Gibson J-45's

[noisepolluter]

Possibly due to listening to far too much Bruce Sporkspoon, I do have a soft spot for J-45 type guitars, though when I went to try a new one it was rather stifled and boxy.

Any J-45 owners here - how do they play in, and how are they in the versatility stakes? I'm after a reasonable all-rounder - bit of strumming, bit of picking.

[jalapeno]

And he's off ..........

[noisepolluter]

And he's off ..........

Am I really that predictable?

[Estheroid]

Tee hee

[timmyo]

Talk to Lewy

I've dabbled in shops only on them and compared to similarly young (ie new in shop) acoustics they do sound a bit stiff. but like so many other things in life I think they need to be shown a stern hand and shown who's boss to get them behaving best

[timmyo]

p.s. gotcha : Grocer's " ' "

[bertie]

the boss is a confirmed Tak exponent now........even the ones that dont look like Taks are infact Taks....so Tim------------get a Tak as well

[timmyo]

the boss is a confirmed Tak exponent now........even the ones that dont look like Taks are infact Taks....so Tim------------get a Tak as well

Oi Gramps- get off the Christmas Sherry and re-read the thread - t'aint me buying

[Nick_S]

I found that with a lot of Gibsons you have to look long and hard to get a good one. I must have played 20 ES 335s before I found one that I liked. Like you I found the new J45 I tried to be quite stiff and boxy. Played against a Martin or Taylor there was a vast difference.

Nick

[Lewy]

the boss is a confirmed Tak exponent now........even the ones that dont look like Taks are infact Taks....so Tim------------get a Tak as well

Live, yes, but for recording it's old Gibsons

As for new J45s, the quality seems to be very consistent. I played about half a dozen when I got mine and there was nothing between them.

They do need a thorough playing in and they also respond better to a firm approach when playing. You can't tickle them and hope to get much out. They're best as strumming guitars although sound decent enough picked - I'd probably want something with a bit more space down at the nut if I was going to a lot of fingerpicking.

They basically do what they do very well, and that's sound like J45's. If you like that sound then that's what you want. I'm sure the money could get you something more versatile, but sometimes you want a machete, not a swiss army knife.