Couple of different things... Very different

SG John

SG John

Ambassador of Cool Guitars and Amps.
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Since there have been a bunch of NGD threads, I thought I would finally do one for a couple of guitars that have ended up in a couple of different threads here and there.

After my birthday in February, I went to my favorite guitar store up in Keene, NH looking for an acoustic that I could plug in. After getting my Martin, I have really enjoyed playing an acoustic guitar, as I never had a nice one before now. Retro had a few different Gibson, Martin, and Taylor acoustics with onboard preamps and stuff like that listed on their website and G-Base inventory. Off to Keene I went on a week day off. When I walked in, Jeff the owner was actually there along with his longtime cohort, Doogle.

We started chatting, and Jeff pulled out a 1936 Gibson L-50 that just came in on a trade. It had a professional repair to the back of the body, but otherwise played and sounded beautifully. Now, I was in a bit of a state of "what do I do now?" I have always thought it would be nice to have a beautiful arch top. An L-5 would be way out of my budget, and I thought maybe an ES-120 or ES-150 similar to the "Charlie Christian" guitar would be cool. But, as over the top awesome this guitar is, it can not be plugged in.

So, I started looking at other stuff Jeff had hanging on the racks. He had a Taylor AD17e Blacktop hanging on the rack, and asked him about it. It's one of the Pacific series guitars, and made in California. Similar to the Gibson faded series with a satin finish, and a few other shortcuts. It still has the same Expression System 2 electronics as their high end guitars. After playing it a bunch, I found out that I really liked that guitar too, and it filled the purpose of a guitar that I wanted at the time.

So, next I asked him what a package price might be for the two guitars. He hit me with what I thought was a very good price. So, handed over some dead presidents, and took them home. I've had them for a little over two months, and have really enjoy how nice they are to play. I've always wanted a nice acoustic. Never knew that I'd actually have three. So, instead of buying one nice high end acoustic, I walked out with two.


L-50 and ES-335_resized.jpg


Taylor_AD17e_03_resize.jpg


Taylor_AD17e_05_resize.jpg
 
RVA said:
That is a hell of a package you worked out! Curious to hear more about the Gibson. So it is not electrified, but how much acoustic volume does it produce? Is there a non-permanent, no mod pickup that it can work with?
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The L-50 isn't any louder than a regular acoustic, but just very pleasant sounding. I'm sure there were different D'Armond pickups made back in the day that I could find a reproduction of. They usually mount to the pickguard, so I'd need to make a new one to mount it to.
 
SG John said:
The L-50 isn't any louder than a regular acoustic, but just very pleasant sounding. I'm sure there were different D'Armond pickups made back in the day that I could find a reproduction of. They usually mount to the pickguard, so I'd need to make a new one to mount it to.
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If is is as loud as an acoustic, that is fine in my book. Really nice acquisition. Now that is something I could see adding to my collection.
 
smitty_p said:
Wow, that is a really interesting turn of events, John!

Thanks for sharing such a cool story and for showing some really sweet guitars.
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Isn't it? I was willing to spend a lot of money on an acoustic. The L-50 had only been there about an hour before I walked in. I can't believe that I got both guitars, and still had money in my pocket when I left. Sometimes there's a lot to be said for customer loyalty.

Of the three I have now, (Martin D-16T, Gibson L-50, and Taylor AD17e) I think the Taylor projects the most, and has the most sparkle at the high end. The Gibson is very comfortable to play with a large soft V neck profile and has a very pronounced midrange. I can see why these archtops were great jazz guitars in their day. Then the Martin is a good all around work horse acoustic guitar. I have been wanting to play acoustic more often to see if I can get some inspiration to write again, and to work on getting my fingers back in shape again.
 
a fine story and a happy ending. Thanks for posting.
The auld Gibson is really a classic. Fiddle about with mic placement and you shouldn't need to plug it in.
Or making a new p/g and fitting a pickup on that is also a good solution that won't ruin the classic vibe.

But if you already have that lovely ES-335 pictured above, you don't need an electrified classic arch top.
There have been a lot of advances in mic technology which ought to capture the tone of the old Gibbie
without ruining anything.

All interesting possibilities. and excellent photos!
 
Col Mustard said:
a fine story and a happy ending. Thanks for posting.
The auld Gibson is really a classic. Fiddle about with mic placement and you shouldn't need to plug it in.
Or making a new p/g and fitting a pickup on that is also a good solution that won't ruin the classic vibe.

But if you already have that lovely ES-335 pictured above, you don't need an electrified classic arch top.
There have been a lot of advances in mic technology which ought to capture the tone of the old Gibbie
without ruining anything.

All interesting possibilities. and excellent photos!
Click to expand...
Thanks,
I'm hoping that soon the kitchen and cellar projects are finally done, and I can concentrate on getting a new computer. I'm itching to try some recording. It just can't be done on this old PC that I keep limping along.
 
SG John said:
Since there have been a bunch of NGD threads, I thought I would finally do one for a couple of guitars that have ended up in a couple of different threads here and there.

After my birthday in February, I went to my favorite guitar store up in Keene, NH looking for an acoustic that I could plug in. After getting my Martin, I have really enjoyed playing an acoustic guitar, as I never had a nice one before now. Retro had a few different Gibson, Martin, and Taylor acoustics with onboard preamps and stuff like that listed on their website and G-Base inventory. Off to Keene I went on a week day off. When I walked in, Jeff the owner was actually there along with his longtime cohort, Doogle.

We started chatting, and Jeff pulled out a 1936 Gibson L-50 that just came in on a trade. It had a professional repair to the back of the body, but otherwise played and sounded beautifully. Now, I was in a bit of a state of "what do I do now?" I have always thought it would be nice to have a beautiful arch top. An L-5 would be way out of my budget, and I thought maybe an ES-120 or ES-150 similar to the "Charlie Christian" guitar would be cool. But, as over the top awesome this guitar is, it can not be plugged in.

So, I started looking at other stuff Jeff had hanging on the racks. He had a Taylor AD17e Blacktop hanging on the rack, and asked him about it. It's one of the Pacific series guitars, and made in California. Similar to the Gibson faded series with a satin finish, and a few other shortcuts. It still has the same Expression System 2 electronics as their high end guitars. After playing it a bunch, I found out that I really liked that guitar too, and it filled the purpose of a guitar that I wanted at the time.

So, next I asked him what a package price might be for the two guitars. He hit me with what I thought was a very good price. So, handed over some dead presidents, and took them home. I've had them for a little over two months, and have really enjoy how nice they are to play. I've always wanted a nice acoustic. Never knew that I'd actually have three. So, instead of buying one nice high end acoustic, I walked out with two.


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Arch tops are the most beautiful sounding guitars...especially old Gibsons, Kalamazoos and the Monterey arch top.
 
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