SJ-200 - Loud and lots of bass or not? Varying answers
 

Ive seen some acoustic letter videos on YT where Quinton and Paul say the sj200 has a lot of bass and volume. Quinton specifically says it's like revving the engine of a muscle car.

But I've heard online from places like this that the sj200 is actually quite mellow and that the AJ and even exceptional j45s have more bass and volume.

Anyone can elaborate on this? I'm sure there's something im missing. I don't think Quinton and Paul would be wrong but there's probably something to what people online are describing as well?

SJ-200 - Loud and lots of bass or not? Varying answers


I know what they say about assuming, so here's a couple of things to clarify before giving a better answer.

Are you looking for answers for a Gibson J-200 Jumbo or Gibson SJ-200 Jumbo?

Or all guitars with a model number suffix of J-200 or SJ-200 no matter who makes them?

Note that Gibson has many variants on this Jumbo guitar, and that there is no real difference except the letter 'S' appearing (or not) in most of the nomenclature, including the label affixed to the guitar.
It is not the first Gibson guitar to have an 'SJ' prefix. Blame their marketing department.
The first one with the SJ prefix was a Dreadnought.
And it's called a J-200 because it's a Jumbo and original sold for $200 in the pre-WWII late 30s.

The very first J-200 Jumbo is in the Country Music Hall of Fame. It is a spruce over rosewood, custom built for Ray Whitley supposedly from his sketches of what he wanted in a guitar. The dimensions are the same as the 'true' J-200s being built today. Most people have never heard of him, but he was a 'singing cowboy' who also co-wrote "Back in the Saddle Again" with another singing cowboy named Gene Autry.

*

General answers follow.

Simple answer: No two guitars sound alike.

Always Play before Pay.

The answers can be all of the above, depending on woods used, locations built, year of manufacture, or something from the Custom Shop, to include special editions, artist editions, or special limited runs. And that still will probably not cover all possibilities.

I believe that a Jumbo is the shape that can produce guitars with the most naturally balanced sound.

My J-200 spruce over rosewood is going on 40 years old, and I have been the sole owner. It can be loud or soft, has incredible resonance, a reverb-like slow decay, and has aged not just gracefully, but also with absolutely great tone. Not to mention a nice darker patina on the natural wood top, and is still in great condition. But the tan-brown Gibson case has taken a beating over the years.

My J-200 is strung with my favorite 6 string gauge, Elixir PB HD Light gauge {.013, .017, .025, .032, .042, .053}, and it has great trebles, great middles, and great bass. Used to string it with Mediums, but the .056 bass isn't necessary and it sounds better with the Light gauge bass strings. I Also use the same gauge on my Taylor 818 Grand Orchestra (a plus-size Jumbo), and works just fine. Mediums send this 818 guitar into boomy-land. I also use the HD Light gauge on my much smaller Taylor 412e-R short scale Grand Concert. Some guitars don't like the HD gauge, but these spruce over rosewood guitars love it.

I fingerpick all my guitars using my nails as picks.

Be well and play well,

Don
.

I don't like being too generalized about guitars because much of it is based on our perceptions, wants, and needs. I just played an SJ200 about 10 minutes ago at my local dealer. It's a great sounding guitar and would make for an excellent strummer. I played a D35 just after it and the difference in projection was startling. It certainly took more effort to get the SJ200 up to the loudness of the D35. Tonally, there is a huge difference, though I would not say either is better, just different.

In my opinion, I think an SJ200 could be really good for a singer/songwriter or if you don't need a ton of volume. I once owned a Martin CEO 8.5e, which was a jumbo. It too was fairly quiet but had great tone.

One nickname for the SJ-200 is “the whispering giant.” They tend to be quieter than most players expect.

As for bass response, all that I’ve played have been tonally balanced rather than bass-heavy.


Wade Hampton Miller

I have had two SJ200s back in the early '70s, bother were maple, which should boost the treble, but If I remember correctly, they ere both rather middly and muddy sounding

I regard them as "cowboy strummers".

But - to be fair a few years ago i was sideman to a young lady singer songwriter who played a late model Sj-100 which was a very fine instrument, well balanced and very articulate. I think it was a Montana build?

I’ve found J200s to be the most contrasting guitars I can think of. They can be loud, full and rich or they can be the opposite - I’ve certainly heard and played both.

I had a SG-200 back in the day for a while. It was loud and big (sound wise), but I recognize that with Gibsons its very important to pick out the best of a group of them. Some are incredible, some are very good, some are just good, and some are a hard pass. Find a shop that has a handful of them. You’ll probably find a good one.

Its also not just Gibsons. I’ve played some really great Martins lately and some that were not as great. If I gave Taylor a try I would expect to find the same thing.

I haven't owned a J-200, but I do own a J-100. Mine has bubinga and not maple.

I was surprised to find how well balanced it is and it is nowhere near as loud as I thought it would be.


It's really just an all around winner.

I thought it would be some one trick pony but honestly if it was the only guitar I had it would do anything I needed it to do.

I couldn’t agree more. They are very inconsistent.

+1 - if you want a 17" jumbo with major volume/headroom that doesn't compress or break up when you lay into it, along with floor-shaking bass, get yourself a '70s/80s Guild F-50R...

I have a Custom Shop Grand Jumbo 28 on order. It won’t be here until, at best, October. It’s so loud, I can here it already!

I have a 2006 J200 standard and the bass is like thunder. The guitar is like a Steinway piano, really, top to bottom.

Maybe I got a great one? I don’t know, but IMO the J200 is one of Gibson’s most consistent guitars, and I’ve never played a bad one.

I’ve owned an Advanced Jumbo and it did not compare to the J200 in sound or volume. Sound is just my opinion, of course, but the volume was not even close. I owned the J200 and AJ at the same time and decided to sell the AJ.

I’ve never, ever heard a J45 that compares, volume wise. I don’t think it is supposed to either.

Perhaps significant variations exist that we shouldn't attribute to the guitar model. Things that might confuse evaluation include

different pieces of wood
construction tolerances
strings
performance space acoustics
player
subjective impression that day and time
microphones
plectrums

What top did you select?

I’ve played a few, SJ200 guitars and I love them. I find them balanced and nuanced.
My friend has one, and when he’s ready to sell it, I hope Im ready to buy.

I think Wade summed it up well. Mine is well balanced in tone. It’s about as loud as most of my other guitars but it does seem to have a fair amount of headroom if you beat on it a bit.

I think a lot of it is how we play as individuals. I have friends who play J-45's, Songwriters, and Hummingbirds and they sound fantastic, but when I try a Gibson in the store, I don't get much out of it so I think it's me and that's fine.

Another thing; it's been mentioned more than once that you need to go to a store a large selection of SJ-200's and pick the best one. I've only seen one 200 in the wild. It sat behind the glass in the acoustic room at my local GC for years and this winter when I went to try it, it had finally sold a week before.

When I asked the salesman at Sam Ash how come they didn't stock Jumbo's, he told me ''We don't stock Jumbo's because people don't buy Jumbo's''

SJ-200 - Loud and lots of bass or not? Varying answers


Hey, I buy Jumboes. Love the well balanced sound. Especially from rosewood Jumboes.

Just saying.

Be well and play well,

Don
.

Ha, me too. Reading upthreads about - what people have described as the attributes of a good-performing jumbo - certainly describes my Larivee jumbo.

*I've extolled its virtues previously/elsewhere. In a nutshell, I find the guitar very expressive; very dynamic, wide range tonally and volumetrically. The key ingredient is its evenness. Like, er, a <small piano> it's consistent throughout both its volumetric and timbral range.

As best I can figure Bozeman's use of the "SJ" or "J" prefix is arbitrary. It looks though as if the SJ is used when premium quality woods come into play for both rosewood and maple body instruments. But by and large it is seemingly more of a marketing gimmick than anything else.

As far as I know though, Gibson never used the "SJ" prefix for a jumbo. Guitars built before WWII went by the name Super Jumbo. Those after were just listed as a Jumbo 100/200 although Super Jumbo often appeared in the description. It looks like they become officially designated a J200 between 1950 and 1955.

The "dreadnaught" you are referring to is, of course, the Southerner Jumbo. That is how they are listed in the catalog. By 1960, however, the model begins appearing as an SJ Southerner Jumbo.

I gather you are playing a Nashville-built J200. While I have ever spent any time with them so am a babe in the woods, you have to be cautious when comparing J200s. Lots of body wood, body depth and bracing changes through the decades. We, as example, have owned a 1960 J200 for a couple of decades. J200s built from 1951 on sported a bracing which was unique to that model. It has scary wide angled X braces above and below the soundhole (both less than 1" from it) with two ladder mounted tone bars and a long bridge plate. These are considered to be very special and not comparable to any other guitar.

Agree with this

zw,

Yes, as far as I know it was made in Nashville. Also as far as I know, the whole manufacturing run was made with rosewood back and sides that year. As was the original Ray Whitley model. Also does not have the typical 'tumbleweeds' pickguard and features a "the Gibson" script on the headstock. There may be some J-45s out there like this too.

Here is a video with Mark and Chet each playing '85 J-200s.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wTVLIZaxMk




Be well and play well,

Don
.

SJ-200 - Loud and lots of bass or not? Varying answers

And one other thing. Mine only whispers when I play it softly.

:guitar:

Don
.

Man, listen to those piezos quack!

The SJ-200 has a reputation of being “the quiet giant.”

I have never played one that came close to having me reach for my wallet. Seems like every one I touch is either stuffed with socks or incredibly woofy or mid-scooped to the extreme. Have not had good luck auditioning this model ever.

I agree with this, even though I've only played a couple. One was cherry-picked by a cowboy troubadour who played the dude ranch circuit. He loved the guitar as a strumming backup. We swapped guitars, and it sounded like honey. Beautiful tone. But when I tried Travis picking it with nails and fingertips, you really had to dig in to get some volume. It wasn't meant for fingerpicking.

I mention this because this was apparently a good example, but, as Wade said, it was indeed a "whispering giant".