J45 Strengths and Weakness

[j45nick]

Thanks Nick! A good find, indeed. I am using the D'Addario EJ16 light PB 12-53 currently. I haven,t changed them since I initially strung up after repairs. Its hard for me to describe the sound. She has bright chimey trebles and a nice thumping bass and well-balanced thru the mids. My buddy has a '52 D28 and he feels that the SJ has more bass thump than the D28. I prefer the tone and playability of the SJ myself, but I am probably a bit biased.

I have a set of Ernie Ball 80/20 Earthwood 12-54 med light that I will try next. I want to take the nut slots a little lower on the E,B and G at that time also. I made the nut myself and have not tweaked the action yet. I may go 13's at some point also (John Pearse).

I despise the new string sound, so I won,t change them often. I also would like something a little less bright when new.

Got any reccomendations that work with your 45..?

 

Still experimenting. I use MB lights as the baseline. If I find anything that really rings my bell, I'll let you know. If anything, your description of the voice of your SJ sounds a lot like my J-45 of the same vintage. It doesn't have the big, clear bass voice of a vintage D-18, but not many guitars do.

[rustystrings]

Going back to the original poster's questions, one thing I especially like about my J-45 is its versatility. I can get breathy whispers, or growls, or thunder or near classical austerity or chunky rhythm or small combo archtop jazz sounds out of it. My J-45 is the perfect vocal accompaniment guitar, and it complements my voice like no other instrument - it's more like singing with another voice, and its natural range and just the way it works with my voice is what I've been trying to get to for many years. It has all of the playability and responsiveness of my much-missed '60 LG-2. The round shouldered design makes it feel like a smaller guitar than it is, and it is comfortable to play both sitting and standing, so long as I sit in a chair and not on a couch. It has a surprising amount of presence, and as a solo performer's instrument it is just about ideal for me.

 

I play mostly with my bare fingers and nails now. When I use a flatpick, it's a Dunlop Tortex .60 orange thing, but I use them less and less. Some of that is due to changes in my living arrangements through the years, some of it is a result of playing a J-45 almost exclusively for several years now.

 

Bear in mind - I punched my ticket for solo singer-songwriter acoustic guy who can't quite decide on a genre a looooong time ago. Musically, I am the bastard child of some unholy union of Bert Jansch, Davy Graham, John Fahey, Neil Young, Richard Thompson, Jackson C. Frank, Nick Drake, Baden Powell, Luiz Bonfa, and a few others - though some days I try to play guitar in an alternate universe where Ray Charles plays fingerstyle acoustic guitar. For what I do, the J-45 is the absolute perfect guitar, period. It just works like nothing else does, and when I play it I sound like me, if that makes any sense.

 

Not so much a list of things I don't like about the J-45 as a recognition that no guitar can do everything perfectly - it's a very mid-range based guitar, and songs that rely on something happening on the treble E while other things stay put don't work as well as they would on, say, a Guild dreadnaught or something else with a 25.5-in. scale as opposed to the 24.75 I'm currently running. I suspect that in a bluegrass setting I'd have trouble competing with the banjo; if I was playing in an electric setting with a LOUD band, I'd probably want something with a more focused top end to find that niche that praise-band leaders, especially, seem to occupy.

[Rockanrolla]

My 2010 J45 Standard is a little bit loud in my small 'music room' and I prefer to play my L's in that room, but in the lounge room the J45 is great.

 

 

Another place I like to play the J45, and this won't interest the northern guitarists one bit at the moment, is out on this little brick patio I have behind my garage. The tone of that guitar is sensational out there, as long as the lawncutters hold off.

 

 

I guess the guitar salesman will look at you a little strangely if you ask to try the guitar outside.

 

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

I once asked to try some shoes outside, They didn't like that either

[shadowster]

.

I've never owned a J-45.

 

In the midst of all the J-45 fans here . . . . The often cited strength is its versatility, but too me, that's also a weakness: It has the kind of sound and tone that doesn't leap out, so it fits in just about anywhere. A fine guitar, but I'd rather spend my money on something a bit more distinctive.

 

Okay, flame away. . B)

 

 

.

 

its funny that because thats what i felt when i tried one in the shop the day i bought my sj

[sboiir]

My 2010 J45 Standard is a little bit loud in my small 'music room' and I prefer to play my L's in that room, but in the lounge room the J45 is great.

 

 

Another place I like to play the J45, and this won't interest the northern guitarists one bit at the moment, is out on this little brick patio I have behind my garage. The tone of that guitar is sensational out there, as long as the lawncutters hold off.

 

 

I guess the guitar salesman will look at you a little strangely if you ask to try the guitar outside.

 

 

BluesKing777.

 

Now that's kinda funny. I always get that look from salespeople, because I always take a guitar outside to play awhile that I want to buy. Their showrooms are set up acoustically so I want to hear the guitar on it's own. Hahaha

[BluesKing777]

Now that's kinda funny. I always get that look from salespeople, because I always take a guitar outside to play awhile that I want to buy. Their showrooms are set up acoustically so I want to hear the guitar on it's own. Hahaha

 

 

I'm guessing that about the time you ask to try the guitar outside is about the time you going to end up out the front, possibly face down, but definitely with no guitar, and the guitar shop salesman saying 'Pull the Other One etc".

 

 

Well that's what happens on those pawn shop reality shows, and they don't go quietly! Big Fuss! real Big Fuss!

 

 

BluesKing777.

[Old Neil]

I find that the strength and weakness of anything...is usually the same thing.

 

We have heard that the J-45:

• 
   
  
• Has a more pronounced mid-range.
  
• Is versatile
  
• Has a tone that doesn't leap out
  
• Has a tone that fits in anywhere
  
• Supports the singing voice
  
• Has a short scale for playing comfort
  
• Variation from one example to the other
  
• Less refined tone than others in Gibson range
  

 

Depending on application all of the above could be a strength or a weakness.

 

If I had the chops and inclination to play cutting lead bluegrass for example the J-45 wouldn't be my first choice in that kind of setting. Collings D-1A or Martin D-18 GE would be better choices IMO.

 

Probably not a first choice for the 'pretty' end of finger style playing either. Leave that up to the Olsons and Froggy Bottoms of this world.

 

Pop jangle?: Probably the Taylor fizz is a more common choice there.

 

Sweet strummer? Hummingbird usually wins it there.

 

Blues finger picking?: L-00 and variants

 

Mind you, all of the above 'negatives' could be leveled at the standard Martin D-28 too.

 

And so could the strengths:

They both can do all of the above pretty darn well from a single guitar.

 

I have had the pleasurable experience of many 'exclusive' guitars but it is a little like Yin/Yang theory:

The further you go in one direction, the more one becomes aware of the need for the other. If you are 'stuck' with a single guitar you may dream of a bunch of specialist guitars to fit the nuance of each application. But it works the other way too because you end up paying some serious money for what amounts to only incremental returns in a tone that lies mostly in the players hands anyway. All that care, fussing, worry and maintenance might make you yearn for the 'one' that can do it all and doesn't mind too much if you don't always treat it with kid gloves - and find yourself back with one of the accepted 'standards'.

 

After all, they are not called standards for nothing.

[Rambler]

the strength and weakness of anything...is usually the same thing.it is a little like Yin/Yang theory: The further you go in one direction, the more one becomes aware of the need for the other. If you are 'stuck' with a single guitar you may dream of a bunch of specialist guitars to fit the nuance of each application. But it works the other way too because you end up paying some serious money for what amounts to only incremental returns in a tone that lies mostly in the players hands anyway.

 

Well spoke.

[sboiir]

I'm guessing that about the time you ask to try the guitar outside is about the time you going to end up out the front, possibly face down, but definitely with no guitar, and the guitar shop salesman saying 'Pull the Other One etc".

 

 

Well that's what happens on those pawn shop reality shows, and they don't go quietly! Big Fuss! real Big Fuss!

 

 

BluesKing777.

 

Not really. I don't just walk outside with anything I pick-up and play. Just when it comes time to through the money down. When I drop 1500-2500 on a guitar I want to hear it the way I play it. I've never had a salesperson get on with me about it either. In fact the last Martin I bought 3-4 years ago....the salesperson actually thought it was a good idea and was happy to oblige. After taking it outside I laid down the cash and everyone was happy. Same when I bought a $900.00 ukulele. All was good !