Gibson J 200
Presented here is one of the flagships from the Gibson company:
the J200. This one dates from 1996 and is equipped with an
X bracing. Furthermore AAA class Sitka spruce top and the
back is figured maple as are the sides. Hardware is gold-plated
and luckily the adjustable bridge and inner brace reinforcement
tone killer of the sixties is gone. The concept still works to my
ears as this instrument has a deep voice with beautiful brilliance
of the higher notes which separate nicely as well so fingerpicking
goes along with strumming on this instrument.
As history replaces the focus especially for younger
players to "younger" instruments.Times weren't always
well for Gibson as quality control suffered at certain stages.
We only have to think of the seventies where a lot of
instruments didn't do justice to the Gibson name though
there are always exceptions. Noteworthy is for me the
lesser degree of spraying on the instruments of the last
decade. I must say: This instrument has no flaws in its'
laquer. The inner woodwork is immaculate as well.
My only critics go to the somewhat roughly finished
top nut which causes the guitar to get out of tune too
easily. But that can be fixed!
The somewhat older style headstock: Simple but so gracefully.
Note the plain truss rod cover. Sometimes it says: Standard.
A nice shot of the Grovers who carefully copied the older
well known Klusons that were in fact quite mediocre!
But the style as a whole already was there! These ones
do the job! Compared to the instruments of the sixties /
seventies the edges all around the instruments of these
times are somewhat sharper. No problem but I digged the
old way of working more. Machines took over a lot of
jobs formally executed by the workforce. That results
in a more even kind of quality but it lacks a bit the
personality the older instruments tend to have.
Gibson LG1
The LG-series guitars of the mid sixties were fitted with
a sort of plastic bridge that more than often came off after
a while. On this guitar the bridge has been replaced with a
rosewood one. The head was cracked and had been
repaired but still this guitar sounds great for Blues.
This guitar has been refinished. The back and neck are made out of mahogany. This LG1 guitar has a
spruce top with ladder bracing while the LG 0 type
of guitar has an all mahogany soundbox.
I knew there was some repair work on the head that broke
during transport to Europe. I've kept this one for myself
and sold the undamaged one as in fact there came 2 LG1
guitars from the USA to the Netherlands.
They partly used the original headstock but I figured it
to be a lot of work to have that properly done so I made
a headstock myself. Fine tuning of this reparation only
happens after the gluing work needed.
I wanted some glue surface and besides that extra wood
glued on both sides. That should do the job to my opinion.
I left some space for a kind a veneer layer on both
back and front of the head. Just to cover things nicely.
Yet unfinished but already glued. Shown here is the
back of the head.
Here the pictures from both sides. The front also
provided with a layer.
And to have the original number back on the headstock
is a must to my believe. This guitar dates from 1967.
I recoloured the neck as well with a waterbased stain
that works very well. You can order it in a small sachet.
The original Gibson logo was lost of course but you
can order a time period correct label at different places.
After sticking it to the head some layers of varnish are
protecting it. and making everything flush is the
final move. Again a guitar for a lifetime!
No comments:
Post a Comment