NGD: 1993 Gibson J-45

[Gus37]

Hi all, I was here a few weeks ago asking about the new 50s original J45 but ended up getting this 31 year old warhorse.

Few bangs, scuffs, ordinary binding/finish repair that was probably done after a past neck reset, fine nitro cracks on top, clouding on back seam - but overall I'm real happy with the sound, feel and look.

The seller told me it have James Wright's name in written inside of it. I read that James ended up working in the custom shop later on? Any information on this model would be great thanks!!

Just about to put some Martin 12-54 monel retros on.

[abn556]

Congrats on the J-45. I am playing my J-45 all the time right now. Hope you enjoy your new guitar as much as I like mine.

[Gus37]

Originally Posted by abn556

Congrats on the J-45. I am playing my J-45 all the time right now. Hope you enjoy your new guitar as much as I like mine.

Thanks abn556, I am enjoying the rich, warm, balanced sound it produces and the feel of the chunky neck. It's a beauty!

[62burst]

Looks like that will be a nice guitar for you. A friend had a '93. . . indeed, a real workhorse. Nice 'burst, nice bridge, . . . congrats!
ps- good to see yours received some white (?) tuner buttons. +1.

[Gus37]

Originally Posted by 62burst

Looks like that will be a nice guitar for you. A friend had a '93. . . indeed, a real workhorse. Nice 'burst, nice bridge, . . . congrats!
ps- good to see yours received some white (?) tuner buttons. +1.

Thanks 62burst, it is surely beautiful. Glad to hear there are other good '93s out there too.

The previous owner had those white Gibson button tuners fitted recently. They're smooth and hold tune well. They replaced stock green tulip tuners.

[bobster7]

Beautiful Gibson, congratulations! It looks like a much chunkier and better neck than the majority of current J-45’s.

[Gus37]

Originally Posted by bobster7

Beautiful Gibson, congratulations! It looks like a much chunkier and better neck than the majority of current J-45’s.

Thanks bobster, I'm glad to have some meat on there. I was set on the new '50s original model for the chunkier neck but I think I did all right here.

[abn556]

Originally Posted by Gus37

Thanks abn556, I am enjoying the rich, warm, balanced sound it produces and the feel of the chunky neck. It's a beauty!

A good J-45 is hard to beat. If you haven’t considered it, ask your setup guy about swapping out the Tusq saddle for a bone saddle. I just replaced the saddle on a 2 month old Custom Shop J-45 and the luthier called me to say how much of an improvement he thought it made.

[Jim Owen]

That is indeed a beauty. My 90s J 50 quickly became my go to!

[Raj the Smiler]

That is a beauty!

[PassingThru]

Sweet! Make some music.

[LAPlayer]

Congratulations. It took me years to find a great (fantastic) J45. They can be magical. If yours sounds as good as it looks, you've got a real winner.

[zombywoof]

1993 was the year Bozeman reorganized how it classified their guitars. The J45 was placed in the Pro Series. While they did issue a Montana Special instrument every month that year, the J45 was as far as I know never accorded this treatment. So, it would appear to be a standard production run instrument. Variations such as the Historic and True Vintage models were still off in the future. The good news though is by 1993 Bozeman had dispensed with the paddle neck joint and in particular the Fullerplast finishes. With regard to James Wright, as these guitars were team built perhaps he did the final inspection of something.

By the way, I have played a J50 for a very long time. It turned 82 this year.