Proud owner of a Custom Shop SJ-200 and a 50’s Reissue J-45. Love both of them. The SJ-200 has a much slimmer neck, which I normally wouldn’t like, but it’s actually perfect - I have played 5+ hour gigs with it effortlessly. The J-45 has a much fatter neck, and is simply louder / more projection, but the finish on it almost makes the guitar feel like it’s plastic. Nevertheless, it’s called “The Workhorse” for good reason as it’s built like an ox and can take a sever beating at gigs, only to come back asking for more. Do I have a favorite? No, it’s like picking your favorite child. I will say that I’m more careful with my SJ-200 as it feels more like a museum piece than a working man’s guitar; it’s more liberating to play the J-45 and go wild with it. Both are equally good and useful in the studio as well as live performance.
I bet it does mate 😃. I’m close to pulling the trigger in a hummingbird, I’d like the j200 but its now over 5k in the Uk and I just can’t justify that. Hummingbird is circa 3.5k.
I’ve been fortunate to play quite a few Gibson’s, and they all have there different uses fantastic guitars, but for me personally, the best all rounder SJ 200 it’s got the low end and the top end projection is fantastic
Already got great advice from the lads on previous purchases.This is a great video for me in terms of educating me as to what will suit my gig.The J-45 is winning so far !
Hi! I'm the happy owner of a L00 standard, which I bought 2 years ago. I was proud of and pleased with my Martin D16, but then I had to convert, having seen (felt? heard?) the light ;). I'm short and plump, and not very young anymore, hence my difficulty with dreadnoughts' height of body: my right shoulder eventually aches when I play my D16, so when I decided to get a Gibson, the SJ-200 was out from the start. I then tried the Aj-45, that sounded great but was still in the 'too high' family, then with a thought for Lightnin' Hopkins' style, I tried the L-00, which was heaven to my eyes, ears and right shoulder. It may seem a very weird way of selcting a guitar, but I haven't regretted my choice ever since.
Good to see you tested out every available option to eventually find the right one for you! The slightly more sloped shoulder of the J45 would have been my initial choice but like you said it was still a little "too high" for you so glad the L-00 is the perfect fit. Still sounding and playing great?
I have 2022 J45 Standard, 2023 Southern Jumbo Original, 2023 Hummingbird Original and a 2024 Martin D18 Standard.. really like all of them. Next will be a Elvis J200...
Being a child of the 80’s, I was all electric for decades! And while I owned some Gibsons, Martin and Guild, never fully bonded until I played a 04 Hummingbird at GC! Game changer! Also scored 95 J-200 thanks to my repairman! Both inspire me as much as my electrics!! Worth searching out to try and find ‘the one’ ! After 4 decades gigging on and off, enjoying playing some acoustic gigs and practices! Enjoyable and easy on the back!🤣🤣✌🏽❤️
I'm a Martin man from the get go. I have two rose wood martins and went looking for a d-18 and come home with a j-45. I got my mahogany guitar and one by far sounds and plays better than my martins. I have the hd-28 and d-35. I still love my martins but the Gibson is getting more playing time. The j-45 came with the lr baggs vtc which I don't like.
From an insider: "I worked at the Memphis plant for a while. You will never know when you will have to work Saturday. Usually this is more often than not. They push numbers instead of quality hoping the end result will meet the bottom line numbers. The masses will come back time and again to buy these guitars because of the name on the headstock. I have deep inside 1st hand knowledge proving that these guitars are anything but quality. Glue joints that have no glue, super glue on top of wood glue when the first glue joint didn't hold, truss rods that aren't even close to centered down the neck, should I go on?? I personally saved this division a pocket full of money with major obstacles I showed them how to overcome, (which they hapi;y implemented) and I was never once rewarded, but on the contrary I was harassed by management and given an abundance of lip service, and unfortunately I cannot go into further detail at the moment. If you need a job because you are hurting for money, than look to this place as a temp solution. Turn over is off the charts!!"
