Gibson '50s J-45 Original Review

It's a Winner!

I rarely buy brand new guitars, particularly via mail order. I have always wanted a J45, and I prefer a chunky neck, so this was a no-brainer for me. My sales rep Chris Lewis was very helpful throughout the process, which was my first guitar purchase from Sweetwater. The guitar plays and sounds great. I also have a pristine 1985 Martin HD-28. Two different animals altogether, yes,… read more and both excellent in their own ways, yes, but for me, the Gibson wins (e.g., the deep C neck shape is perfect, at least for me, and I think it adds something extra tonally to the guitar). Lastly, the wood and finish smell that emanates from the case when you open it is intoxicating (e.g., if they made it into a men's cologne, I would probably wear it on a daily basis).

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Electronics are a bummer

Love this guitar, after I took out the electronics and cut a new bone saddle for it. I definitely heard the sound open up after taking the piezo out. More importantly than that: the wiring harness BUZZED inside the guitar. Super annoying! Not how I want a new guitar to behave. I very much wish Gibson would offer more acoustics without pickups, especially on the original series stuff...… read more like they were ~originally~!

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Gotta love it

This is my "Holy grail". Everything about this guitar is what I've always wanted I was 13 when my buddy's Dad let me mess around with his for an hour or so. I was amazed at the playability and tone. The tone really got me. I wish I had more time to play. It makes you want to play. As most Gibson's do. The only change I made was putting Grover rotomatics on it. The strap tuners… read more had the vintage look but wouldn't stay in tune. No good to me if they don't stay in tune. Other than that ...... Its practically flawless.im looking forward to many beautiful sounding hours with this beautiful guitar.

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Gibson 50's J45

Im in love again! At first I thought I might have some issues with the thicker neck. Nope, I worked right through it! By the next day the neck felt PERFECT! Love the vintage look. It plays AMAZING! Great Tone, Sustain and Intonation!! Smooth as butter!

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Best Sound and Playability

Since I purchased this guitar I have not been able to put it down. I was a bit worried the neck would be too thick, however it sits just right in my hand, and the radius makes it very easy to play. The sound is bright with depth, very reactive to how I touch the strings. The ebony color is amazing up close, it will wear in beautifully over time. The tuning machines are solid… read more and look great in person giving it the vintage look, I expect the white knobs to turn over time to a more aged look, and I plan to keep this guitar until that happens. I did my own setup after purchase, sanded down the bridge a bit to lower the action and straighten out the neck. Otherwise great job Gibson and thank you Sweetwater for getting this baby to me safely.

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Outstanding guitar. I've got THE ONE

I've purchased this guitar two months ago and it has since become my main acoustic. Went for ebony finish/color as I already owned another acoustic in sunburst. A big THANK YOU to Adam Szmurlo for making my shopping experience at Sweetwater so enjoyable not only for this one, but for everything I've bought from Sweetwater over the years. There is a lot of talk on the web about… read more J-45s sounding all over the spectrum. Mine, however, is "the one". It has a very mellow and sweet tone, with rounded beautiful overtones (just the right amount) especially on the high register. The bass is tighter than Martin's but it *growls* if you dig in. Soft and sweet when finger picked, gorgeous punchy "overdriven" sound and growl when strummed hard (somehow reminding me of a nicely overdriven Les Paul). Never muddy. Now, you really have to love thick neck profiles (the 50's style) as this one has a full D-shape with quite wide shoulders. Even though I have a thick 50s neck on my Les Paul, it still took a bit of getting used to it. Initially I was concerned that the neck will become sticky while playing considering it was touching my entire palm and the finish is nitrocellulose (I had bad experiences with this combination in the past). Happily to report that that was NOT the case with this guitar. If anything, when my fretting palm sweated, it made the neck even slicker. So big kudos to Gibson for that, well done ! This model comes with bone nut and bone saddle (hooray !!!). Personally, I can't stand having those made out of plastic, especially on a $2,000+ guitar. The bridge pins however, are made out of tusq. It's certainly a personal preference, but I prefer bone instead of tusq. While tusq adds slightly more overtones (which I don't think this guitar needs anyway), it does so at the expense of suppressing its "growl" and diminishing its "punch" and sustain. So I've replaced mine. The frets seems to have been plek-ed nicely :-) and there were no protruding frets at the edge (very smooth edges). The action was sky high though, and I believe that to be intentional so that the future owner can lower it to his/her satisfaction. For me, the factory setup was close to unplayable therefore I made a new bone saddle and lowered the nut slots to get the action to where I liked it. Every new guitar should have a setup done to match the owner's playing style, so that kind of work was expected. I mostly play this guitar unplugged but the few occasions I plugged it in, it sounded good to me. In conclusion, I am thrilled to own this acoustic legend with a phenomenal tone true to its name, and looking forward to many years of joy playing it.

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First Gibson

This guitar is my first Gibson and I am impressed. I have multiple Martin (standard series, both 18 and 28 style) along with other acoustics. But this guitar with its fat neck and short scale make it a joy to play. The electronics are pretty decent and it sounds great unplugged. Craftsmanship isn't Martin or Taylor, but I think that is done on purpose. It seems like a rugged guitar.… read more I cant wait for it to age and look and sound better ;)

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Great sounding guitar

I recently acquired this guitar and I've playing it for a few months now. Traded a Martin 000-18e for it and was very hesitant to do so. Like any other acoustic, it's up to you and your own preferences as to whether you'll like the guitar. This guitar sounds fantastic. It's the first Gibson I've ever owned and frankly, I didn't think I'd grow to like the thicker neck. But now,… read more I do like it. This guitar is definitely more beautiful in person than on a website, and again, it sounds better than it looks. The LR Baggs electronics are fantastic too. They're very simply and it's a pumping little pre-amp. If I had any critiques it would be the tuning machines. I'm not as big a fan of the attempt at staying vintage as some would be. These particular tuning keys tend to drop out of tune more than some of my other guitars. So, I feel like I'm constantly checking tuning when on stage. I may end up buying the newer Gibson machines to put on it. All in all, I do love this guitar. It has amazing looks and sound.

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