tvguit Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I just got my banner J-45 back from the repair shop today so it was A-B time (or, A-B-C in this case). I bought it with braces loose, bridge cracked, pickguard fallen off, etc. I am always impressed with this guy's work so I knew it would be well worth the wait (since August!). I am blown away by this thing. It has the typical J-45 open/woody tone but also projects really really well. It is a bit bright currently because of the new strings but I am trying my hardest to break them in. From left to right: '53, '46, '43 (I think). Maybe you guys can help me date the banner a little better. There is no FON visible. It has a square hog neck block, hog neck, solid one piece back, 3 ring rosette. Good photography still eludes me even with my wife's DSLR. I usually shoot with natural light with the blinds open but it was dark and I wanted a picture of the trio. Cheers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-1854Me Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I just got my banner J-45 back from the repair shop today so it was A-B time (or, A-B-C in this case). I bought it with braces loose, bridge cracked, pickguard fallen off, etc. I am always impressed with this guy's work so I knew it would be well worth the wait (since August!). I am blown away by this thing. It has the typical J-45 open/woody tone but also projects really really well. It is a bit bright currently because of the new strings but I am trying my hardest to break them in. From left to right: '53, '46, '43 (I think). Maybe you guys can help me date the banner a little better. There is no FON visible. It has a square hog neck block, hog neck, solid one piece back, 3 ring rosette. Cheers. Very cool! I love A/B/C comparisons! It's cool to see the different sunbursts from a span of 10 years. Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Whaw, what a trio – it just looks so goood. The picture is fine too. I would have preferred a little cut to the left to keep all those warm nuances concentrated, but that's nothing. A/B/C away, , , , it'll be forever fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefty Guy Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 So nice to see those pickguards correctly positionned ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 just love the one on the right , looks like its full of stories and songs .... an audio / video of these three with te same tune would be interesting , even better if there was a newer j45 tacked on as well nice guitars dude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Del Nilppeznaf Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I agree.. its a cool photo the piano..colours.. and placing...gives much interest to the view.. I cropped it a little tvguit..hiope ya don't mind. nice guitars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I find the 2 brown hue'd guitars so much more attractive than the one with the stronger black colours... would love my bursts to be such a colour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvguit Posted November 20, 2012 Author Share Posted November 20, 2012 Thanks for the kind words.. Yes Del, that is much better. Thank you! I wish I had a good recording set up that could really capture the subtle tonal nuances of all three. But, there really is no comparison to sitting down and taking a little time with each one. If you are in the Birmingham, AL.area then you are welcome to drop by and see which one you think is best. Maybe modoc will come and bring his little 12 fret 00 dressed in a tuxedo. It would be a grand Gibson time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zombywoof Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I know how you feel. My '42 J-50 has fallen into the repair shop black hole. You know you are in trouble when you ask the guy when will it be ready and the only answer you get is "It will be a while." But he is a wizard and I would think of letting nobody else touch my older guitars. The Martin guys actually call hom "Doc." That is one heck of a collection of J-45s. You got me running for the drool bucket. First thing I thought when I saw the pic - that would make one fine screen saver. It may sound corny but when it comes to the Banners it feels like it is almost a privilege to own one. From the info you have given sounds like your Banner is a '43 or '44. Is the top Adi or Sitka? Maybe JT will drop by and help you out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvguit Posted November 20, 2012 Author Share Posted November 20, 2012 I know how you feel. My '42 J-50 has fallen into the repair shop black hole. Nooooooo! That one is going to be something special when it is done, though. You can easily tell the top on that one is Adirondack too! I didn't really look closely at the top on mine last night but I would guess Sitka. I'll see if I can get a shot of the backs of the '46 and the banner. They are both one piece, flat-sawn Mahogany (I love the look of the flat sawn single piece backs!). The biggest differences between the two guitars are the logo and binding. I think that the '46 has a poplar neck block too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 There we go Del - into the world of amber Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Lovely. Red 333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 There we go Del - into the world of amber It's hard to know how much of that color differnce is due to pigment fading, and how much due to the original color differences. It's pretty well established that some of the dye pigments used at different times fade in different ways. The classic example is the cherry dyes used for some time in the 1960's. On the acoustics, these tended to fade out almost to look like a natural top. On some of the electrics, the color faded to a pinkish-orange "watermelon" color. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 The question is, how do you get the near-black's used to fade out like that in under 70 years? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 The question is, how do you get the near-black's used to fade out like that in under 70 years? It's all a function of the stability of the pigments over time. As an example, look at the fading of the dark part of the 'burst on this 1968 ES-335, shown below. I don't believe this is even close to the color it began life with 45 years ago. Look at the color photos of older (even pre-war) sunbursts in "Gibson's Fabulous Flat-Tops". Many of them have the very vibrant coloration shown on the 50's J-45 in the picture above that kicked off this dicussion. I would love it if somebody more knowledgeable about this--say, Tom Barnwell (tpbiii) or JT, or even someone at Gibson--could comment on this phenomenon, whether it is fading or totally different pigmentation in the sunbursts. As far as the appearance of any individual 'burst goes, the way it is photographed can make a lot of difference: natural light vs. flash vs. studio lighting, for example. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 so I should cancel the 20 sunbed sessions I just booked it? :D :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E-minor7 Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 It's hard to know how much of that color differnce is due to pigment fading, , , , So true - remember the marathon George Harrison J-160E thread - whouu. . . Apart from that I think the original very direct cherry-red from f.x. Birds was saved by time. The browner it turned, the better. And that redbrownorange is the irresistible hue seen on the TV's btw. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 So true - remember the marathon George Harrison J-160E thread - whouu. . . Apart from that I think the original very direct cherry-red from f.x. Birds was saved by time. The browner it turned, the better. And that redbrownorange is the irresistible hue seen on the TV's btw. The interesting thing is that some of the modern 'bursts seem to be attempting to replicate the "faded" look of 70-year-old sunbursts. I wonder what those pre-faded 'bursts will look like 70 years hence? (unfortunately, I won't be around to find out.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars68 Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Here is a picture of my 1942 J-45 for comparison. This photo is very representative of what the guitar looks like in person. http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/89d15ecf08c3e0efd745da2af58f72d70dc67b6.jpg Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Here is a picture of my 1942 J-45 for comparison. This photo is very representative of what the guitar looks like in person. Lars That is one gorgeous guitar! The condition looks incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ataylor Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Very cool. Someday I'd love to own just one 40s-50s J-45. +1 on the pickguards Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lars68 Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 j45nick, yes the guitar is in great shape, although it had some thin and minor dryness cracks and an old jack hole when I got it. I had the great fortune of being able to get the guitar repaired by Willi Henkes (of Banner Registry fame). He repaired the jack hole so well that I had a hard time finding it a first, and I knew exactly where to look. Here is the repair: http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/00535964c1b50a14c080eaaceaf41d4eec4c4ab.JPG One interesting thing about the guitar is that it has a leftover late style J-35 bridge, just like its batchmate on the Banner Registry site. So Gibson most likely ran out of J-45 bridges and used what they could find... http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/2053552ec3df018fc1c8ee0def32a37b458a626.jpg Lars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 j45nick, yes the guitar is in great shape, although it had some thin and minor dryness cracks and an old jack hole when I got it. I had the great fortune of being able to get the guitar repaired by Willi Henkes (of Banner Registry fame). He repaired the jack hole so well that I had a hard time finding it a first, and I knew exactly where to look. Lars You are lucky to have had Willi work on it. I had an identical jack hole repair done by Ross Teigen, who works on my guitars. Like you, I knew exactly where to look, but could hardly find it when he finished. People don't always appreciate the difference between an adequate repair and a truly excellent one. Absolutely beautiful guitar you have there. -Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-1854Me Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 Here is a picture of my 1942 J-45 for comparison. This photo is very representative of what the guitar looks like in person. http://images.yuku.com/image/pjpeg/89d15ecf08c3e0efd745da2af58f72d70dc67b6.jpg Lars That looks like it was taken right outside of Willi and Rudi's shop...(?) Nice colour on that one too! Fred Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jannusguy2 Posted November 20, 2012 Share Posted November 20, 2012 I just got my banner J-45 back from the repair shop today so it was A-B time (or, A-B-C in this case). I bought it with braces loose, bridge cracked, pickguard fallen off, etc. I am always impressed with this guy's work so I knew it would be well worth the wait (since August!). I am blown away by this thing. It has the typical J-45 open/woody tone but also projects really really well. It is a bit bright currently because of the new strings but I am trying my hardest to break them in. From left to right: '53, '46, '43 (I think). Maybe you guys can help me date the banner a little better. There is no FON visible. It has a square hog neck block, hog neck, solid one piece back, 3 ring rosette. Good photography still eludes me even with my wife's DSLR. I usually shoot with natural light with the blinds open but it was dark and I wanted a picture of the trio. Cheers. Just gorgeous! Did get the racing stripe case with the '46? Or was it acquired later? Very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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