NGD - J45

terada

Hi everyone,

Finally picked up my J45 today after playing loads across the country.

Settled on this one. It has that distinctive midrangeyness that J45s have, but with a lovely bass and treble to surround it. Really clear across all strings and plays great too.

I'll use this one for live work with the band, alongside some more sedate open mic-type stuff. Never had anything with electronics before so that is completely new territory for me.

Acoustically its a great companion to my HD35 which is quite scooped in the mids.

Anyway, thanks to everyone for helping me in the previous threads, it was all very very helpful.

Couple of pics...

Winny_Pooh

Nice! Very different sounding guitars indeed

BigLicks67

Lovely stuff. Happy NGD.

Moe_Zambeek

Nice looking burst on that one - and a nice dark bridge and board, too.

brojangles

Lovely. If there was a guitar that looked like a J45 but sounded like a D28, I would be all over it.

hubobulous

So to a complete acoustic noob, are these very similar in design, but different sounding due to the woods, or is there more to it than that?

Dave_Mc

^ I'm a complete acoustic noob too, but I think there must be more to it than that... the scale length is different, i'm guessing (could be wrong) the bracing is too, so's the fretboard wood. the shape is quite a bit different, as well.

I haven't tried an HD35, but I tried a D28, and I didn't really like it (don't get me wrong, if someone had given me one for free I'd absolutely have taken it, lol, just for what they cost I wasn't super-keen... I seem to find regular square-shouldered dreadnoughts a bit boomy and scooped), whereas I loved the J45 I tried.

Excellent score on the j45, by the way, @terada - I already gave you a wow a few days ago when you posted the thread, but now I've posted it seemed a bit churlish not to actually comment on the thing since wows are anonymous.

terada

Dave_Mc said:

^ I'm a complete acoustic noob too, but I think there must be more to it than that... the scale length is different, i'm guessing (could be wrong) the bracing is too, so's the fretboard wood. the shape is quite a bit different, as well.

I haven't tried an HD35, but I tried a D28, and I didn't really like it (don't get me wrong, if someone had given me one for free I'd absolutely have taken it, lol, just for what they cost I wasn't super-keen... I seem to find regular square-shouldered dreadnoughts a bit boomy and scooped), whereas I loved the J45 I tried.

Excellent score on the j45, by the way, @terada - I already gave you a wow a few days ago when you posted the thread, but now I've posted it seemed a bit churlish not to actually comment on the thing since wows are anonymous.

Thanks! You are right there are quite a few differences between these.

@hubobulous ;
Obviously every guitar (even two of the same model) will have their differences, but spec wise these are some of the main differences:

Back & sides: J45 Mahogany/HD35 East Indian Rosewood
Fretboard & Bridge: J45 Rosewood/HD35 Ebony
Bracing: J45 Scalloped with heavier brace above the sound hole/HD35 Scalloped 1/4" (i.e. super light)
Scale: J45 Short/HD35 Long
Back: J45 2 piece/HD35 3 piece
Nut width: J45 1.725"/HD35 1 11/16" (narrower)
Shape: J45 Slope Shoulder/HD35 Square Shoulder

Playability wise the scale makes quite a big difference, while for sound (and this is a big generalisation) the Martin D28/HD28/D35/HD35 etc tend to sound increasingly bassy and scooped as you go up the range (due to progressively lighter bracing), while the J45 has a flatter response, so you get a lot more mids.

hubobulous

@terada - thanks for that. The J45 has always appealed and your descriptions confirm my impressions on what to expect. Might start the long search soon :-)

Dave_Mc

terada said:

Dave_Mc said:

^ I'm a complete acoustic noob too, but I think there must be more to it than that... the scale length is different, i'm guessing (could be wrong) the bracing is too, so's the fretboard wood. the shape is quite a bit different, as well.

I haven't tried an HD35, but I tried a D28, and I didn't really like it (don't get me wrong, if someone had given me one for free I'd absolutely have taken it, lol, just for what they cost I wasn't super-keen... I seem to find regular square-shouldered dreadnoughts a bit boomy and scooped), whereas I loved the J45 I tried.

Excellent score on the j45, by the way, @terada - I already gave you a wow a few days ago when you posted the thread, but now I've posted it seemed a bit churlish not to actually comment on the thing since wows are anonymous.

Thanks! You are right there are quite a few differences between these.

@hubobulous ;
Obviously every guitar (even two of the same model) will have their differences, but spec wise these are some of the main differences:

Back & sides: J45 Mahogany/HD35 East Indian Rosewood
Fretboard & Bridge: J45 Rosewood/HD35 Ebony
Bracing: J45 Scalloped with heavier brace above the sound hole/HD35 Scalloped 1/4" (i.e. super light)
Scale: J45 Short/HD35 Long
Back: J45 2 piece/HD35 3 piece
Nut width: J45 1.725"/HD35 1 11/16" (narrower)
Shape: J45 Slope Shoulder/HD35 Square Shoulder

Playability wise the scale makes quite a big difference, while for sound (and this is a big generalisation) the Martin D28/HD28/D35/HD35 etc tend to sound increasingly bassy and scooped as you go up the range (due to progressively lighter bracing), while the J45 has a flatter response, so you get a lot more mids.

Definitely right about different guitars of the same model... I was actually out trying guitars yesterday, and tried a J45 (a different one from the one I'd tried before and loved). Didn't like it at all, lol. Plus I also suspect I might be changing my mind about the square-shouldered dreadnoughts, too.

I used to be indecisive and now I'm not so sure and all that...