[joeybcdt]

I'm pretty lacking on Gibson acoustic history and values. I found a Gibson J35 50 year anniversary at a local pawn shop. Serial # 91025005. It has an antique looking sunburst finish. It's in very good to excellent condition and comes with the origonal brown HSC. The neck is straight, no cracks anywhere. I really can't say how it plays or sounds since it's strung up with some very old and crusty strings. It's marked down from $1300 to $980. It's been there at least 2 months. Should I make an offer or pass?

Joey

[dadfad]

Off-hand I would say yes. The original J-35 (the cross-over between Gibson's original "The Jumbo" 1934-36 and the more common J-45. From '36 into the early '40s. "The Jumbo" and later "Advanced Jumbo" were expensive at $80 during the Depression. Gibson brought out the J-35 at $35. Less decoration and no rosewood. The first "working-man's guitar" sort of). The original J-35 is an excellent guitar. Gibson's historic repro's are generally well-made and of a limited run. In all likelihood so is this one. Try it out. Try to haggle price a little (but that's not a bad deal already). Tell the pawnshop guy you will replace the strings to check it out. If you take it, knock it off the price. If you don't he pays you for the strings because he's getting a re-strung easier-to-sell guitar for free labor on the re-string. I've never played a re-issue J-35, but I've played several originals and a couple of my friends have them. Excellent guitars. (listen to a guy named Paul Geremia who will only use J-35s, except for his 12-string work, if you can find some of his stuff.) I would think the re-issue is also pretty nice. At least look into it further. If it plays well and sounds good (listen closely for internal rattles and put your hand inside to gently check for loose braces or tone-bars) you might seriously think of buying it.

[joeybcdt]

Thanks for the info dadfad. I've seen some pics of your little collection. Wow!

What about a '79 J55 w OHSC for $600.00? It's got a little checking on the top but that's about it. I'm not familiar with the J55 at all. I've seen this one but haven't played it. What kind of quality was Gibson doing on acoustics in '79?

Joey

[dadfad]

It's an "okay" deal but nothing special. Not a bad price for that guitar, but that guitar is not one of Gibson's best. Not bad, but not great either. Gibson guitars up until mid 1969 were first-class, built in Kalamazoo. The company was sold to a non-instrument company. The first thing they did (to save money on Gibson's life-time warrrantee) was to make the guitars with thicker tops and thicker bracing, greatly deadening the sound, and then moving construction to Nashville (not a good climate for acoustic construction) (these changes affected electrics much less). The "round-shouldered jumbos" (pre-69) are the best, the newer big-shoulder models not as good. When Gibson was re-sold in the '80s, the Gibson Montana Division did a much better job trying to bring back Gibson acoustics to the quality they once had, including their anniversary models, re-introduction of the J-45 and others. I would stay away from Gibsons between '69 and the mid to late '80s (for acoustic guitars, with the possible exception of the Mark-series acoustics, which were highly experimental made in a separate experimental-division. They were great guitars, but very unpopular because of radical shape and design changes and were soon discontinued). That J-55 might be a decent guitar, still relatively well-built (if over-built) but it won't sound like the models I've mentioned. I have a couple Gibsons from the after-69 era. Not bad guitars. I think of them as "okay", the kind that I don't worry about much if I travel or something (on my guitar page, the guitar on the right of the Picasso is a '71 J-40 hanging here in my office. Not bad, for a guitar to mess with during my lunch or something. In another pic, the one next to the violin is a 1969 big-shouldered J-55. Again, not a bad guitar, decent sound, but not like the round-shouldered pre-69 and re-issue J-models.

Link to my guitar page so you can see them.....


I know the money is more, and the big-shoulders are okay, but the round-shouldered jumbos give the sound Gibson is known for.

[pimp_vince]

speaking of pawn shops, i saw a harmony archtop acoustic going for 3 or 450. what do ya think of that one?

[dadfad]

Might be nice. I have a '30s Harmony arch-top. Harmony even though they eventually went to composites made decent guitars, especially against today's standards. The necks can't be adjusted usually so check it out thoroughly, action can be adjusted to a limited degree by the thumb-screws in the floating saddle (on mine I actually removed the thumb-screws and carved the bottom to get it low enough. It's still higher than I like, but I use it for acoustic slide where higher action actually can be a good-thing. I use it for de-tuned open-tunings. Archtops have a more mellow sound, but it's good for that low, rumbling kind of slide. It might be worth checking out if it's 3 hundred or so, I don't think I'd pay anywhere near 450 for one. (There's a pic of my '34 next to the J-55 on that page-link above.)

(I was talking US dollars. If it's 300 Canadian it could be a pretty good deal)

[monkeybutler]

I dream on the day when i walk past a second hand shop and see a high end gibson in the window with a stupidly low price tag due to the shop owner being an idiot. *sigh*

[dadfad]

VERY few and far between any more (although I've bought a couple where I was in a pawn-shop looking around when some guy would come in to see what he could get and the pawn-guy wouldn't offer him sh!t. So the guy would leave. I'd follow him out and offer him "###### x 2" and he took it.) But you still see the occasional deal, but pawn-brokers are more aware of prices nowadays usually. Sometimes TOO aware, but don't know instruments worth a damn. They'll see something in the blue-book in near-mint, ready-to-play, perfectly set up going for a thousand and so they think their beat-up, ratty, bow-necked, rusty-stringed piece of sh!t is worth a thousand too.

[joeybcdt]

I went back to the pawn shop. I figured if the owner would go down ANY I'd buy it. On 3rd inspection I found a 2" heavy crack on the lower bout about 2" from the endpin. I can't believe I didn't notice before.

I also failed to mention before that it has some kind of transducer in it. I don't know if it's stock. I assume it's not. The endpin is the jack. No volume or tone controls. 9V battery snapped in a holder just inside the soudhole, attached to the neck block.

I offered him $600. He said he couldn't go less than $800. I walked.

How much $$$ does the crack and transducer affect the value? I wouldn't think the transducer would affect much....still looks stock. But I have no idea about the crack. Would Gibson repair it if I sent it to them? Or is it better to leave it alone?

Should I just go buy it for $800 or start going in once a week and remind him about my $600 offer? It's been there for months.

Joey

[pimp_vince]

(I was talking US dollars. If it's 300 Canadian it could be a pretty good deal)

what do you take me for.... a yankee?

[tunesmith]

>>I also failed to mention before that it has some kind of transducer in it. I don't know if it's stock. I assume it's not. The endpin is the jack. No volume or tone controls. 9V battery snapped in a holder just inside the soudhole, attached to the neck block. <<

I found a EPI the other day that fits your description, less the
9v battery thing, if there is one I can't see it. I'm wondering
the same thing as you, I'm still real happy I found it either way.
I love it's tone.

tune~

[dadfad]

(I was talking US dollars. If it's 300 Canadian it could be a pretty good deal)

what do you take me for.... a yankee?

Naaaaah. Sorry, aye!

Joey, the side crack probably won't effect sound (but does effect value of course). Gibson could repair it. If he eventually comes down to a price you like you could either have it fixed or "cleat" the crack. "Cleating" is taking two tiny pieces of wood maybe 1/2" or less square (or diamond-shaped) and clamping and gluing them inside the body on each end of the crack with the cleat's wood-grains running perpindicular to the grain of the crack. This usually prevents cracks from worsening. The electronics, if properly installed, shouldn't hurt value. Thet can always be pulled and replaced with a standard end-pin. It could be factory-order anyway.

[pbaxter2001]

Here is a quick tip on Gibson serial numbers

In 1977, Gibson first introduced the serialization method that is in practice today. This updated system
utilizes an impressed eight digit numbering scheme that covers both serializing and dating functions. The
pattern is as follows:
YDDDYPPP
YY is the production year
DDD is the day of the year
PPP is the plant designation and/or instrument rank.


91025005
Year 95
day 102
plant 005 I believe this is Bozeman, Montana