J45

terada · January 2019

Just wanted to say they can be utterly brilliant.

Currently rehearsing for a rare acoustic gig with my J45, so have been running it into the PA etc and it has been perfect.

Such a great tone. I always thought I preferred the typical martin dread tone, but it turns out all these years the acoustic tone in my head was a J45.

Its just 'right'.

Sorry for the gushing post

DB1 · January 2019

Funnily enough I've just bought one, a 1985 90th Anniversary (78 of 90 produced) with the fancy inlays and 'The Gibson' logo on the headstock. It's nice, but I've been gassing for a used Atkin 'The Forty-Three' though and one came up a few days ago, so I'm having that (unseen, I must admit)

My thought was to move the J45 on, but I'm not sure how different the tone is going to be on the '43'.

NorthernGooner · January 2019

DB1 said:

Funnily enough I've just bought one, a 1985 90th Anniversary (78 of 90 produced) with the fancy inlays and 'The Gibson' logo on the headstock. It's nice, but I've been gassing for a used Atkin 'The Forty-Three' though and one came up a few days ago, so I'm having that (unseen, I must admit)

My thought was to move the J45 on, but I'm not sure how different the tone is going to be on the '43'.

Enjoy your Atkin '43 mate..... I've had mine since 2015. Great guitar.

DB1 · January 2019

NorthernGooner said:

DB1 said:

Funnily enough I've just bought one, a 1985 90th Anniversary (78 of 90 produced) with the fancy inlays and 'The Gibson' logo on the headstock. It's nice, but I've been gassing for a used Atkin 'The Forty-Three' though and one came up a few days ago, so I'm having that (unseen, I must admit)

My thought was to move the J45 on, but I'm not sure how different the tone is going to be on the '43'.

Enjoy your Atkin '43 mate..... I've had mine since 2015. Great guitar.

Cheers - the J45/43 GAS came about because I'm a big Buddy Holly fan and it was sod's law that 2 days after I picked the J45 up (from Sound Affects Premier in Ormskirk) the '43' appeared in the same bloody shop! I'd like to keep both (if finances allow) but I'm assuming that they're going to be reasonably similar in tone and function.

Chris_J · January 2019

I've only ever played 1 j45 and it just didn't do it for me, at least compared to my D18. It's a shame as I was hoping to love it. I know they can sound great too as countless recordings have demonstrated.

peteri · January 2019

I've got a old J45 (65), sounds great when you play it - absolutely amazing when you hear someone else, the projection is a joy.

Only acoustic I need/want

Strat_a_tat_tat · January 2019

Chris_J said:

I've only ever played 1 j45 and it just didn't do it for me, at least compared to my D18. It's a shame as I was hoping to love it. I know they can sound great too as countless recordings have demonstrated.

There's a lot of mediocre (or worse) J45s out there. Have to play a few to find a good one.

Andy79 · January 2019

I’ve played a few and haven’t been blown away. I wish someone would hand me a good one and say THIS is how they should sound.
So hard to find a shop within a decent distance that has a handful to try.
I still stand by my thing that for a truly great Gibson you need to spend 3k
Clearly by some posts here that isn’t the case for everyone

CloudNine · January 2019

Definitely my favourite style. These are my only two acoustics now. A long list of Collings, SCGC, Bourgeois, Goodall, Lowden, Brook, Martin, all now gone!!

DB1 · January 2019

So would you say that the Atkin and J45 SHOULD be comparable in terms of sound, feel, etc? I hear only good things about the Atkin and am quite excited by it.

@CloudNine - that's bloody lovely, by the way.

CloudNine · January 2019

Cheers @DB1 It's 2 different guitars. They are wildly different in feel and sound, which is hard to believe by looking at them and considering both are mahogany, with adi tops, etc.

The top one (J45 Legend) is a bit of a looser feeling guitar, visibly much lighter braced on the back which seems to make a big difference in sound and feel. You can feel the back vibrate a lot and that is defo part of the sound. Massive round neck on it.

The bottom one (1934 Original Jumbo re-issue) is much louder, more punchy. Very slightly longer scale at 25". Back is heavier braced. No taper on the body. Massive soft V neck. Very wide string spacing at the bridge.

DB1 · January 2019

Interesting that - I have a fairly pronounced V on my 1938 ES-150, but very comfortable, and a soft V on my 1994 Blues King, again, very comfortable. Yours look sensational!

Andy79 · January 2019

I tried out a Jumbo re issue couple of months ago. I loved it but it was leagues above my budget. It was like being allowed to burn a 911 around the block

CloudNine · January 2019

DB1 said:

Interesting that - I have a fairly pronounced V on my 1938 ES-150, but very comfortable, and a soft V on my 1994 Blues King, again, very comfortable. Yours look sensational!

Yeah, seem to get on well with any Gibsons with a V, have an ES175 with a lovely soft V profile as well, but any time have used a Martin with a V, especially their large Mod V. it has given me a pain in the back of my hand. Used to have a great D18V, but had to sell it due to the pain. It isn't that it was big, the Gibbo's above are both bigger, must be something in the profile.

terada · January 2019

Andy79 said:

I’ve played a few and haven’t been blown away. I wish someone would hand me a good one and say THIS is how they should sound.
So hard to find a shop within a decent distance that has a handful to try.
I still stand by my thing that for a truly great Gibson you need to spend 3k
Clearly by some posts here that isn’t the case for everyone

I was in the same position when I went out looking for mine. In the end I tried every J45 in the south east over a period of about a month, maybe longer, and when I played mine, it had to come home with me.

What I've come to realise with the tone of my J45 is that its more akin to the acoustic tone I've generally heard on albums. Which I guess makes sense as it is supposedly the most recorded acoustic.

Mine is just a standard Montana J45 from 2018. Just a standard spruce (not adi), and not custom or torrified or anything special.

But blimey does it sing.

p90fool · February 2019

Maybe it's just me, but a run-of-the-mill J35 seems to get much closer to my idea of that elusive J45 tone than your average J45 does.
I never thought I could afford that sound until I tried one.

guitargeek62 · February 2019

DB1 said:

Funnily enough I've just bought one, a 1985 90th Anniversary (78 of 90 produced) with the fancy inlays and 'The Gibson' logo on the headstock. It's nice, but I've been gassing for a used Atkin 'The Forty-Three' though and one came up a few days ago, so I'm having that (unseen, I must admit)

My thought was to move the J45 on, but I'm not sure how different the tone is going to be on the '43'.

Keep me posted on the forty-three please, they've only come onto my radar recently and I'm quite in love already!

DB1 · February 2019

Yes, I'm quite excited about it - I'm assuming that the tone is designed to be similar to a J45, so that will be interesting/

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