Riverman
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Post by Riverman on Jan 27, 2018 20:28:43 GMT
geddarby has been hankering after a sunburst slope shouldered Gibson for some time, but as a 12 fret neck aficionado his choices were virtually non existent. A couple of of months ago I spotted a used custom shop 12 fret Advanced Jumbo at Reidys in Blackburn - an excellent shop with the scale of a PMT or Guitarguitar, but the feel of a family business (which indeed I believe it is). The guitar had an Adirondack top and a factory fitted Baggs Lyric pickup, and was in excellent condition - the only slight visual kink being that the action had been lowered by shaving the bottom of the (long) saddle rather than the top, meaning it sat a little short of the ends of the saddle slot in the bridge. No big deal really, and easily remedied, if required, by having a new saddle made. Here it is: Anyway I mentioned it to Ged and he rang them up, but it looked like it had gone. I happened to call in Reidys while passing this week, and there it still was - it seemed there’d been a misunderstanding, and it had been there all along. Long story short (now where have I heard that expression before... ), we paid a visit to Reidys this morning for him to try it. I think it’s safe to say, as evidenced by the rather smug look on his face in the photo, that he liked it... The main acoustic guitar guy at Reidys is Richard, who is no mean player himself - as his posts here under the handle fretnot will attest. He couldn’t have been more accommodating, making us some excellent coffee, restringing the guitar without a second thought, and coming up with a price that almost made me shove Ged out of the way in order to thrust my own credit card into the chip & pin thingy. But Ged had first dibs on it, so it went home with him and I’m sure they’ll be very happy together. Current Gibson build quality is, as we all know, a little erratic, but this is a special guitar. It’s really hard to take photos of sunburst guitars but below are a few close ups I managed to blag. Happy NGD Ged!
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Post by robmc on Jan 27, 2018 20:37:38 GMT
Wowsers! Great pictures, Ged looks a very happy man, congrats geddarby!
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Post by andyhowell on Jan 27, 2018 20:40:14 GMT
Ged looks a very happy man ;-)
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Post by geddarby on Jan 27, 2018 22:51:10 GMT
Well as you can see I owe Riverman big time a) for spotting the guitar b) for telling me about it c) for taking the trouble to accompany me, we all know how vital another body is when assessing a guitar to avoid being carried away in the heat of the moment d) for the photographs and succinct synopsis of our morning I have had a very busy day and not really had the opportunity to sit down and start to get to know the instrument However as you can see I am a happy chap and looking forward opening up that adirondack Soundboard.
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ocarolan
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Post by ocarolan on Jan 27, 2018 23:52:52 GMT
Brilliant! Congrats Ged - I hope that one will be coming to Halifax!
Keith
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Phil Taylor
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Post by Phil Taylor on Jan 28, 2018 10:57:31 GMT
That looks a beauty. Congratulations geddarby I keep thinking about visiting Reidy's - do they leave you in peace to play what you want? I assume it's a 12 fret version of the Advanced Jumbo? My book 'Gibsons Fabulous Flat-Top Guitar's, an illustrated history and guide (1994)' says they hit the market in 1936 but it doesn't mention any 12 fret versions. Is it a custom or a special edition or something?
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Martin
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Post by Martin on Jan 28, 2018 10:58:12 GMT
Lovely guitar, Ged. I miss my AJ, such beautiful big guitars. Enjoy it
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Post by Cams on Jan 28, 2018 11:23:52 GMT
Gorgeous guitar. Congratulations!
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Post by lavaman on Jan 28, 2018 12:01:18 GMT
It must be really good for you to look so smug. Well done. Looking forward to playing it on Wednesday.
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Wild Violet
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Post by Wild Violet on Jan 28, 2018 12:02:47 GMT
Wow, I am so pleased for you! It eases some of the guilt I had for taking Richard's Gibson away...
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007
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Post by 007 on Jan 28, 2018 12:26:18 GMT
Nice one Ricardo
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Riverman
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Post by Riverman on Jan 28, 2018 12:51:53 GMT
That looks a beauty. Congratulations geddarby I keep thinking about visiting Reidy's - do they leave you in peace to play what you want? I assume it's a 12 fret version of the Advanced Jumbo? My book 'Gibsons Fabulous Flat-Top Guitar's, an illustrated history and guide (1994)' says they hit the market in 1936 but it doesn't mention any 12 fret versions. Is it a custom or a special edition or something? Yes Phil, there's no problem with over attentive teenage shredder shop assistants here. In fact Richard made Ged's day by saying that his singing reminded him of Kelly Joe Phelps. If you do go, tell Richard you're a friend of mine and promptly get thrown out.
The Gibson custom shop in Bozeman, Montana has made 12 fret versions of the AJ, the Southern Jumbo and the J45 over the last few years. As far as I know there's no historical precedent for any of these models, so they won't be mentioned in that book (I have it too, it's excellent). I played a 12 fret SJ somewhere (Coda I think) and it was very nice. There's a 12 fret J45 on the wall at Dawsons in Manchester at the moment - I haven't played it, but for me it's the least successful of the three in terms of aesthetics. The 14 fret J45 is such a classic, I don't think it should be messed about with. Ged's new guitar looks, plays and sounds great to me. Although it's long scale (we measured it) it doesn't feel it. That, and the fact that it has rosewood b&s, means it doesn't of course sound like a J45 (short scale, mahogany) but nor does it sound like the 14 fret AJ I used to own. It's somewhere in between, with a pronounced bass that's nicely in balance with the mids and trebles but without that thumpy, dry woodiness in the lower registers that you get from a J45. It also suits Ged's voice very well, which is an important factor when you sound like Kelly Joe Phelps...
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Riverman
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Post by Riverman on Jan 28, 2018 13:12:00 GMT
While we're talking Gibson, just thought I'd post a photo of what was once my collection. Only the 1935 L-00 on the left survives, though Wild Violet may recognise one of the others...
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Post by geddarby on Jan 28, 2018 13:55:13 GMT
Many thanks to you all for your kind comments. This has been an interesting little journey for me as I didn’t need another guitar I just wanted one, which theoretically should have been a short scale 00 sized mahogany bodied 12 fret. Before going into the shop I wasn’t necessarily going to buy anything but just enjoy being in a pleasant environment surrounded by nice toys. I knew that they had two guitars in stock that I wanted to play which were promptly retrieved for me once the staff had located a ladder that was tall enough. After about a minute with this long scale rosewood jumbo I knew that I DID in fact need another guitar and this was it. I can recommend a visit to Reidys as the shop has a wide range of good quality instruments, good facilities for trying them and helpful but not overbearing staff. @ocaralan I certainly intend to bring it to Halifax Wild Violet please don’t feel guilty just keep enjoying the J45 Phil Taylor it is a custom guitar and Richard has given a good potted history of the various Gibson jumbo adaptations lavaman you may look at the guitar on Wednesday but I’m not sure about letting you play it! Riverman thanks. Ged
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Riverman
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Post by Riverman on Jan 28, 2018 14:04:59 GMT
Who are you geddarby and what have you done with Kelly Joe Phelps?
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