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J45 strummer or picker


brannon67

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I think I've played every style imaginable on my J-45 over the last 46 years. She's pretty good in every department, although I have to admit she excells in the flatpicking department. She loves to have those strings singled out with a big ol' flatpick.

 

They do ring!

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While the J-45 is used for many styles I personally think it's a superb guitar for a flatpick. I recently outfitted mine with .013-.056 strings and it really booms under the influence of a heavy pick. Monster tone and volume! To my ear, the smaller bodied guitars are better suited to fingerpicking styles......the L series and the 165 for examples. But you really can't go wrong with a 45, a true workhorse of a guitar! [thumbup]

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Me too ... my SJ is my go to guitar for gigs and we play a pretty diverse range of music, a lot of srumming, arpgio, picking, some fingerstyle, it really does it all.

 

Id say overall its an amazing flatpicker, and very good fingerpicker and strummer. I find the J-200 to be the bewst overall strummer in the Gibson catalogue.

 

Me too

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Both. Did you see Donovan strumming his cherry burst J-45 at the 2012 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame show on TV? And James Taylor made his reputation strictly fingerpicking his J-50, which is essentially a natural finish J-45.

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I have had several j-45s ranging from vintage pieces (1940s) to present day (2011 Standard). They have some individual characteristics, but overall I would say the J45 is probably the most versatile acoustic guitar in the world. Indeed, a Collings OM2H is going to give a brighter rendition of a fingerstyle piece, but you simply wouldn't want to strum that guitar.

 

My favourite music to play on a J45 is stuff that uses alternate bass picking - whether flat picked or with fingers - because the rolling bass tonality of a J45 is absolutely amazing and resonant overtones compell the listener to grab the emotion of the song.

 

I also think midrange leads on a J45 are second to none - work on the D and G string. When I record, I break my leads into pieces - the D and G string work is done on the J45 and I use a Blues King for the B and E. It is pretty funny when people ask "What guitar are you playing on the leads?" and I have to tell them it is a fantasy guitar that will never exist.

 

I recently tried a TV model that had brighter trebles than a standard, and it might be a great compromise for the leads I am currently splitting.

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