Jump to content
Gibson Brands Forums

J-45 Standard vrs. J-45 TV????


onewilyfool

Recommended Posts

I know I sound like a broken record, but it all comes down to the individual guitar. There are more differences than just the topwood, and the earliest TVs featured sitka tops. However, the overall build of the TVs is much lighter. In my experience, the TVs are more consistent when it comes to tone. Then again I've experienced days at my Gibson dealer where a standard model sounded better than the TV they had on hand and by quite a bit. So as is almost always the case with acoustic guitars, there are no absolutes.

 

One of the things that I really love about my particular TV is that it has just about the driest low end I've ever experienced on a guitar and I can't say that for all of the other TVs that I've tried.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have both. I like them both (well one is a J-50 modern classic and the other is a 2007 J45 True Vintage). If you are getting only one guitar, save a few extra hundred and get the TV. It is about 10 ounces lighter, the back bracing is scalloped (it is not in my J-50). Some on this forum say that 45 standards have "standard 45 bracing", and the true vintages have the same bracing as on the AJs. I am guessing the scalloping is what they mean, but others may chime in on that.

 

My J45TV is dry, mellow yet clear, and responds to the lightest play as well as some good ole rock and roll strumming. It is a very versatile guitar, and it is my personal favorite in the Gibson line. Many have said that the differences between the J45 and J45TV are just cosmetic, and I do not think that is true. Differences are weight, wood (adi vs sitka), hide glue, bracing, tuners, head-stock, and binding. I think the bracing differences are the biggest contributor to the differences in tone, followed by the wood top.

 

Having said this, I love my J-50. I want it to open up over time - it is tight now. However it sounds great plugged in, which is what I got it for. I wanted that look, and the feel of my J45-TV, without taking my J45-TV out of the house to a gig. They both get played every day.

 

Oh, and I bought my J45-TV used for hundreds less than I bought my J-50 new.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey,

 

The last comment from Sal got me thinking, mines apparently scalloped and forward shifted x brace (AJ style), with an adi top.

 

is mine like a TV with rose wood or a short scale AJ.

 

or is the TV a AJ with short scale and hog B/S (even though there's now a hog AJ?).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good thoughts and insight from Thermis Sal above. Have to say the recent thread around the Standard/TV J-45 A/B made a satisfying dig into this – check it out.

http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/97061-music-villa-review/

 

And then it has to be repeated : The Standard is different from the Historic Collection and Modern Classic. It's louder and more extrovert.

 

Here's an older thread on the bigger 45 picture.

 

http://forum.gibson....ic-vs-standard/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My 2007 J-45 is extremely light. It also has the sitka top but as one fellow said above the sound is what just kills me with this guitar. It is mellow and has the dry bottom thump. But the one thing that really stands out (over my Martin HD-28V) is when I strum it you hear ALL the notes distinctly. Plus the aged binding and all the vintage aspects make it even better. But for me, the weight and sound are what grabbed me. This past fall I played it against a 2010 TV with the adi top and VOS finish and the difference in the sound between the two was negligable. I bought my TV on ebay and paid about $1850.00 for it, and it was mint. In the last three years since I bought mine I have seen some mint J-45 TV guitars on ebay so there are plenty of really good used ones available. You just have to keep an eye out for them. In the end, if I had to buy another one, new or used, yes I would pay the extra money and get the TV over the Standard. By the way there is something to be said for each guitar having it's own voice. I played a John Hiatt J-45 and it was not good sounding to me at all. Then I picked up the Brad Paisley J-45 and it had THAT sound!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the bracing differences are the biggest contributor to the differences in tone, followed by the wood top.

 

It is impossible to know for sure how much each factor contributes, but I would think this is probably accurate.

 

As others have said, it all varies from one guitar to the next, but I have found the TVs that I have tried in stores to be on average "better" sounding guitars. "Better" being very subjective, of course. The TV's seem to be more consistent in their tone, which I would describe as being a fuller, more rounded tone. I have seen more variability in the Standards - some really nice, some not so nice.

 

But I have had the experience of A/B'ing a Standard and a TV in a store and having that particular Standard smoke that particular TV!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK. I am circling back to this thread. It is blowing outside, and the snow is swirling, and I thought I would just record simple and dry my two Gibsons, and see if you can tell the difference, and more importantly tell me which you like better and why.

 

https://soundcloud.com/sal-from-chatham/sets/gibson-j-45tv-vs-gibson-j-50

Although, for whatever reason, my brain has yet to reconcile Neil Young coming out of a Gibson, I prefered the first guitar - call it a we bit more articulate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK. I am circling back to this thread. It is blowing outside, and the snow is swirling, and I thought I would just record simple and dry my two Gibsons, and see if you can tell the difference, and more importantly tell me which you like better and why.

 

https://soundcloud.com/sal-from-chatham/sets/gibson-j-45tv-vs-gibson-j-50

 

Both sounded good Sal, albeit different. The J-50 has a bolder, louder tone, the midrange is strong, a rockin' guitar. While the J-45TV has a more organic, woodier sweet tone with more complexity than the J-50. I can understand how you enjoy both guitars as they both bring something different to the table.

 

It reminds me of my thicker braced 69 Bird' which has a woody, dry, bold tone, not particular complex but highly appealing, as opposed to the Bird TV which has a more complex, richer, delicate tone.

 

However if I had to choose just one I would take the sweetness of the J-45-TV.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

how'd you know which was which EA ?

i know you're good at this game though

 

There are two seperate uploads on link specifically labelled for guitar.

 

But now that I listened through speakers (before it was headphones) I found the bold, direct tone of the J-50 very attractive, maybe even more than the J-45TV.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My impressions? This is very weird. When I am playing my ears, obviously positioned up top and not in front of the guitars, hear a marked very distinct difference between the two guitars, where the J-45TV has more mid, is fuller, and the trebles more bell-like and less tinny. However, when I listen back at the recording through headphones, where the Zoom H2n is positioned about 2 feet in front of the soundhole, and arguably is capturing what an audience might hear, the difference is less pronounced. In fact the J-50 comes out clearer and less muddy, and even has an edge. To me.

 

Don't get me wrong - I love my J45-TV, and both of these guitars will only mature and get better, but I am pleased with my choice for the J-50 Modern Classic as a guitar that is really comfortable to play standing, with the neck shape that I love, for a gigging guitar.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think I'm in the minority here, but I prefer the Standard. I played and have owned both. I did change out the nut on the standard to bone. I'm a chord strummer mostly and to me, the J-45TV was too bright. Again though, I'm probably the outlier here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The J-50 sounded exactly like my 2006 J-50 and the J-45 TV sounded almost exactly like my 1997 Early J-45. Listening to the recordings I found that I liked the more muscular sound of the J-50 and you state that you chose it for the same reason I chose my J-50. It's my, play with an ensemble guitar, plugged in or straight acoustic. My '97 is about 8oz. lighter than my J-50 and I chose it from reading every comment on this forum over the past two months and readying myself for one when it appeared, which it did finally, and at a good price. Thanks to Jinder for his comments regarding Early J-45's as he mentioned the lightness of the build of one he owned and I figured there had to be a build up to the TV series and some experimentation and since I'm not close to any Gibson dealers I took the chance and I'm very happy. I have two distinctly different slope Gibsons now and I play both every day and like them both a lot. I don't think one can go wrong with a Gibson from the Bozeman era. It's all personal taste, just like everyone weighing in on the sound they like best in the recordings in this thread.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its "Hide" glue. Actually made from animal hides. Remember when horses got "sent to the glue factory"? They really did.

 

It is good to know that the 'hot tip to win' in the last race that actually came last - goes to a good use as hide glue, and if you are in Europe/England apparently as a beef substitute in frozen beef burgers and lasagne:

 

http://www.theage.com.au/world/meat-switch-furore-reaches-sweden-20130209-2e592.html

 

 

 

BluesKing777.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...