@@blakemansfield2356 Yeah, within 1 second I knew it was the winner. Btw, I watched your IIC+ video today and it inspired me to make a video of my Mark III. Used the settings you had as a starting point and it worked great 😊
This is one of the best comparison videos I've seen of these two models. You have a great Hummingbird here. Very open and full. Hummingbirds are truly a players pleasure. It just envelopes you in a sound that is like a blanket. I played a lefty Hummingbird off the shelf at Fullers years ago. I should have picked up as it was a head above any other one I've ever played.
Interesting. For me it was always the D-18 Martin that epitomized the sound of a mahogany guitar for me. And I owned a 1956 J-45 in excellent condition. And as much as I loved it for its ultra mellow warmth when finger picking or thunderous sound when hammering bluegrass tunes, the D-18 was the sound I heard in my head when thinking about great guitars.
2 years later, this video is still so relevant. Gibson continues to make these awesome guitars that become people's dream guitars. Thank you for the review and demo.
Hummingbird is my dream guitar. Unfortunately I hurt my hand badly and can’t play a freaking G chord. Months of painful therapy ahead. But really enjoy other people play. This was great!
@@blakemansfield2356 took a really bad dumb fall and dislocated one finger and sprained two others on my left hand. No broken bones but ligaments torn and bruised. I have easily 2 more months of therapy to regain full mobility (being optimistic)
@@blakemansfield2356 funny thing, guitar playing is part of the therapy. They want me to force myself to play whatever I can and make progress. I can make a lame G chord but D chord is way out of reach for now 😅
Thanks for the demo! For me years ago I was at a crossroads and went with the standard Heritage cherry sunburst Hummingbird. It seemed to fill in ALL the blanks. As you say, the Hummingbird takes up alot of room like putting the frame on a picture for the finishing touch. Wait til that bird really starts opening up in years to come! BTW folks he is playing the real Hummingbird (noted by the pickguard). Congratulations on owning your bird. Thanks again ! Nice down to earth review.
Thank you for such and excellent comparison. In your demo, that Humming Bird is the clear winner overall but I prefer more dressed down guitars and even tone in some cases. I have a D28CW for big sound but am sure revisiting my hankering to own a sunburst J45 or Southern Jumbo. This video is helping with my decision. Your acoustic playing is stunning by the way.
This video is the best comparison I've ever seen. At the moment I'm deciding between the two guitars. I found 2 people selling these guitars at a reasonable price! The hummingbird (like you said) a wider sound, but I also like the more woody sound of the J-45. but I'm really torn!
Hummingbird all the way. I played my cedar top/rosewood Takamine on stage with my buddy on a J45. The Tak was twice the guitar. He sold the 45 a week later lol That being said, the bird is my favourite unplugged. More character in the sound
Great job on the review on these two, I love them both for different reasons. The hummingbird is really beautiful. sounds sweet, really nice and warm for strumming rhythm, and the J45 sounds brighter, teneor, old school , I can hear Jimmy Rodgers. great for finger picking. If i had the money, of course id own both of them.
You are a REALLY great player my friend. Hummingbird all the way. The J45 would be the right choice for country recordings, but the Hummingbird sounds so much better for probably anything else.
Great comparison video! Just the appearance alone between these two guitars gives you the perfect analogy: the J-45, while very attractive in its own right, is rather plain looking in comparison to the Hummingbird, and is like listening to a solo act. Whereas the Hummingbird is all blinged out in appearance, and is more like listening to a full orchestra. Both are excellent guitars, but it just depends on what you like. I'd love having them both, but if I could only own one, I would rather have the solo act - the J-45.
Agreed! Although there is difference between the Standard J45 VS J45 Original as well. Seems like the Original collections sound more open as opposed to Standards.
Punchy and focused or open and resonant? Open and resonant for me anytime. I can control open and resonant, but I cannot make punchy and focused open and resonant.
I think the Hummingbird is Gibsons version of the Martin D18...I have a J-45 but I just gravitated to its unique sound. An undertone of beauty. The J-45 was about 1K cheaper for me also :>)
Forgot to mention I have a Martin D-18...its a sycamore however...but it has the boomy open treble similar to the HummingBird...If i was rich...I would get a White Dove ebony...just for the looks! I want to move the D-18 and just get a regular Mahogany.
I have a 2012 Country Western Sheryl Crow signature which I love but this Hummy sounds damn sweet and good. I'll try out these D'Daddario strings for sure. I was planning to buy a new J45 as well but hm... I keep on hesitating
Hummingbird all the way. I just bought my first Hummingbird Original. I don't need to think twice. Nothing sounds like a Hummingbird except a Hummingbird
Nice! Very helpful, and great paying. Don’t play a lot of acoustic-have a Martin M38 I like a lot. I just played a Hummingbird at a local shop. Dang! Loved it. Need to get my hands on aJ45 and compare. Was set on getting a D-18 but may change that!
The Hummingbird sounds great, I have to admit. But I don't like the pickguard. It's a bit difficult for me. I would actually like to have the 00-size but the Hummingbird inlays and head stock look soo good :)
I actually prefer the Gibson Dove over the Hummingbird, but only through the video comparisons I've seen, have never actually played either. Great video.
Loved the Comparison thank you.. What made this a great video was the fact you strummed it not picked it as if you were in the Deliverance movie. But I do have a question. Is there a size difference besides J45 being a slope shoulder and the Hummingbird being a Square shoulder? I have jurassic park arms by site the hummingbird looks bigger.
Hummingbirds sounds a lot louder and more lively than they used to be. I tried a few back 10 years ago or so and they sounded good but the volume and power was very low. Like they were stuffed with socks or something. I dunno what’s changed since then but something has changed. Sounds great! Yep the slope and square shoulders definitely offer a different sound. To me slope shoulders are punchy but don’t have the resonance of a square shoulder guitar. Matter of taste
Take the pick guard off the Hummingbird and it will sound even better. A lot better. Really like your video. I sit and play one guitar after another for hours just to hear their differences! I like Gibson’s better than any as well. They don’t have the consistent quality of Martins, but when I find a good Gibson, I KEEP IT.
Hummingbird is wonderful. J45 is awfully nice too, but in your comparison, the Hummingbird sounds the best. Do you own any Martin guitars. I have an affordable Seagull guitar, and if I were to splurge for a higher end, it would be a Gibson Hummingbird, or Martin HD28. Think I would choose the Gibson!
For me, the Hummingbird is the winner. More unique (a lot of people have J-45s) and has it's own sound I could pick out from 100 other guitars which is hard to do. J-45 is polite and balanced, but more generic. I think you made the right choice! For me the harder choice is Hummingbird or Southern Jumbo. I'd probably have to play both to know for sure. Sadly I've only played the smaller bodied Gibsons and J-45 but from sounds online, these two are my faves.
Having got a good offer my boutique Brook 12 fret Custom Taw Guitar today from a guitar shop I had the luxury of playing over a dozen different Gibson acoustics. So I have a really good J35 I bought used and immediately I knew it was a keeper. Today I wanted to see how a Hummingbird with the same materials as my J35 would differ if at all? I played a Hummingbird faded natural top and a studio tobacco burst and as I was expecting something amazing to say I was underwhelmed would be an understatement. Equally the J45 and a very expensive 1936 era replica of a J35 were also nowhere near as good as mine so I would say that being as they are factory made its imperative that one tries as many Gibson’s as you can to find that good one
Excellent presentation and comparison. Btw-the last song you played on the J45 I’ve heard before but don’t recall the name. Carl Miner plays a similar melody on one of his presentation videos.
I played both in a store the other day and loved the sound out of both of them, though I am partial to the ‘bird. That said though, the J-45 fit nicely (probably a bit better) in terms of playability but both were a joy to play. I wish I had both (or either!) 😂
guitars are weird things. i have a 66 j45 i bought in the 70's that i always thought of as the "yardstick" to measure the 50 or 60 guitars i've bought and sold since 2012. but. i bought a martin OOOX1, the "plastic one" a few years ago and it really blows my mind, even at the moment with year old strings on, it doesn't sound dead but really mellow, with new strings on it blows my mind. my line up is: the 66 j45, a 2014 j35, the martin OOOx1, a martin OOOX1AE (i bought to compare), a 69 epiphone texan, a 2016 maton ebg808TE and a couple of laminate guitars i bought for various reasons. i cycle through my guitars, i'll put strings on one and keep that out, then as the strings lose their ping, i'll dig something else out and so on. after i got the martin i started to wonder "just how good is my j45?" so you can find some comparison vids of my own, but what happened recently was i dug out the j45, it had been in it's case for a few months, and it sounds fantastic again, better than it ever has. and then as the strings dulled, i dug out the j35, and it too sounds better than it ever has. i don't know what the factor is, weather, humidity, being in a different room, being in a different case, something has effected the sound and improved it.
My bias is with the J45 because I just bought one, but I have to admit on it's own, the Hummingbird sounds better. The J-45 I think, I hope, will be better in the studio where I need it.
How did you find the necks between the two? I know the J45 has a slim neck and maybe that would make a difference for people like me with smaller hands? On sound I prefer the hummingbird but appreciate the focus of the J45. Lovely demo.
@@whwh7339I usually tend towards big bright sounds and less so ‘warm’ ones. The Hummingbird is the former. But the J45 is so easy to record-mic it with any old mic lying around and it’ll sound like a record with minimal tweaking.
An interesting comparison but one thing you do not mention is the price. I don't know what prices are like in the USA but here in Europe a new J-45 will cost you 2,777€ and a new Hummingbird will cost you 3,759€. That's 35% more expensive. I was lucky enough to buy my J-45 back in 2012 and it cost me 1,800€ new. I tried a number of good acoustics at the time including a Hummingbird, a Martin D-18 and Martin D-28 and although the Hummingbird sounded very nice, I didn't think it was worth paying the extra. As you say, the J-45 has a good balanced tone that cuts through the mix and in my view is a more versatile instrument, especially if you're playing in a band.
Interesting. You thought the J-45 sounded a bit tinny, and I thought it sounded a bit tubby. I think the Hummingbird you have was bordering on the J-200 -- a really BIG, and OPEN sound. The J-45 has a really big sound but it's more limited in range. Just my take. Thanks for the video. (NOTE: I just watched a video on the model of Hummingbird you were playing -- the faded Hummingbird. Because of the lighter finish, it's known to have a more open sound, maybe factoring into why I liked your Hummingbird model the best.)
I listen to the whole video without watching, and on each one I picked the J 45 especially that last tune that you played I feel like it may be records better than the hummingbird, even if the hummingbird sounds better in the room, which would be the important thing to me
To me the Hummingbird sound open, bright, I hear the middle strings dominating the sound whereas the J45 sound better balanced in my ears, a bit darker than the hummingbird, but still sweeter. I can her clearer the treble sounds of the e string. I would choose the J45.
Blake, this is a very helpful comparison. You bring out the natural sounds of both guitars well. I have a J-45 but am strongly considering a Bird. You mentioned both were strung with light strings but I'm curious if they were both PB strings or another material. Thanks.
Decision understood here- even as a huge J-45 Fanboy. For me it could never be one OR the other. It really depends on the musical situation. That said: Hummingbird AND J-45!!!
Great video! I totally agree about the hummingbird, hopefully I’ll have one later this year. As for the j45, it’s midrange does seem to help for fingerstyle. Cheers!
Ive always liked the J45 more because it sounds softer and more intimate in terms of tone. The Hummingbird is like that loud, boisterous friend who enters the party and is the centre of attention. The J45 is that quiet, introverted friend you sit in the corner with and have a one-on-one conversation with.
My Hummingbird is way more mellow than my J45 Standard and Southern Jumbo Original.. I find myself playing the D18 Standard daily.. I really like that guitar..
What you mean’t to say was which one you will buy first . Impossible to make a decision for these two. I bought the J-45 and the poor mans Epiphone Hummingbird IBG which compared side by side to the Gibson Hummingbird ( Well 3 out 5 picked the Epiphone)
The real answer is both !!! That’s why I have both and not parting with either … They both are amazing guitars in their own right and serve different purposes, that’s why you need both !
There is not much of a boom or low end to any Hummingbird I've ever played like the 45 or Jumbo, but you get a chimey crispness that is hard to pass up.
I don't hear a $1000 difference between the two. There's a difference like body shape and scale length and bling. I've played both and liked the j-45. It's a more comfortable to play because of the shorter scale length. I have a j-45 and chose it over the hummingbird. All guitars of the same brand and style don't even sound the same. I like your video and it gives a good comparison. I also played a Martin d-18 when I bought my j-45. I have two martins. The hd-28 and d-35 and I play my j-45 more.
