Yay! New Gibson Day.

For guitars of the straight waisted variety (or reverse offset).
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Larry Mal
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Re: Yay! New Gibson Day.

Post by Larry Mal » Fri Apr 05, 2019 4:10 am

This one is definitely flat sawn, what you look for is what they call the "cathedral arch":

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I think it looks very pretty.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

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Re: Yay! New Gibson Day.

Post by Larry Mal » Fri Apr 05, 2019 4:39 am

And this one is almost certainly quarter sawn:

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail ... sn10639004

So I have been assuming that Gibson used quarter sawn at some point and flat at another point in this guitar's history, but I guess that they are just using whatever. I didn't know anything about that when I was out looking, and probably wouldn't care a whole lot, but if I had my choice about it I would certainly pick the much stronger quarter sawn wood.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

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Re: Yay! New Gibson Day.

Post by Larry Mal » Fri Apr 05, 2019 7:42 am

I have the locking tuners on order, I have a new bone saddle arriving today, and I'll get some new bridge pins at some point.

I pulled the undersaddle transducer out from under the saddle. I'm going to do that to all my acoustics, I'll keep the stuff in there in case I sell one of these guitars, but I'll just tuck the electronics away inside the cavity of the guitar.

I pulled the electronics out completely from my J-45, and it made a tremendous difference. In fact, at first I didn't even like it it, the guitar opened up so much in the treble range that I was afraid I had ruined the cool dark and haunting quality that it can have. I didn't, though, but it took me experimenting with some strings (I ended up with John Pearse 80/20s).

For those who haven't thought much about it, an undersaddle pickup is a kind of a wire mesh that runs the entire length of the saddle cavity and then into the body of the guitar.

So, your saddle is nice bone and the vibrations of the string going to the bridge will help open up the top and ring out, but not if you have some stupid wire mesh in between the bone saddle and the wood of the bridge. What a dumb idea.

I'll be pulling that crap out of all my acoustics that have it- all the undersaddle LR Baggs stuff sounds horrible to me anyway. If I played out live I would deal with it but I don't, so it's just sucking up sound.

The reason I mention this is, when you go out to a guitar store and you pick up a Gibson, chances are very good that you'll have to imagine what the instrument can really be more than feel it. Chances are excellent that it will have a horrible setup with sky-high action, dead strings, a cheap saddle that you will want to pull out of there, and a crummy undersaddle pickup that might be dampening the sound quite a bit. I am also noticing that Gibson is not really oiling the fingerboards that I can tell- they come out dry as a bone.

That really threw me off the whole Gibson acoustic thing for years, I would play them in stores, and I just hated them. Finally I got that Dove from Maggie and that was set up pretty well, and I decided to learn how to set up my acoustics for the first time around then. I always thought it would be hard but it's easy. But that gave me the confidence to know that I could make a Gibson acoustic be other than the miserable thing I found in the guitar store- point being, if you think it sounds good in the store, just wait.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

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Re: Yay! New Gibson Day.

Post by Maggieo » Fri Apr 05, 2019 8:12 am

Larry Mal wrote:
Fri Apr 05, 2019 4:10 am
This one is definitely flat sawn, what you look for is what they call the "cathedral arch":

Image

I think it looks very pretty.
That's gorgeous.
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I am not an attorney and this post is for entertainment purposes only. Please consult a licensed attorney in your state for legal advice.

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Re: Yay! New Gibson Day.

Post by Maggieo » Fri Apr 05, 2019 8:14 am

Larry Mal wrote:
Fri Apr 05, 2019 7:42 am

That really threw me off the whole Gibson acoustic thing for years, I would play them in stores, and I just hated them. Finally I got that Dove from Maggie and that was set up pretty well, and I decided to learn how to set up my acoustics for the first time around then. I always thought it would be hard but it's easy. But that gave me the confidence to know that I could make a Gibson acoustic be other than the miserable thing I found in the guitar store- point being, if you think it sounds good in the store, just wait.
The best thing about that Dove, out of many great things, is that it's an acoustic guitar, and nothing more. No compromises. Mic it, mic your voice, Bob's yer Uncle.
“Now I am quietly waiting for/ the catastrophe of my personality/ to seem beautiful again.”- Frank O'Hara
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Re: Yay! New Gibson Day.

Post by Larry Mal » Fri Apr 05, 2019 8:26 am

Yeah, I'm glad to not have to pull any electronics out of that one.

I'm also trying out some new strings with the Dove. Typically, I've been a slob about strings, just buying D'Addario strings because they are cheap and work well. But I've been taking recommendations from other folks on the Acoustic Guitar Forum, and there's a gentleman there who turned me on to the John Pearse strings.

The John Pearse 80/20s will likely just become my default string, but this person suggested the JP Pure Nickel strings on maple guitars, so I gave that a shot. Not sure if I'm sold on that yet, I only got the strings on a couple days ago and they are still settling in. So far I think they sound fine, nothing too exceptional either way.

But, I did take the Dove back down to open C tuning. That's a big favorite of mine and has been for years, and I have to say the Dove shines with that tuning. As you know, the Dove has relatively subdued bass to it, and that means the low C string isn't booming out and flabby like it does on some other guitars. It's a lot of fun.
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Re: Yay! New Gibson Day.

Post by Maggieo » Fri Apr 05, 2019 8:44 am

Larry Mal wrote:
Fri Apr 05, 2019 8:26 am

But, I did take the Dove back down to open C tuning. That's a big favorite of mine and has been for years, and I have to say the Dove shines with that tuning. As you know, the Dove has relatively subdued bass to it, and that means the low C string isn't booming out and flabby like it does on some other guitars. It's a lot of fun.
I bet that sounds fantastic. If you make a recording with it, please post it!
“Now I am quietly waiting for/ the catastrophe of my personality/ to seem beautiful again.”- Frank O'Hara
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Re: Yay! New Gibson Day.

Post by tylerforyou » Fri Apr 05, 2019 9:25 am

That's a nice looking one, Larry. I had one a couple of years ago that I really liked. The pickguard griped me too though.

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Re: Yay! New Gibson Day.

Post by Larry Mal » Sun Apr 14, 2019 8:29 am

I got the J-15 set up yesterday for the first time, it's a winner. Loud and powerful guitar. With new strings on it, it's not the most subtle instrument. You know how some guitars you have to really dig in to get the sound popping out? Not this guitar, it's more work to get it to be pianissimo more than anything.

Works well for fingerpicking, I'd say that the guitar was more of an all rounder than a great fingerpicking guitar, though. Not that it's bad at it but it's not the guitar's specialty or anything.

Great with a flat pick, though. The sound is big and clear. You know how some acoustics get an almost "overdriven" kind of thing? This has that in spades, frankly it's almost too much but when the strings settle down I think that will change slightly.

Not as warm and dark as my J-45, not as versatile is what I'm feeling. This J-15 will probably be great for recording. It's an inspiring instrument, no doubt. Well worth what I paid for it and I'd recommend that anyone looking to get into a Gibson acoustic would do well to check one out.
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Re: Yay! New Gibson Day.

Post by Larry Mal » Sun Apr 14, 2019 9:03 am

Gibson Jumbos- collect 'em all, says Wow the Cat.

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Re: Yay! New Gibson Day.

Post by Larry Mal » Sun Apr 14, 2019 9:50 am

Maggieo wrote:
Fri Apr 05, 2019 8:44 am


I bet that sounds fantastic. If you make a recording with it, please post it!
Here you go, Maggie- here's your Dove.

I'll throw the usual caveats out there, this isn't like a song or anything, it's just something I hurried up and recorded in my apartment. I was just wanting to show you a little bit what your Dove sounds like in C tuning with the nickel strings and such. I'm not making any claims as to the playing or the recording or anything with this.
Last edited by Larry Mal on Sun Apr 14, 2019 11:25 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Yay! New Gibson Day.

Post by countertext » Sun Apr 14, 2019 10:17 am

I’ve had a J45 for, I don’t know, 15 or 16 years, and I pulled the electronics out. It made mine sound better, too. I didn’t keep the pickup, because pulling it out wrecked it. It was stuck in with some kind of adhesive.

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Re: Yay! New Gibson Day.

Post by Larry Mal » Sun Apr 14, 2019 11:34 am

Yeah, I just pulled the electronics from all my acoustics, and I broke one of them doing so. That's too bad, because I was going to sell it. But I aren't going to miss it.
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Re: Yay! New Gibson Day.

Post by Maggieo » Sun Apr 14, 2019 1:59 pm

Larry Mal wrote:
Sun Apr 14, 2019 9:50 am
Maggieo wrote:
Fri Apr 05, 2019 8:44 am


I bet that sounds fantastic. If you make a recording with it, please post it!
Here you go, Maggie- here's your Dove.

I'll throw the usual caveats out there, this isn't like a song or anything, it's just something I hurried up and recorded in my apartment. I was just wanting to show you a little bit what your Dove sounds like in C tuning with the nickel strings and such. I'm not making any claims as to the playing or the recording or anything with this.
Sounds fantastic, Larry! It's lively and punchy, with some real sparkle. Well done. :-*
“Now I am quietly waiting for/ the catastrophe of my personality/ to seem beautiful again.”- Frank O'Hara
I am not an attorney and this post is for entertainment purposes only. Please consult a licensed attorney in your state for legal advice.

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Re: Yay! New Gibson Day.

Post by Larry Mal » Sun Apr 14, 2019 5:36 pm

Thanks Maggie- I was trying some things with the recording. I have a stereo microphone that I don't get a lot of use out of, so I was using it on that. Not sure I really like it there a whole lot, but it was fun regardless.
Back in those days, everyone knew that if you were talking about Destiny's Child, you were talking about Beyonce, LaTavia, LeToya, and Larry.

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