How did you meet the love (acoustic) of your life?

[C.Mack200]

My story is not all that exciting..Last summer, out of the blue, I decided I wanted a nice Acoustic. Had been playing a Guild D30 (A little on the boomy side) and I was ready to really become a better acoustic player and I figured if i could find an acoustic I really loved, it might inspire me... I stroll into the music store and for the next 3 hours I proceeded to play every mid to high range acoustic I could find. Didn't like the Taylors, really didn't care for the Martins either. On to the Gibsons...now thats a sound I can dig!! Played every make and model..very, very nice. Then I come across the one. The SJ200 standard. Knew she was a keeper right away. I played her next to a few other 200's and she blew them all away...no comparison. As for inspiration..I have played more in the last 7 months than I had previously played in the last 10 years. I'm usually late for work because I cant (won't) put her down. I'm actually writing songs again and Im always studying and dissecting great acoustic players. I feel that my love for my guitar has certainly helped me become a better player. Now thats true love...Always looking for another special representation of the SJ200 and that elusive L200....

[milod]

I think I get ignored and occasionally laughed at when I note that my favorite acoustic among six that are more expensive - some far more expensive - is my little Epi PR5e. It just plays itself.

 

I think that is the secret to a "good" guitar even far more than quality of materials and manufacture. Is it "yours" or just something you paid money for...

 

m

[ponty]

I have had plenty of loves in my life. My first serious love was a 197? Guild F-30NT.

Always looking for perfection, and being musically promiscuous I soon had a Guild D40,

Guild GF60, Martin D28-12, Martin D-35, Martin D18vs, Martin M-36 Martin 000-28, Gibson J-55, Gibson Gospel,

Gibson j-185, Gibson j-185Koa, Ovation 1444, amonst others. Then, almost twenty years ago, I went into a shop

in Southampton UK, and for the first time, I saw a Montana J-45 in Sunburst. I took her down from the wall and... wow!

I quickly went home and got my J-185 to take for a part ex, but the shop offered such a ridiculously small value

that I left..without that J-45. Weeks later I moved to Bermuda, and the first thing I did was order a Martin M-36 followed by a J-45AT, blind, unseen,

and without regret. She was a beauty.I said then, I would never get rid of her. Still, being a polyguitarmist, I longed for a Sunburst version.

I called Mandolin Bros and asked if they had one. - Sure he said, a mint condition used 1993 - same year as the one I had.

So, over the phone, I bought it. I still have all three, but the first J-45 is my long term love! Haven't bought a new guitar in 15 years.

[Tman]

Here is a recreation of my post from September 2011 when I first met and played the guitar that would become mine a few months later:

 

 

I played the J45 custom that a number of you recommended, in the center of the photo above.

The clouds parted and I heard angels singing. The first strum brought out "that's the one" from my wife. Instant BFF. Zero doubt I want it.

[DanvillRob]

I've told this story here before..... bought a 1969 Jubilee when I got divorced from the groupie..... Was never a doubt that the only guitar I wanted was a Gibson Acoustic.

 

When I met my wife, (1976), I played the Jubilee for her, and told her of the story about working in a music store when we got in a Hummingbird.....and how I'd take it down every day and play it, when the store wasn't busy.

 

I told her my 'dream guitar' would be a Hummingbird.

 

Fast forward to about a year or so after we were married, and she went (on her own) and bought me a beautiful Dove.

 

She knew my dream guitar was a Gibson Acoustic that was named after some bird....but she couldn't remember which one.

 

Needless to say, my 1979 Dove is my 'heart-guitar'. I'm parked at the fairgrounds in San Jose in my motor home....and my Dove is right next to me!

[MorrisrownSal]

Sigh... Mine was a mail-order bride. I was waiting for the new Martin D-18 that I ordered a few months earlier, and I saw a J-45TV whose price kept dropping on the AGF buy and sell forum. The guitar looked immaculate, and I just couldn't take it anymore. I felt bad for the guy selling it, as I think he was thinning for financial reasons, but who knows. I figured I would take a shot, play it till the D-18 arrived, and just get rid of the one I liked least. My 2007 J-45TV is just flat out the most enjoyable guitar for my style of playing I have ever owned. I have four acoustics, but truth be told I could easily just keep this one guitar and sell the rest.

 

But then what the heck would I hang on those stupid protrusions sticking out of the wall?

 

Now pardon me while I try to research a J-200 Western Classic. :)

[struma6]

Driving my 23 year old daughter home from NYC she suggested we stop in at the music store I used to hang out in. She has always liked going with me to guitar shops, I think mostly for the young guitar slingers who hang out. I thought it was a great idea and in we went. I headed right to the acoustic room. This was, at one point, a 5-star dealer but the owner decided to give himself nose-bleeds rather than pay vendors. There were still some sweet Gibsons hanging up and I started plucking each one. My daughter was roaming the store and eventually wandered in with a band t-shirt she was going to buy. I had landed on a CJ165EC that was awesome. The tone was a little thin but I knew it would bloom nicely with playing time. When she came in I finished up the progression I was playing and hung it back up on the wall. She commented on how good looking it was and asked if that was my favorite. Yeah, it was says I.

 

We walk out of the acoustic room and she tells me she has to pay for the shirt and I should grab a smoke and wait. I do what I'm told.

 

She takes longer than I thought so I peeked in and she told me just relax, wait in the car. I do. Arguing with a 22 year old girl is not something I relish.

 

I'm in the car, listening to the local college station and out she walks toting a lovely Gibson case. She puts it in the back seat, my jaw is dropped and I'm stunned. When she gets in I ask her what she did. She said "I wanted to buy you a guitar but I didn't know what you would want." I told he that was too much money, can't let you do that. Her next comment was something I won't repeat but we both laughed.

 

Today the guitar HAS aged beautifully. The top has darkened nicely and, as I suspected, the tone of this baby just bloomed. My daughter rocks.

[MorrisrownSal]

Driving my 23 year old daughter home from NYC she suggested we stop in at the music store I used to hang out in. She has always liked going with me to guitar shops, I think mostly for the young guitar slingers who hang out. I thought it was a great idea and in we went. I headed right to the acoustic room. This was, at one point, a 5-star dealer but the owner decided to give himself nose-bleeds rather than pay vendors. There were still some sweet Gibsons hanging up and I started plucking each one. My daughter was roaming the store and eventually wandered in with a band t-shirt she was going to buy. I had landed on a CJ165EC that was awesome. The tone was a little thin but I knew it would bloom nicely with playing time. When she came in I finished up the progression I was playing and hung it back up on the wall. She commented on how good looking it was and asked if that was my favorite. Yeah, it was says I.

 

We walk out of the acoustic room and she tells me she has to pay for the shirt and I should grab a smoke and wait. I do what I'm told.

 

She takes longer than I thought so I peeked in and she told me just relax, wait in the car. I do. Arguing with a 22 year old girl is not something I relish.

 

I'm in the car, listening to the local college station and out she walks toting a lovely Gibson case. She puts it in the back seat, my jaw is dropped and I'm stunned. When she gets in I ask her what she did. She said "I wanted to buy you a guitar but I didn't know what you would want." I told he that was too much money, can't let you do that. Her next comment was something I won't repeat but we both laughed.

 

Today the guitar HAS aged beautifully. The top has darkened nicely and, as I suspected, the tone of this baby just bloomed. My daughter rocks.

 

Awesome daughter. You raised a good one and you must have done something right. Enjoy that guitar forever.

[DanvillRob]

Driving my 23 year old daughter home from NYC she suggested we stop in at the music store I used to hang out in. She has always liked going with me to guitar shops, I think mostly for the young guitar slingers who hang out. I thought it was a great idea and in we went. I headed right to the acoustic room. This was, at one point, a 5-star dealer but the owner decided to give himself nose-bleeds rather than pay vendors. There were still some sweet Gibsons hanging up and I started plucking each one. My daughter was roaming the store and eventually wandered in with a band t-shirt she was going to buy. I had landed on a CJ165EC that was awesome. The tone was a little thin but I knew it would bloom nicely with playing time. When she came in I finished up the progression I was playing and hung it back up on the wall. She commented on how good looking it was and asked if that was my favorite. Yeah, it was says I.

 

We walk out of the acoustic room and she tells me she has to pay for the shirt and I should grab a smoke and wait. I do what I'm told.

 

She takes longer than I thought so I peeked in and she told me just relax, wait in the car. I do. Arguing with a 22 year old girl is not something I relish.

 

I'm in the car, listening to the local college station and out she walks toting a lovely Gibson case. She puts it in the back seat, my jaw is dropped and I'm stunned. When she gets in I ask her what she did. She said "I wanted to buy you a guitar but I didn't know what you would want." I told he that was too much money, can't let you do that. Her next comment was something I won't repeat but we both laughed.

 

Today the guitar HAS aged beautifully. The top has darkened nicely and, as I suspected, the tone of this baby just bloomed. My daughter rocks.

 

 

That's the best story yet!

[milod]

Yeah, Struma...

 

Guitar or not... that daughter is something special...

 

m

[geeterpicker]

struma6, that is a great story. What a daughter!

My first great guitar came to me by pure luck. I was working at my dad's bar in 1978. It was a slow night with just two customers, who were sitting quietly at the end of the bar saying nothing. Then a guy named Mike, who was a regular, came in and he laid a guitar case up on the bar. I asked him what he was doing and he said, "Take a look at this. I thought you might like to buy it." I opened the case and there was a slightly beat on Martin D-28. Some of the strings were in the wrong places and the bridge was slightly pulled up off the top. I asked him how much and he said he "had to have $350 for it." I tried not to laugh and then called a trusted friend about the repair work that might be needed. He said the repair was nothing and eagerly encouraged me to buy it. So I offered $250, but he held firm, saying, "It's a Martin." I told him not to sell it to anyone for a day or two while I got the money together. (I only had $150.) Well, he held on to it and sold it to me a couple days later. I happily took my new prize to a repair man who, after fixing it, said, "That'll be $60 or I'll give you $650 for the guitar right now." I paid him the $60. A new D-28 was going for about $1000 back then, so I knew if a dealer was offering me that much, I had something good. I was in the bar the following Saturday and in came Mike, his brother and a friend. Mike was grinning and asked how I liked that guitar. I told him I loved it. Then he started laughing and said, "Boy, I really took you. I got that guitar from Pee Wee who owed me $100 in a card game." They laughed like hell. When they stopped, I said, "Well, Mike, that's nice, because the repair man I took it to offered me $650 for it." Mike's jaw dropped and his face turned bright red. He had a notorious temper. "You KNEW!" he shouted at me in rage, while his brother and friend started laughing at him. I said, "Yeah Mike, I knew, but you know what? We both won. You made $250 and I got a guitar I love." He calmed down when he thought about it that way, but every time I saw him, he tried to buy it back from me.

Well, I played that guitar at every gig for a number of years. Then it got to the point where it was unplayable. Likely my fault, because I was a dumb kid and didn't pay a lot of attention to temperature changes over those years. I was still gigging, though, and decided I needed to start lookng for a different guitar. My girlfriend (now wife) was with me when I went to a local music store and pulled a cutaway Guild off the wall. I fell hard for that guitar - a new '90 D-40 NT CE, but of course didn't have the money. Everytime we passed that store, I'd go in and play it only to leave it there. Well, I was at work and she took the day off. I had a gig that night and called her to ask if she'd pick up a set of strings for me. I wouldn't have time to get them, because I had to leave for the gig pretty much right after I got home. She was very nervous about buying the wrong strings, but I just told her to write down exactly what I said and it would be fine. When I got home, she was acting funny and said, "Here are the strings. Put them on." I said that I wanted them in case I broke a string. But she kept insisting. My Martin's case was on the floor, but I remembered that the night before, I left my Ovation case there. Then I looked back at my guitar cases and noticed an odd one. I opened the Martin's case and there was the Guild. She cashed in a Certificate of Deposit to get it for me. Amazing. I played that guitar exclusively for the next 4 years and still have it, of course.

The D-28? Well, I called Martin about it in 1993 and ended up shipping it up there for some repair work. When I got it back, it played like butter. It was like getting a brand new guitar.

So I have a 42 year old Martin, a 23 year old Guild, a 9 year old Huss and Dalton CM custom and my newest love, the '12 Gibson L-00 Pro. Nice mix of guitars for me.

[milod]

Picker...

 

Your guitars sound great...

 

And so does the wife...

 

m

[ksdaddy]

In 1984 I decided to get a decent acoustic, after having some so-so ones over the years. Nothing really good available locally. I got the Elderly Instruments Used Instrument list (and I still have it). There was a 1964 Southern Jumbo for $350. My father had owned one from '63 to about '71 so I was familiar with the model. I called and asked the guy (Bob "Raoul" Mitts) to go get it off the wall. He described it as being in okay shape with a small crack on the back, some guy's name etched into the back of the neck. I asked him to describe the neck and he said it was nice and fast, then he runka-chunked a few chords. Sounded like a Gibson to me. I said to ship it COD. It was $365 total. The next day I went to the bank and took out a personal loan for $350. I think it was $34 a month for a year.

 

So I've had it now for 28+ years. Others have come and gone. I've had better and worse in the conventional sense. I have two J200s that may sound "better" but I always go back to the SJ. I'll never give it up.

 

 

[zombywoof]

Not sure I would use the word love - I tend to be somewhat fickle so with me infatuation probably works better.

 

Like Ksdaddy though the guitar that I seem to be most infatuated with is not the best sounding nor the most valuable I own. It is a 1955/56 Epiphone FT-79. I ran across it years ago in a local music store. The thing was a mess. The binding had popped off at both the waist on both sides, the end pin was broken off, and the pickguard had been removed and replaced with a thick, screwed down double scratchplate. It just pinged on the high E string. There was nothing about that guitar that stood out. The store wanted $800 for it. No way says I. Anyway they kept telling me to take it home and live with it for a while. I think I must have toted it out and returned it three times. Finally, they told me I could have it for what they had in it - $400. So I figured what the heck. I brought it home and just kinda forgot sbout it. One day, on a whim I pulled it out and decided to get rid of the original rosewood saddle and replace the nut while I was at it. All of a sudden I started thinking this thing ain't all that bad. I guess the Epi just kept growing on me to the point I took it to the repair shop and had the bridge (which was startingto split) replaced and a bunch of the cosmetic stuff taken care of. I still can't explain what it is about that guitar that has a hold of me but I will just take it out at times and prop it up and look at it.

 

I don't have a current photo of the guitar but here is what it looked like underneath the homemade pickguard ot sported.

 

[Rambler]

I didn't go looking for my National. I had sold a piece and gotten a J45, so was in the honeymoon phase. Wasn't in the hunt for anything in particular, let alone a reso. But I was doing a desultory browse through the listings of local stores --and there it was. Just got a feeling, like this is going to be good. Made the 2 hour drive up to Littleton to take a look. It was good. Got the green light to go ahead with the deal and put my one other guitar, an older J50 with issues, on the block and bought the National.

 

The funny thing is, the Vintage Steel has eclipsed my other guitar. Its gotten me gigs. But I wouldt have even been looking for it if the other deal had gone down first.

[bigsnaketex]

I'm a guitar ho!

 

As I type this I realize that I'm embarassed to say that I have 37 at this time and all of them have a story.....but Saturday I came across a 20 year old SJ-200 that I simply had to have.

 

It is not only beautiful but I played it at a 4 hour gig last night and at church this morning and at another gig this afternoon.

 

After about 8 hours of play I can truly say that my GAS has been finally cured!!

 

This guitar is simply magical and I'm in love!!

[merseybeat1963]

Like many I fell in love with the J200 before Id ever played or saw one in person from old pictures.

In the mid/late 70's though all of 80's on 48th Street (Music Row) new Gibson Acoustics were not stocked by anyone(fact)..you may see one every 7 years or so for that one fool..

The only good J200's were old ones, and if it came up..rarely, it is was damn expensive. If you owned one of those good ones you kept it, so unlike today,where Bozeman has made good ones abundant,very very few were available.

I wanted one so bad..for all of the 80's and later 70's.

Then one day In the first week of April 1989 we walked into Mandolin Brothers looked and there was..!..Wow,that looks like an instrument. A couple of strums and I could not believe it..it WAS an instrument.

Prototype A J200N Bozeman Mt

 

Im not an acoustic player so we've had our ups and downs cause deep down I want my acoustcs to feel like my electrics..

Almost sold it when I ordered a Custom made Braz Lowden.I figured I could get rid of all my other acoustics..I cringe now at that thought.

Still the best J200 Ive heard.. with a early 50's one and a 59/60'.

One day Id like to custom order one,exactly like this, but with 45 Trim,ebony fb/bridge & a earlier nice fat Gibson highly figured neck...gotta get a job first though : )

[MR GIBS]

My love is my MR GIBS - SJ 200 Custom Elite.

Yesterday I had a day off and played again a couple of hours.

Man, this is an amazing isntrument... Even I did not change the strings six months!

This is my first very expencive guitar.

This was the guitar that taught me how to play on a really good solid wood instrument.

This is the guitar that has taught me how to keep an expensive solid wood instrument in a good condition.

This is the instrument that gave me a huge self confidence on every stage and TV studio.

And he is still teaching me (MR GIBS).

When I start playing on this guitar I just can't stop. I don't want to stop...

The whole guitar starts to sing in my hands, I feel it with my body, we are one and If I stop we desintegrate and I don't like that.

He is part of my "music self" my MR GIBS (still the one and only Gibson Acoustic SJ 200 in Bulgaria - whereever it can be...)

And I am proud to have him in the house (now in the case in the corridor with 3 humidifiers inside the case)

My guitar.....

Mine!

[EuroAussie]

In a dark, backstreet alley after a number of wkiskeys on ice ..