NGD - Gibson G45 Standard

MartinB · April 23

I've been moving some instruments around, trying to have a smaller stable of stuff that suits me better, and slope shoulder Gibson style acoustics are a thing I've enjoyed whenever I've played one. I was in the Glasgow Guitarguitar with the intention of trying out the Faded series J15, and spotted this guy used for a lot less. Playing them side by side I liked this one better and it was well below my budget, so that was that.

It's a G45 Standard from 2020, after they changed from the Richlite fingerboards and bridges to rosewood. The back and sides are walnut and slightly slimmer than a typical slope shoulder, but it's still around the depth of an OM or similar, not like some slimline stage electro acoustic. It still has reasonable oomph on the bottom strings. I'm enjoying how it sounds, there's enough character and vibe to be enjoyable but not so much that it dictates how I play it. I can flip around between old folk-blues alternating thumb, faux Jansch fingerpicking, flatpicked song accompaniment or melodic jazzy noodling without any of it feeling out of place on this guitar.

There are just a couple of things I intend to tweak. The setup just needed a little truss rod adjustment and the nut slots lowering to be pretty good. The wood print formica truss rod cover bothers me to an unreasonable extent against the actual walnut headstock facing, so that'll get a plain black one instead.

The other thing is the Fishman Sonitone. I've never heard one sound better than bearable, and it seems like a lot of stuff inside the guitar. So it'll get a taller bone saddle and a simple passive bridge plate pickup. I'm leaning towards the Schatten HFN as there's a filled hole in the bridge plate just in front of the D and G ball ends, and it looks like it might mess with having a level surface for the middle disc of a K&K or JJB. I *think* the slimmer Schatten should just miss, and if doesn't then using the mounting putty should be forgiving enough anyway.

SixStringSage · April 23

Very nice! I was surprised when they stopped the J15 so surprised again when it basically came back as the G45 and Studio J45.

Did you say there were faded J15s at GuitarGuitar?

MartinB · April 23

SixStringSage said:

Did you say there were faded J15s at GuitarGuitar?

My mistake, I meant to type J35! It was the Faded J35 I went to try, I had thoughts of asking them if they would match Peach Guitars' sale price on those.

I hadn't expected to like the G45 as much as I did, I do like the look of the more vintage appointments on the J35 and expected that to be the one. But playing them in the shop, I liked this one.

Soupman · April 24

@MartinB said :
can flip around between old folk-blues alternating thumb, faux Jansch fingerpicking, flatpicked song accompaniment or melodic jazzy noodling without any of it feeling out of place on this guitar

I'm impressed as much with the variety of styles you can play as with the guitar! Especially the jazz noodling, I never found the time to learn that.

I tried one of these in GG Newcastle on a fly-past visit a couple of months ago. I don't remember the model name but it looked the same and had the 'player port'.
( I couldn't decide if it was a space left for fitting a side mounted pickup unit - it didn't seem to affect the sound either way to me).
I did think it played well and had a decent sound though.
Congratulations - it sounds like you've found a keeper!

MartinB · April 24

Soupman said:

@MartinB said :
can flip around between old folk-blues alternating thumb, faux Jansch fingerpicking, flatpicked song accompaniment or melodic jazzy noodling without any of it feeling out of place on this guitar
I'm impressed as much with the variety of styles you can play as with the guitar! Especially the jazz noodling, I never found the time to learn that.

I tried one of these in GG Newcastle on a fly-past visit a couple of months ago. I don't remember the model name but it looked the same and had the 'player port'.
( I couldn't decide if it was a space left for fitting a side mounted pickup unit - it didn't seem to affect the sound either way to me).
I did think it played well and had a decent sound though.
Congratulations - it sounds like you've found a keeper!

I mean, I would never call myself a jazz guitarist, I definitely couldn't hack it as a working one! But I listen to a fair bit and play some on double bass, and some of the tunes and chord ideas just sort of migrate across between instruments. So "jazz influenced", maybe.

I reckon you would have looked at the model that came after mine, the G45 Generation model. Same shape, mostly similar materials, but no binding, a more minimal satin finish and the port in the side. I checked those out when they came out and I liked the sound and neck feel, but the whole package felt just a touch too stripped-down for me to be happy spending that amount on it. Somehow this older model with the binding just tips the balance into where I can live with it.

Soupman · April 24

@MartinB now you mention it, I don't think it had binding, and the finish did seem minimalistic.

hollywoodrox · April 24

That’s great , congrats

Revolutions · April 24

I had one of these for a few years. By far the best acoustic I’d ever used for under £1k. Unfortunately didn’t cure my J45 gas, though…

Tannin · April 24

A G-45 with binding. Now I am confused! (That lack of binding on the G-45s I saw advertised put them into a no-go zone for me.)

I've been hankering for a slope-shoulder dread lately, I don't know why, there is just something about the look of them which appeals. (Is there such a thing a a slope-shoulder dred with a full length scale? I only like long scale. Still like a slope though.)

Now about that truss rod cover. A while back I has a Guild OM. Nice guitar but the crappy black plastic truss rod cover bugged me. Really let the whole guitar down, looks-wise. So in the end I got the chap who fettles my guitar (and built two of them) to make me a replacement cover in ebony and mother-of-pearl. It looks so much better. I expected that to cost $100 or perhaps $200. I didn't ask, just ordered it. But it actually cost $500! (Say about 260 quid.) Ouch!Oh well, I'd already ordered it, nothing to do but grin and bear it.

But as time went by I decided I didn't want to keep the guitar. That Red Spruce top was beautifully crisp and pure and clear, but just too demanding. But that $500 truss rod cover buggered me up. If I offered the Guild for sale at a price which would cover the price of it plus the price of the cover, it would be too dear and not sell. But if I offered it for sale at a price to sell, I'd lose money! What to do? I couldn't cope with the notion of losing $300 on the resale, not with prices high after Covid. So in the end I gave it to my brother for his 60th birthday. WTF? Happy to give it away, but couldn't cope with losing a piddly $300 dollars on it. Sometimes people are stupid, and if you want a great example, I am your man.

Anyway, back to your Gibson: it looks the goods and I trust that it will give you great service.

Enjoy!

MartinB · April 24

Tannin said:

A G-45 with binding. Now I am confused! (That lack of binding on the G-45s I saw advertised put them into a no-go zone for me.)

I've been hankering for a slope-shoulder dread lately, I don't know why, there is just something about the look of them which appeals. (Is there such a thing a a slope-shoulder dred with a full length scale? I only like long scale. Still like a slope though.)

Now about that truss rod cover...

From what I've seen, they made the G45 Standard and Studio in 2019-20 only, before replacing them with the soundport and no binding G45 Generation. I haven't seen a lot of the Generation models out in the wild, so I don't know how much of a success the model has been for them. The slightly overkill hatchet-job review video that a certain luthiery YouTube channel did on them can't have helped either!

And there have been long scale slope shoulders, the Advanced Jumbo models, but I'm not sure what's in production currently.

And regarding the truss rod cover, I've tried a plain black one with the gloss knocked off with a bit of wet and dry paper. I think it's less egregious than the formica one, which I'll stash in the case pocket.

I'm now trying to decide what strings work for me on it. It came with what look like D'addario phosphor bronze, no idea of the gauge but it felt lighter than I'd go for. I've just popped on a set of Nickel Bronze mediums and I'll see how those do.

BigPaulie · April 24

Tannin said:

I've been hankering for a slope-shoulder dread lately, I don't know why, there is just something about the look of them which appeals. (Is there such a thing a a slope-shoulder dred with a full length scale? I only like long scale. Still like a slope though.)

https://www.epiphone.com/en-GB/p/Acoustic-Guitar/EPIYNF391/Vintage-Sunburst

MartinB · April 26

Small string update, the mediums weren't what I was looking for - maybe a touch louder if I really pushed it with a heavy pick, but that's not something I do a lot of. I've stuck some D'addario Nickel Bronze lights on, they bring a nice mellow, woody tone out of it and it's easier for me to play expressively on them. I might explore others in that gauge, but the NB lights are good enough that I'll let them live out their natural life first.

Howdy, Stranger!

Categories

In this Discussion

Become a Subscriber!

NGD - Gibson G45 Standard

Comments