Advice on buying a Gibson J-45

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by TBman

J-45's are great, I'm planning on buying one for a retirement present for myself in 5 years. In the meantime, to satisfy my Gibson GAS I may buy a J-15 this summer. Walnut back and sides, great tone, it still has the J line tone but with a touch of sparkle. No burst. About $800-$900 cheaper than a J-45. Something to think about. The J-15 is Gibson's sleeper.

Added this for your review:

Also, audition a Gibson J-35 with its Advanced X-Brace. The J-35 is kind of like a cross between a J-45 and an Advanced Jumbo. The J-35 is short-scaled and mahogany and spruce like a J-45 but with the Advanced Jumbo's Advanced X-Bracing. From what I gather, the J-35, with its 1930s vibe, was the first short-scale, slope-shouldered dreadnought model Gibson brought out in 1936 following the earlier and larger Jumbo Hawaiians and Smecks.

[Humbuster]

Going to play several J45s this morning at my local dealer.

All this talk of 2016 models is making me curious.

[Davis Webb]

The element pickup is not really bad, I quite like it. I wouldn't tear it out of the guitar until you have had a chance to play it plugged in a lot. I do not think it affects tone.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by Davis Webb

The element pickup is not really bad, I quite like it. I wouldn't tear it out of the guitar until you have had a chance to play it plugged in a lot. I do not think it affects tone.

The LR Baggs Element is okay, as is, but I find it works quite well and sounds much better with a Fishman Aura pedal loaded with downloaded J-45 Aura Images.

[Rmz76]

Originally Posted by SpruceTop

The LR Baggs Element is okay, as is, but I find it works quite well and sounds much better with a Fishman Aura pedal loaded with downloaded J-45 Aura Images.

In my exchanges with LR Baggs a few years back the support tech let it slip that Gibson was planning to make the LR Baggs Lyric pickup the stock pickup system to replace the Element.. I know it was a slip because he followed up with an e-mail saying "please don't share that info... It's not been officially announced yet and we'd like to let Gibson make that announcement". Well that didn't happen, probably because the Lyric turned out to be more of a less feedback prone version of the iBeam than something revolutionary.... The Lyric did end up the stock pickup on a few limited models (e.g. 2014 J-45 Donovan) but for 2016 Gibson finally decided to upgrade the J-45 Standard stock to LR Baggs latest UST. Going strong for 16+ years now, Gibson still loves the Piezo. While it's not the best choice for accurate tone reproduction, it is probably the best choice for playing an acoustic on stage with all the noise of a full band.

Removing the stock system would be chore. You'd have to replace the saddle and the jack with a end-pin. The Active Element system isn't invasive really. The few wires involved are secured along the top or sides the guitar. I'd leave it in.

[loco gringo]

Originally Posted by Matters

To everyone saying the TV and 2016 Vintage model are superior to the standard - I agree this might be the case on paper but I just want to reiterate that Gibson is soooooo different from one guitar to another. I just played a 2016 Vintage model which wasn't as good sounding to me as a standard 45 and 35 that were in the store as well.

That being said, the best J-45 variants I have ever played were, in order:
- Sheryl Crow SJ - That I own.
- A specific True Vintage
- A specific J-45

The 2016 vintage i played a couple days ago didn't come close to any of these three.

When it comes to Gibson, PLAY BEFORE YOU BUY!

Matt

What's up with the Sheryl Crow model? I had never seen one in person before. I have been playing J45's for a couple of months now, standards, customs, and 2016 Vintage. I went to a store 2 days ago to play the J45 Vintage that I called and asked if they had. There was a Sheryl Crow model right next to it. It blew me away.

I played the J45 Vintage that I went to look at, a J45 standard, a J45 Custom, and a J29. Then I picked up the SC and hit a chord. I went what the h*** is this guitar? The SC was by far the best guitar in the bunch, to my ears. I even had someone else play them so I could hear them from in front. No contest. I went back the next day and played them again. Same result. I had to buy it.

[Matters]

Originally Posted by loco gringo

What's up with the Sheryl Crow model? I had never seen one in person before. I have been playing J45's for a couple of months now, standards, customs, and 2016 Vintage. I went to a store 2 days ago to play the J45 Vintage that I called and asked if they had. There was a Sheryl Crow model right next to it. It blew me away.

I played the J45 Vintage that I went to look at, a J45 standard, a J45 Custom, and a J29. Then I picked up the SC and hit a chord. I went what the h*** is this guitar? The SC was by far the best guitar in the bunch, to my ears. I even had someone else play them so I could hear them from in front. No contest. I went back the next day and played them again. Same result. I had to buy it.

The SCSJ is the best modern guitar I have ever played. Has that dry, crisp, full, classic Gibson sound. Amazing instrument and not very common. Enjoy your new guitar.

Matt

[nbrue]

My vote is the 2016 J-45 Vintage...but thats because I own one haha. I was also on the hunt for a J-45 and tried out a ton of the different versions. I was kind of in the same boat as you in preferring one without electronics since I have another acoustic with electronics I can use, and also didn't like the look/style of the tuners on a lot of the different versions. For me the 2016 Vintage ended up being the one I liked to best. It just seemed to play the best (actually the easiest to play out of my 3 acoustics), sounded the best, had the specs I wanted, etc., and as an added bonus has a fat C neck very similar to my R9 which actually put it over the top for me since I like bigger necks on my guitars. I don't know if all the 2016 Vintages have fat necks so I might have lucked out with mine since most J-45's in general seem to have thinner necks. They are expensive though. I got a ridiculously killer deal so that helped sway me, but also when buying expensive guitars I try to only buy ones that I would be happy keeping forever and then basically justify that cost over the length of my life. Not that I always end up keeping them forever haha, but I at least try to go in with that mindset and make sure that I am getting the best example of whatever guitar I buy. As everyone else said though, obviously try before you buy, or get from a place with a good return policy if you can't try it first. And also like others said, sometimes the most expensive isn't the best one of the bunch. My wallet wishes that happened to me more often haha.

[SFCRetired]

Buy a Martin D/HD-28.


Just kidding, slow day

[MissouriPicker]

Here's my J45TV at a gig.. And "Yes," all Gibsons are different from each other. They are made that way. They are not cookie-cutter guitars. Why would anyone want their guitar to sound like the one that was hanging next to it?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tomhhEXsx2o

[nedray]

I've been looking at a J-45 TV lately. Sounds great, but those coveted white-button vintage tuners are almost useless. Really not good. Then I played a Collings CJ short scale the other day. For the difference in money, a much better sounding and playing guitar. Check one out if you can.

[SpruceTop]

Originally Posted by nedray

I've been looking at a J-45 TV lately. Sounds great, but those coveted white-button vintage tuners are almost useless. Really not good. Then I played a Collings CJ short scale the other day. For the difference in money, a much better sounding and playing guitar. Check one out if you can.

I believe every short-scale guitar should have a tuner gear ratio of at least 18:1 and be smoother-operating than the Kluson-style 14:1/15:1 tuners Gibson puts on their older-type guitar models.

[Dryfly]

Simple fix with ebony knobs & black bushings & washers.

[TBman]

Originally Posted by SFCRetired

Buy a Martin D/HD-28.


Just kidding, slow day

Actually, owning a HD-28 and a J-45 would be guitar heaven to me

[Jamesj45]

Hello Everyone:

I recently purchased a 2016 J45 Standard and am disappointed. The issues are:

1. Horrible overtones on the B and E strings on open chords ex: G chord.
2. Guitar does not stay in tune.
3. When I fingerpick a chord as in a D chord while playing the John Prine song Souvenirs, There is terrible plunk, plunk, boink, boink sound when backpicking the D note on the B string.

I don't even want to play it anymore. The store from where I purchased the guitar say things like 1. No one guitar can be all things to all players. 2. It take time for the guitar to settle in. 3. There is no problem with the guitar. 4. My style of playing is causing the awful sounds. 5. the action would have to be raised so high to get the sound I want that it would be almost unplayable... come on! 6. Have I tried using different strings?e.g.medium strings which I did try but they were too hard to play.

The guitar is being sent back to Gibson in Canada. I went to a different guitar store and rented the same guitar for a week and that guitar sounded very nice. There were no overtones and the strings stayed in tune although the boink, boink sound was still there. Any comments from dissatisfied 2016 Gibson J45 users? How should I proceed if I am not happy when the guitar is returned from Gibson? Any comments would be most appreciated. James in Ottawa.