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Hi all. I recetnly aquired through a trade, a Gibson J-180 EC s/n 00551015. It is a nice looking guitar, and has some of the same features as the 1992 Starburst (I have one of those too). It has a mustache bridge with star inlays, and the fret board has the same star inlays as the '92 Starburst. The really unusual thing to me is that it has a one piece arched back. The top is spruce. The sides and back (probably maple) are a dark cherry finish. With the exception of the arched back, it looks like the EC-20. Anyonoe know where this model fit in their line? Thank you! Gibson J-180 EC Gibson Starburst Flame Gibson Montana Gold J-200 Taylor GS-Mini Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hogeye Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Hi all. I recetnly aquired through a trade, a Gibson J-180 EC s/n 00551015. It is a nice looking guitar, and has some of the same features as the 1992 Starburst (I have one of those too). It has a mustache bridge with star inlays, and the fret board has the same star inlays as the '92 Starburst. The really unusual thing to me is that it has a one piece arched back. The top is spruce. The sides and back (probably maple) are a dark cherry finish. With the exception of the arched back, it looks like the EC-20. Anyonoe know where this model fit in their line? Thank you! Gibson J-180 EC Gibson Starburst Flame Gibson Montana Gold J-200 Taylor GS-Mini Your J-180EC first appears on Gibson's pricelist in 1999. It's listed under the heading of: J-180 Jumbo Line. Model Suggested Retail Working Musician 180 $1,639.00 J-180 $2,289.00 J-185 $2,289.00 J-180EC $2,289.00 J-185EC $3,190.00 J-190EC $4,479.00 J-2000 Custom Cutaway $6,179.00 Gibson Montana was looking to keep the cost of these guitars down so they contracted with Gibson Nashville for laminated backs. The backs were used on the ES-175 and others. So as you look at the price list you can see that they were priced the same as the J-180 even with the Cutaway and pick-up. They were great stage guitars. The next SKU the J-185EC had the solid Maple back and the price is much higher. I played a lot of them and think that they actually sounded betterr than the solid Maple J-185. The report was immediate and they had a great projection. The sound just jumped off the arched back. Very cool indeed. Slimt and I had a great friend in Missoula Mt. that had a wonderful store and I know that Slimt bought at least one of each color of the Starburst guitars and he also got several versions of the J-2000. I think he may even have bought a Brazilian J-2000 from the Custom Shop when Montana had one. I actually knew Gibson's Plant Manager at the time the Starburst guitars were in production. He promised the General Manager he had a very good source for high figure quilt and flame Maple so Gibson put them into production. Then they learned that Paul Reed Smith had purchased the sources entire inventory of Maple. Gibson had to drop the guitar from the line and they dropped the plant manager as well.Oops... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scotto Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 Thank you for the intel. Very detailed and interesting. Regarding the '92 Starburst Flame maple - I love mine. While it can't hang with the tone of my J-200, it is still a nice sounding guitar, and I love the stage bling appeal. Mine is amber in color. I would love to find one of the Starburst Elite in the vintage burst. That would be a nice addition to my studio. I wanted one ever since I saw Don Felder play one during the Hell Freezes Over tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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