J45 wow!

[Octavian]

I've been looking at Martins, handmade UK luthiers, even Collings and I just played by chance a Gibson J45. I was amazed how good it was. I'm even thinking I will put up with the sunburst to own one. Are there any drawbacks with these guitars?

[guit30]

They do have one with a natural finish, if you don't like the sunburst, I like to see the wood

Jim

[telenate]

A couple years ago I tested both a Gibson J-45 (natural top) and a Gibson WM-45 (natural top) and went home with the WM-45. The WM-45 just sounded better that day.

 

I don't think there are any general drawbacks to a Gibson J-45. The sunbursts on Gibsons are generally considered excellent -- the size and shape of the round-shouldered dreads just feels the best to me.

 

Try as many as you can find. They are fine guitars.

[rh2d]

I think the J 45 is the best looking acoustic guitar made. I have wanted one at least 25 years and every store I go into that sells them I try every one they have out. I just can't find one with the tone I want. Someone told me once that I was looking for a Martin tone and that the Gibson won't have that. It's another tone completely. I don't know what to think of such a statement. A guitar should sound good. I like the looks so well I'm going to try out one of the Blue Ridges copies for awhile till something comes along. If you like that Gibson tone get it because you will be getting one of the best made guitars available. Maybe some day I will have one.

[Octavian]

Try the new rosewood version, that may have the sound you are looking for. I like the sound because it isn't like a Martin with all those earthy overtones.

[Veee number 2]

I've played a few over the years and I never was really impressed. That said, I just played one about 6 weeks ago that absolutley blew me away! It was spectacular!!! If I hadn't just bought the Les Paul for xmas, it would have come home with me.

Veee

[dmkkeng]

 

Originally posted by Tioga_Man I have a J-45. Sometimes, as a finger picker, I think that I really want one of those bell-like sounding guitars. Maybe a Taylor, Larrivee, or Martin. And (my wife says) I'll probably get one late this year. But I'm not trading in my J-45 to get a new guitar. I'd trade in my J-150 before my J-45. So..you have to know what you want and you have to try out guitars side by side to really know what you like. So maybe my answer is...no, within the Gibson line, there's no drawback to a J-45.

 

 

I'm trying to decide between the J100/J150/J200 series and the J-45, what is the difference between these guitars?

[gusfinley]

 

Originally posted by dmkkeng I'm trying to decide between the J100/J150/J200 series and the J-45, what is the difference between these guitars?

 

 

In general the J-45 is made of mahagony and the J-100/J150/J200 are made of maple, bubinga, or rosewood. J-45s also are built with roosewood and fancied up a bit for a few hundred dollars more. The J-45 is a "round shoulder" dreadnuaght style and the J100/150/200 are "Jumbo" style.

 

If you want a good tone that is between the J-100/150/200 and the J-45 see if you can find a J-185. Depends on the sound you are looking for- I played a bunch of Gibsons earlier this week and I noticed that the J-185 sounds a lot more tight and puchy than the other Jumbos. The J-185 is a little secret amoung Gisbon guitars. It is also a bit smaller than the other jumbos and costs less typically....

 

I own one of them and love to compare them to the guitars in the shops. I can happily say that guitar shops aren't as excting anymore becuase I know I can get better tone at home!! But thats just me...... you may want something

[Octavian]

The J45 and the J185 both have short scale lengths.

[Octavian]

Is the J45 good for finger picking or was it really built for strumming. I do 70% FP and 30% strumming. I would be great to hear your demo asap as I am thinking of trading my guitar for a J45, maybe tomorrow. I may be better off with a $5000 Collings OM (UK price) but its too much dosh.

[gusfinley]

Here is a sample recording I did with the J-185. It was recorded with no effects whatsoever and the mic position was DIRECTLY in front of the sound hole.

 

J-185 clip

[dmkkeng]

Originally posted by Tioga_Man I have a J-150 and a J-45. Big difference. The J-150 ws made for strumming and is heavy . The J-45 is built lighter and has opened up under some pretty light fingerstyle. My J-150 has some beautiful sounds...expecially capoed up (ironically)...but it's not a fingerpickers dream guitar because it takes alot to get the heavy structure moving. I got it because I was bass-deprived for many years, having only a thin body Washburn. (click on my pics below ). The J-150 does have bass response. Are you looking for a guitar to strum or fingerpick? Big audience requiring volume or (like me) an audience of one? In a few days or so, I'm going to record a comparison between the two and post on the sticky called Guitar Samples. I recorded with the J-150, capoed 4, in the short clip below (humble sig ditty) . With just fingers on the strings the attack is a bit subdued even with the maple. But I like the sound. There's a bigger sound that maybe I can capture if I can figure out how to strum with a pick.

 

I'm looking for guitar that I can both strum and fingerpick (audience of one) - I also like the bass response of the jumbo's - I'm looking forward to your comparison!

[dmkkeng]

 

Originally posted by gusfinley Here is a sample recording I did with the J-185. It was recorded with no effects whatsoever and the mic position was DIRECTLY in front of the sound hole. J-185 clip

 

 

I like the sound in the clip, I hadn't thought of the J-185 - there is also the J-160? Maybe the J-185 is a good compromise between the Jumbo series and the J-45's!

[guitarcapo]

J-185 is the most perfectly designed shape for tranmitting the frequencies that an acoustic guitar is typically tuned to.

Round bout, just the right size. It will handle fingerpicking, strumming, and flatpicking equally well.

[gusfinley]

 

Originally posted by dmkkeng I like the sound in the clip, I hadn't thought of the J-185 - there is also the J-160? Maybe the J-185 is a good compromise between the Jumbo series and the J-45's!

 

 

The J-160E is the acoustic guitar that John Lennon used. It seems to be similar to the J-45. I can't find much info on it on the gibson website. It seems to be smilimar shape and is made of Mahagony with a spruce top. The newer reissues have a spruce top while the original J-160E did not. I image that blackbird was probally recorded using this guitar - it you're wondering what the J-160E sounds like.......

[telenate]

 

Originally posted by gusfinley ... J-160E ... I image that blackbird was probally recorded using this guitar - it you're wondering what the J-160E sounds like.......

 

 

Even more likely it was McCartney's Epiphone Texan, right?

[gusfinley]

 

Originally posted by telenate Even more likely it was McCartney's Epiphone Texan, right?

 

 

Cool. Whatever it was it sounds great!!

[Octavian]

J45 and J150 Comparison

 

Thanks for doing that. Both jangly the 150 more so, is that the Gibson country sound?

I don't think a Martin would ever sound like that - more muffled.

J45 is better balanced with bit less bass and more mid slightly warmer highs. I guess that is the difference between maple and mahogany.

[mikeyen]

I have a J-50 that I absolutely love. Nice, big, woody sound. As far as I know, it's identical to the J-45 except for the cosmetics (natural finish, pickguard) - but somebody can correct me if I'm wrong.

 

-Mike

[Octavian]

The J50 does seem to be the same as the J45 but then so does the working man 45. Confusing.

[dmkkeng]

 

Originally posted by Octavian The J50 does seem to be the same as the J45 but then so does the working man 45. Confusing.

 

 

The WM-45 is just a stripped down version of the J-45, however I'm not sure about the J-50. Gibson doesn't do a very good job of explaining the differences between models!

[ES335guy]

I love my J-45..in fact I love all of Gibson's acoustics. My goal is to get one of every model, but that's pretty near impossible with my income. I take it to bluegrass jams and the old Martin diehards laugh. I'm only about 2 1/2 hours from the Martin factory, so this is definately Martin country. It holds it's own and usually get complements about how it sounds.