onewilyfool Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Is the difference between a J-45 and a southern Jumbo only the bound fretboard and chevron fret markers??? Just bling, or is bracing different?? (and about $500 in cost, right?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blindboygrunt Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 J45's are way cooler , you missed that point too wily :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParlourMan Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Isn't there supposed to be a bracing difference? Prefer the fretboard markers and PG of the SJ myself... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenumber2 Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 See here. http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/35949-j45-vs-southern-jumbo/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainpicker Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 I don't own an SJ (maybe someday) but I like the looks of them over a J-45. Just the right amount of bling IMO. I think a Woody Guthrie SJ doesn't even have a bound fretboard, which makes me like it even more. The difference in sound between my '97 J-45 and my '06 J-50 is a lot like the descriptions here of the differences between the SJ and the J-45. My '97 has tall, thin braces and my '06 has the chunkier kind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lefty Guy Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 I think the main difference, apart from cosmetics, is between the TV versions of these guitars. The J-45 has an Adirondack top, whilst the SJ has Sitka. ...& of course the SJ has a correctly postionned pickguard ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EuroAussie Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 Theyre meant to be only different in bling ... BUT .... I swear that many times over I found J-45's to have a dryer, woodier, a bit more mellow tone, while the SJ's to be a bit brighter, responsive and more 'in your face' midrange focused. Just a bit more attitude. I love both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Red 333 Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 I think the main difference, apart from cosmetics, is between the TV versions of these guitars. The J-45 has an Adirondack top, whilst the SJ has Sitka. ...& of course the SJ has a correctly postionned pickguard ;-) They have different back bracing, as well. Red 333 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpbiii Posted February 28, 2013 Share Posted February 28, 2013 I don't know about modern guitars, but I can speak some to the early ones. We have three very early instruments -- a Rw SJ, a mahogany SJ and a J-45. We also have a later (1944) J.45. The bracing on all these instruments is the same -- and the are scalloped and shaped with a great deal of detail. This does not seemed to be haphazzard at all. However, it has been my experiece that there is a lot of variation in the way these instrument sound. So all this care in the bracing did not result in a very consistent product -- much less so than the Martins of the era. I resently talked to Willi Henkes about this question. If you don't, Willi is a German luthier who was made intense study of these instruments over many years. He said there was a lot of variaton in the thickness of the wood, partularly the tops. He has also said publically that he thought on a long term average, the old SJs he has seen seemed on average slightly better than the J-45s. That is different from my limited experiece -- if I rank our mahogany J banners, the three J-45s are ahead of the SJ, but now by much. The RW SJ, on the other hand, is from another planet. Let's pick, -Tom' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superbutkus Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 J45's are way cooler , you missed that point too wily :) Yeah, what he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Got'em both......love'm both. My two happen to sound very different, as they are from different eras with different bracing (both top and back) and different top woods. What I would really like is an adi-topped SJ with an unbound fretboard, like JT's 1943, but maybe with a late-40's neck profile rather than the Luthier's Choice neck on my Fuller's '43 re-issue. That would be the cat's meow: essentially, an SJ Legend. Yeah, I could go for that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mountainpicker Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 I'm with you Nick, I'd be motivated, probably to the point of purchase, to have an adi topped SJ AND an unbound fretboard. Bling and power. But I'd want a neck to match my current 45 or 50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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