Saturday is for shopping - some quick off-the-cuff reviews

[Steve DeRosa]

We had early-AM business today that took us into the vicinity of some well-stocked music stores - here's a few highly-subjective (and brief) hands-on reviews (YMMV as always):

Gibson J-15: never played one before, got the chance to play no less than four today, including A/B auditions against a couple J-35's and J-45's; IMO they've got a clear winner here - only other production slope dread I've ever played that was in in the same ballpark was an early-2K's AJ. I was particularly impressed by their consistency - four different guitars in two different stores, and only the most subtle variations between each - as well as their tone, to my ears the very definition of the "Gibson sound"; by comparison I found the -45's (two) to be dull and lacking in character, and the -35's edgy and brash...

Taylor GS Mini: A/B'd a hog-top and a RW Mini-e, the latter with some unbelievably striking grain - looked more like Macassar than EIR. While I've become an uber-fan of all-hog guitars in recent years (and the hog-top Mini didn't disappoint in any way), there was something almost magical in this particular rosewood model: clarity, sparkle, balance, and depth that reminded me of my far-pricier Avalon mini-jumbo - and only the fact that I'm thinning out my acoustic stable in favor of some updated electric gear kept me from walking out with this one in tow...

2015 Gibson SG Studio: Haven't had an SG guitar in my stable for over twenty years and the price was right, so I thought I'd check it out as a potential companion to my SG RI bass. Quite frankly, this one was as dismal as the J-15's were outstanding; even with the E-Tune-ectomy (they retrofitted them with nickel Grover Rotomatics) the whole package was all wrong, and I wouldn't have it at half the price - probably be looking at one of the new mini-bucker SG Specials...

Washburn R314KK: Saw some guy at a local open-mic with what appeared to be the same model and it sounded pretty good, so I figured I'd give this one a shot. I understand they've developed a bit of a following among Civil War re-enactors; although slightly anachronistic to the trained eye, they do capture the vibe of a mid-19th century guitar with reasonable accuracy. This one clearly didn't cut the mustard, though: thin. weak, tinny, dynamically constricted - and had they been available 150 years ago, Henry Wirz probably would have played one to torture the Union POW's at Andersonville...

Gianinni Nylon Craviola: Haven't played one of these since about 1972-73, and I remembered why I liked them then (and now): simply put, they have a unique tone that nothing else can duplicate - and they're among the best-sounding lower-end acoustics out there. They'd do well to thin out the heavy, plasticky finish however - the old ones didn't have it, and if the new model sounded this good will all that goop on the body, try to imagine how it would sound with the far-lighter early-70's finish...

Squier Bass VI: If I didn't already have my eye on a couple of nice used tube amps at stupid-cheap prices (gotta run them by the chief accountant first) I would have definitely walked out with this one. I've heard several stories of inconsistency - neck issues, lousy hardware, et al.; if so, this must have been one of the good ones - great action up/across the neck, and sounds just the way I remember from any one of a number of old recordings. The only thing I'd do is replace the tailpiece with a locking USA unit, and switch the strings to LaBella flats - instant time trip back to 1963, and one of these is definitely high on my must-have list for the not-too-distant future...

[billyg]

Nice reviews. Thanks.