I've been interested in learning more about these guitars. I recently played a 1960 sunburst that's for sale for $3K. It appears to have had a less than stellar refret... because where each fret had been replaced the lacquer has been damaged on each side of the fret board. Also looks like it needs a fret filing. There has been a B string crack that as been repaired (I guess this is common). And there is pick wear on the front that has been treated to protect the wood. Normal checking and general play wear. It plays well and has a great sound but has that adjustable bridge which I'm not thrilled about. Anyway would love to hear thoughts as to whether this is a good deal or something to be leary of. Also played a stellar example of a '56 model in much better condition and of course much more expensive at $4.8K. Thanks for any input that you could give!

In my opinion the '60s Gibsons are very hit and miss. If you've played this one and it's a "hit", that's great. The ones I've played from that time period haven't done it for me at all but I know that AcousticDave has a mid-60s J-50 (I believe) that is reputed to be outstanding.

Pricewise, it seems to me that $3k for the one you're talking about might be a bit on the high side. I know Fred Oster has an early 60s J-45 that he claims to be the cleanest he has ever seen for $3250 ... and he's had it for a while.

My two cents,

This message has been edited. Last edited by: mwilkins,

Mike's right....very hit and miss. There are a lot of vintage instruments that make no sense right now....way overpriced...I put most 60's Gibsons in that group along with mid to late 70's Fenders and so much more. Gibson Montana reissues,with the exception of a few years,are so much better and consistent than 60's Gibsons although new Gibsons are pricey. I'd say a good bet right now is to buy a used "great" Montana Gibson that you like. See what the early 80's Fender Reissue 57/62 Strats are bringing today? I think the same is gonna happen to 80's/90's Montana Gibbys.

Hit and miss from any era, in my experience. Jewels to be had, if you are patient. Even the Montana shop turns out some keepers, but you must be selective.

I think Gibson is very rollercoaster with the sound quality of their guitars, definetly not as consistent as other makers. In my opinion the newer models, 2000 and up are a bit more toneful and consistent, but you still gotta find for the right one.

I posted this elsewhere around Christmas, but I bought my son a recent (2003 I believe ... can't remember right now) J-45 that is better than any post-1940s J-45 I have ever played. I'd been searching for the 'right' guitar as an upgrade for him for 6 months and had enlisted Kim Sherman in the task as well. We were about to give up when she got this one in.

Russ Barenberg took it home for a couple of days and very nearly kept it, apparently. Kim then told me that it was the best-sounding newish Gibson they had ever had and that our search was over.

They both were dead right.

A couple months after that I had a '43 Banner Head J-45 out on approval ($7k+) and it was not the equal of this one.

Granted this is likely 1 out of 1000, but people who know Gibsons do think that their quality in the past few years on the higher-end models has improved. It's still hit and miss but when you find a good one it's a GOOD one.

i've played a whole bunch of old j-45's and some new ones too. very spotty to say the least.

but a friend of mine became a gibson acoustic dealer and although i wrinkled my nose at it, some of the guitars he received as part of his first year's order were something special. the True Vintage J-45 he had out on display was nice but nothing to rave about. he did however have a pretty special one in the storeroom. once he took it out and i played it i could not leave the store without it.

if you find a good one- hold onto it. you never know when the next one will show up.

Well than that confirms what I heard back in 2002. Me and a couple other musician friends went to the Chicago Music Exchange, back when thy were located on Clark Street. They probably have the biggest inventory of old and new Gibsons in the Midwest, and there new location on North Lincoln is huge. Well we started pulling guitars off the wall and playing as many as we could. I ended up pulling down a J-50 and, "Oh my God", to this day i still think about that guitar. My buddy stopped playing and just stared and listened, he shook his head and asked if he could play it and he began to play "From the Beginning" by Emerson Lake and Palmer. He hugged the guitar and said it was the best sounding acoustic he had ever heard. I wish I would have bought it, but i had my heart so set on a Collings D2HA

I have a '64 J-50 with a changed-out bridge (old plastic one out...new ebony one in)... It's a very special guitar.

It's got an incredibly warm, round, sweet, big tone...It's not a banjo killer, it not an anything killer...it's a luvva. It definitely excels at the strummy / finger picking singer-songwriter thing…which happens to be my thing.

But anyone who plays or hears it raves about...even when it's in the company of high-end guitars, which it often is. The only negative to me is the neck is pencil thin...it's really uncomfortable for me to play although I get used to it after some playing time.

Sorry, but never heard any Collings sound this good...obviously 44 years has something to do with it...Is it one in a hundred or one in a thousand? I don't know. It's a humble crappy Gibson from the early-mid sixties that sounds like a million bucks. It is what it is.

They’re out there…

Dave

www.davemurphy.net
www.myspace.com/davemurphy

Hit or miss, maybe but in my experience guitar players are very territorial. I have friends that own and play Collings and think all other guitars are scrap wood. Another buddy owns 15 killer martins from the '40's, 50's and early '60's...he thinks collings play like tin cans...too heavy and made with todays inferior wood supply(though they are starting to build some models a bit lighter), and I gotta say I havent heard too many collings that can keep up with my buddies old martins. But I own a bunch of old martins too so maybe I'm being territorial. Of course my Martin owning friend also thinks all Gibsons are garbage.

I own a '46 j-45 and a '48 J-45. Two of the nicest guitars I have ever played and they have both converted my territorial Martin buddy and my territorial Collings buddy. So when I read on a Collings forum that Gibsons are spotty I take it with a very very very huge grain of salt.

Here is the take on J-45's, anything before 1955 is likely to be a killer guitar. Stay away from any Gibson with an adjustable bridge...killed the tone and unfortunately a lot of the '60's J-45's have that bridge. That said I have played some real nice Gibsons from the '60's but any experienced Gibson person would agree that '60's are spotty at best. Kind of like D-18's from the '70's..there were some nice ones made but ya gotta pick through the rubble to find them..

The '40s J-45's are getting pretty pricey (Thank you Matt Umanov) but you can probably find an early '50's J-45 in good shape for around the same price as a D1a. And, (this is me being territorial..I love my D1a but it can't hold a candle to my old J-45's...maybe some day when it's 60 + years old...but I'll be dead by then.

I recently had this conversation with a very large reputable Collings dealer...that my experience with my D1a (only mine, cant speak to all of them) (I apologize cause I posted this thougt elsewhere on this forum)...is it is a pretty bright guitar that kind of occupies the same sonic space as the mandolin and banjo in a bluegrass jam. Thus even though my D1a is loud, it does not distinguish itself in a bluegrass jam. The J-45's occupy a different and unique sonic space and really cut through a bluegrass jam cause they operate on a different frequency. The dealer agreed with me.

Guess ya gotta play them for yourself.



I own a 1946 J-45 and a 1948 J-45.

FWIW, I played a '57 J-45 last week that was absolutely outstanding. But again, you have to play 'em to know.

Acoustic Dave, et al. My first "real" guitar, bought after six months of woodshedding on a Sears Silvertone I got for my 18th birthday, January 1965, was a '64 J50. A friend still has it. I played it a couple years back, and it was great to see it again, but my CJA blew it into kindling by any criteria you'd care to construct. As far as older Gibsons, I've played a few dozen over the years, including J35/45/southern jumbos, and exactly one of them blew my ears back. It was a Recording King by Gibson, mahogany, as plain as plain gets, a neck like a 4x4, and a sound directly from heaven. It belonged to a early twenty-ish guitar student of mine in Jackson Hole. It was in her dad's closet, I think. We, or I, stopped the lessons since there was a certain kind of tension in the air that a forty year old married man does not need if he intends to stay married, which I did, and do. That guitar is the only one I've ever played that I'd even think of putting on the same level as the Alien. Just astonishing. It's the memory of that guitar, and my own history with the J50, that resulted in me pursuing, against all reason, that CJMhASBss varnish coming from Cotten. Someday. If I travelled a lot and could find one of those nuggets, maybe I'd do it. I concur with the prevailing wisdom that gibsons vary wildly in their qualities, both tonal and structural. But the best ones are hall of fame material, no doubt. tom