Smartwood lp's

suspiciousminds

Gibson smartwood lp's - i'm going to see one but has anyone here got one/tried one?
If so, any opinions on them?

Jalapeno

Great !  I used to have one - chunky neck.  As the body is thinner they can be a bit neck heavy, so need a wide strap.

suspiciousminds

Chunky as in 50's style?

ab2014

The exotics are awesome and solidly built have a 60 slim taper. There was another type but can't remember the spec off my head

not_the_dj

Is is the Smartwood Exotic, or the Smartwood Studio? The Studio will have a leaf symbol on the truss rod cover and be regular thickness. The Exotic is thinner bodied.

I have a Smartwood Exotic, 1999 with the Taperyva Guasu top.

http://s5.postimg.org/5eyvs5opj/clmrry_smartwood.jpg

It's now got Oil City Blitz Spirits in rather than the stock Gibson 490/498.

The neck is certainly chunkier than my Trad Pro 2 which has a 60s slim taper....not sure on the official spec but I'd say closer to 50s. (edit, it's a 1959 Rounded profile)

These are the Smartwood Exotics:

http://files2.soniccdn.com/old/1910564d8f23dd1e93e.jpg

The Smartwood Studio looks like this (note the truss rod cover)

http://c1.zzounds.com/media/quality,85/rotate,45/p19524H-c8525eb0d8a6fa2fdc7abeb1deb5e514.jpg

not_the_dj

Spec sheet on the Studio version

http://archive.gibson.com/Files/USA_PDFs/Smartwood_data_sheet.pdf

suspiciousminds

The exotic - theres no leaf motif

not_the_dj

suspiciousminds said:

The exotic - theres no leaf motif

How much are they asking?

I love them, and if I had the cash I'd search the world for the whole set! They have a thin body, which is mahogany but the cap is a different "exoitc" wood. The slim body makes it lighter, so great as a gigging guitar.

I got mine used in about 2004, as I said above it's a 1999.

suspiciousminds

I'm gonna swap a couple of guitars and add a bit of cash

Jalapeno

suspiciousminds said:

Chunky as in 50's style?

Oh hell yes - a veritable Samoan war club !

not_the_dj

suspiciousminds said:

I'm gonna swap a couple of guitars and add a bit of cash

They're not that respected among Gibson snobs (due to the slim body and lack of binding) so prices are low compared to other Gibsons.

Under £600 I'd say (but I've not really been tracking prices for a while now).

ab2014

Id say at least £700 bare in mind I own one myself and considering the prices Gibsons (excluding 2015) sell for and I tend to watch value of these

Philly_Q

I've owned two Exotics, one with a Curupay top (nice fat neck but a bit heavy) and one with an Ambay Guasu top (lighter but, surprisingly, the neck was much thinner).

They both sold around the £600 mark.