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When did your 'addiction' to Gibson acoustics start?


Hairy Dave

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Can you remember your first case of Gibson GAS? Mine started shortly after playin my friends Hummingbird TV for the first time. Soon after I bought an Epi Dove and he went on to buy an AJ, SJ200 and the J45 Custom that I subsequently bought from him.

 

He has most recently bought a Martin HD28 and a Takamine amongst others. Have to say that despite them being great guitars they haven't tugged at me like the Gibson's.

 

My name is Hairy Dave and I'm a Gibsonholic :-)

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Bought my first Gibson (1948 J-45) in 1966, at age 19. Still own it (as well as other Gibsons).

 

Fortunately, the addiction has proven to be non-fatal. It is, however, both an expensive habit to support, and impossible to kick.

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Bought my first Gibson (1948 J-45) in 1966, at age 19. Still own it (as well as other Gibsons).

 

Fortunately, the addiction has proven to be non-fatal. It is, however, both an expensive habit to support, and impossible to kick.

 

Very true Nick, for me it's completely irrational too lol. I really only have room for one guitar and it will be hard to justify my second to my wife. I don't gig, I don't play a wide range of music, I'm not that good... but I want (need) more Gibsons haha!

 

On another note, what do you think is a reasonable price (I know everything is relative) for a vintage (pre 70's) Gibson? My friend is considering buying one and is looking at UK dealers. I'm tryin to convince him he would probably get a better deal on your side of the pond. Not sure of his budget but he won't want to have to rob a bank.

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The first time I played an Advanced Jumbo (Randy Scruggs model), I realised that that sound I'd been trying to get with a Martin didn't come from studio recording techniques. From that day on I've tried every Gibson I've come into contact with and found a few stunners in the process including my J-45.

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I started out on the dark side (electrics and Martins) The first Gibson I had was a black Les Paul, bought used. Took it home, took it out of the case, wrote a song. That was 10 years ago. Sold the Les Paul last February, bought a J-45, traded in the HD-35 and brought home a Jackson Browne, soon I will have a third, and two Martins left, we'll see how long they hold out. There are nine others around here somewhere... hiding.

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Howdy

 

Couldn't resist this thread - I have been playing a 54 Gibson ES125 electric since March and not much acoustic - I found I could do all my blues fingerpicking on the monster Gibson 54 neck and electrify it!. Not much interest on the Acoustic Forum, I guess....

 

I then veered into wanting a ES175 but didn't do it and satisfied the cravings with a Godin 5th Ave....

 

A few weeks back I hooked a 1935(ish) Gibson L50 black finish a bit like this one below, not this one but pics to come! So I had a set up and a bridge pickup installed and now we can be Acoustic or Electric!

 

243616661063152447_d9bkApba_c.jpg

 

 

The Gibson addiction started with my 2008ish Blues King - hence the avatar name.

 

Then a 2010 J45...

Then a 59 LG0

Then a 52 LG1

Then a 64 B25-12N 12 string

Then a 59 LG3

Then a 54 ES125

Now a 35 L50

 

I don't think there were any others - better go look in my music room.

 

I veered from a Dobro and Martins to Gibson via an Epi EL00 to test the waters for a small guitar and got hooked...

 

 

BluesKing777.

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My additiction just started. I walked into a GC and played an Advanced Jumbo. Went home and couldn't sleep, tossing and turning all night and even broke out into a cold sweat. I woke up early in the a.m., jumped in the shower and was at GC before it opened to buy the guitar. I'm already wondering what my next Gibson should be. My name is Jason and I'm a new Gibaholic.

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Like J45nick (whom I am starting to feel may be a long lost relation) my first date with a Gibson goes back to the 1960s. I had managed to scrounge up $125 and wanting a flattop acoustic (I had an old Martin archtop a friend of the family had given me years before) off I went to the local purveyor of musical goodies. While rummaging through the place I caught a glimpse of suburst with alot of black in it off in the corner. I walked over, moved a few guitars out of the way, picked it up, dusted it off, and tuned it up. It was a Gibson L-00. I knew nothing about Gibsons and could not say what year the guitar was made as such things were not important back then. I recall the store owner trying to talk me out of buying it as it was kinda beat up and pointing out I could have a nice new guitar. But there was just something about that Gibson that would not let me leave the store without it. Ever since then there have always been Gibsons that would not let me go home without them.

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Fortunately, the addiction has proven to be non-fatal. It is, however, both an expensive habit to support, and impossible to kick.

 

Lawdy the cure don't come cheap these days. My mouth still goes dry and I start getting the shakes every time I see an old J-35.

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Lawdy the cure don't come cheap these days. My mouth still goes dry and I start getting the shakes every time I see an old J-35.

 

 

And the more you have, the more you want.....

 

I've been desperately fighting off the urge for a 1940's SJ. Thought I had done that by getting the Fullers' 1943 SJ re-issue, but it has only made the jones worse..... If a new one is this good, what would a 1945 be like?

 

Oh God, when will it stop?

 

Maybe when I get the SJ back from Ross Teigen next week, the urge will lessen.

 

I definitely have to stay away from vintage guitar shows this year, although the deals you get on the last day can be really, really good. Just one more guitar...... what harm can it do? I swear I'll quit after that.

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Howdy

 

Couldn't resist this thread - I have been playing a 54 Gibson ES125 electric since March and not much acoustic - I found I could do all my blues fingerpicking on the monster Gibson 54 neck and electrify it!. Not much interest on the Acoustic Forum, I guess....

 

I then veered into wanting a ES175 but didn't do it and satisfied the cravings with a Godin 5th Ave....

 

A few weeks back I hooked a 1935(ish) Gibson L50 black finish a bit like this one below, not this one but pics to come! So I had a set up and a bridge pickup installed and now we can be Acoustic or Electric!

 

243616661063152447_d9bkApba_c.jpg

 

 

The Gibson addiction started with my 2008ish Blues King - hence the avatar name.

 

Then a 2010 J45...

Then a 59 LG0

Then a 52 LG1

Then a 64 B25-12N 12 string

Then a 59 LG3

Then a 54 ES125

Now a 35 L50

 

I don't think there were any others - better go look in my music room.

 

I veered from a Dobro and Martins to Gibson via an Epi EL00 to test the waters for a small guitar and got hooked...

 

 

BluesKing777.

Dang BK! The Gibby's have found a path to your home....Nice! Congrats on your new one! Looks Sweet!

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My father bought a new Southern Jumbo when I was 3 in 1963 so it was the first guitar I recall seeing period! In 1969 (when I was 9) he bought an early 50s J200 for fifty bucks. The feel and smell of that thing in it's battered old case blew my young impressionable mind.

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Dang BK! The Gibby's have found a path to your home....Nice! Congrats on your new one! Looks Sweet!

 

Hi Retro!

 

 

Yep - the Gibsons HAVE been finding a way to my door, but the plan was to just keep the L50 for standard tuning and the ES125 for bottleneck (an excruciatingly wonderful guitar for slide).

Tis lucky we blues pickers like the cheaper seats, and not in love with a ($15,000???) J-35! Or a Monarch or....I thought well I better keep the 12 for strumming 12 stuff, but then I need a small guitar or 2 like the LG3 or Blues King in case my shoulder develops an ache from the largish L50......so I do need pro mental help, well I thought I had crossed the line with the Godin 5th Ave I bought, but the better half only said: "I thought you were buying that black one?" The website had a black Godin, but when I got to the shop there were none, and then angry fever flustered buster, don't ya hate that - they haven't updated the website since Rod was a teenager. The better half kept saying I should get the black one, but there were no black ones to be had, and bought a natural finish one, so then I developed a real sweating fever for a black 135 Gibson electric at a pawn shop, but I am not sure about the P100 pickups, and then I saw the 'Black Finish' 1935 L50 and went in a little bit of a spin 'cos I wasn't going to buy online again, but then I said: "I'll take it, thanks!" So much for the cheap black Godin - I now have a 1935 vintage Gibbo!

 

I then took a couple of older budget acoustics to the local pawn shop (to make space, not money), and they said they didn't have room and f... off. True! Couldn't believe it.

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

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My first good guitar was a late 50s LG.

 

toms.jpg

 

Since then, we have collected a few more -- here are some prewar flat tops.

 

30gibs.jpg

 

Big ones

 

30gib1s.jpg

 

Small ones

 

30gib2s.jpg

 

But we are not addicted because we can stop whenever we like and we also have large guitars from the 30s that include that other company. Combined, the large flat tops that changed the world.

 

30bigs.jpg

 

Of course, we are still waiting for both companies to top their depression performance.

 

Let's pick,

 

-Tom

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Used to scour flea markets in the mid '70s for super cheap acoustics to fix up ($10 to $20 range). This would often mean old Kay & Harmony archtops, no name parlor guitars, bowlback mandolins, etc. But a few sweet Gibsons slipped in there, including a 1948 L-48, and a mid '60s Epi Cortez.

Didn't take much to get me hooked!

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I bought an ES 175 because I liked the looks and the feel and I knew how many good guitar players played one and just because I wanted a good guitar. And after a good setup it plays and sounds better than anyt other guitar I ever played on before(I still wonder why such a guitar comes with a plastic bone and a very poor setup)

 

and more blablabla...but the question was when did the addiction started: well I had a question and registered here and ... I am still here, saving money for my second Gibson...Robert Johnson here I come. So, I got addicted because all of the post here, I just stayed too long and got your fleas.

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It may seem strange in that I got my first Gibson over 50 years ago but I have really not owned that many.

 

1930s Gibson L-00

LG-1 (I am not sure if I ever knew what year it was made other than it was a pre-1955)

1960 J-200 (I still have it as it is my wife's favorite guitar)

1956 SJ

1946-47 LG-2 (still have it)

1942 J-50 (still have it)

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1) After seeing and staring longingly at but not trying :( an early Montana J-45 at Colosimo's Music in Thunder Bay, Ontario before I moved to Montreal.

2) Buying a copy of American Guitars by Tom Wheeler a long time ago in New York.

3) Then I got a copy of Gibson's Fabulous Flat Top Guitars which really threw me over the edge. That book led to me purchasing my J-100Xtra a few years later when I graduated university and found my first good paying job.

 

I also played a lot of Gibsons starting in the late 90s/2000s. They really sound like nothing else and I was smitten. Still am!

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My first good guitar was a B25. I owned a couple cheap electrics before the Gibby. Sears Silvertones. Anyway, the Gibson fit me perfect. Wasn't one of the big dreads that I've pretty-much had since then, but it was ideal for what I needed then..............And Gibsons are an addiction.

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My first good guitar was a late 50s LG.

 

toms.jpg

 

 

 

Oh, man, Tom! That photo brings back a lot of memories. Looks like sitting around in the frat house on Saturday night with a couple of cases of beer, a couple of jugs of wine, passing around the mimeographed lyrics so folks could sing along. Were we ever really that young?

 

Seems like things changed almost overnight in those days. We went from jackets and ties and "if I had a hammer" to Levi's and boots and Dylan in the blink of an eye, it seems.

 

I've never looked back.

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