AboutJohnny Genocide Expertise I can answer questions regarding playing, guitar models, guitar construction, amplifiers, effects, starting a band, recording and touring. As the Guitarist and singer for No Alternative I have recorded a number of albums, singles and CDs as well as extensive touring. I can also answer questions about starting a band and recording.
Experience I have been a guitar player for 26 years. I play and tour with No Alternative. With a number of CDs out there are also 14 bands that have recorded my songs.
Publications Can You Hear Me, Live at the Deaf Club (With KGB)
SF Underground, Subterranean Records (No Alternative)
Backtracks, Subterranean Records (No Alternative)
Lifeline/No Alternative, Bull Dog Records (No Alternative)
Johnny Got His Gun, Wingnut Records (No Alternative)
SF Nights, Bachuus Archives (No Alternative)
Question I have a Gibson cuostic guitar serial # B 000716 in good condition only needs string and botton bindind seal is cracking. How much do you think it may worth approximately.
Regards:Ash
Answer Hey Ash,
Thanks for writing. Here's some history on the J 45:
Initially, the Gibson J45 guitar differed only slightly from the discontinued J-35. Internal construction changes from the J-35 included top bracing strengthened slightly with 1" set "X" brace behind the sound hole, tall and thin back braces, and most importantly, scalloped tall and thin top braces. Also the J-45 had a baseball bat style neck (instead of the J-35's "V" style neck, used on pre-1939 models), and a tear drop pick guard. Sunburst was the only finish available for the J-45 (or most any war-time Gibson guitar, as a sunburst finish can hide wood flaws, an important feature during WW2 when wood supplies were short). After WW2 the J-45 stayed sunburst, with a blond version being introduced in 1947 and called the J-50.
But in reality the J-50 preceded the the J-45 by one month. In July 1942, the first batch of blond J-50 (J-45n) models was shipped. And then that was it, no more, until after the war, making a banner logo J-50 (J-45N) a very rare guitar. Starting in August 1942 the J-45 (sunburst) is shipped, and is shipped through the war years, unlike the J-50.
The J45 guitar is probably Gibson's most popular acoustic guitar ever made. At the time, they were not an expensive or fancy guitar. But they are a good one! The sound of a J-45 is very warm and fat. Playability of the Gibson J-45 is excellent too. This makes the Gibson J-45 one of the best and most popular flattop Gibsons to ever be produced. Also, since the Gibson J-45 guitar was in production for so long, J-45s are easier to find than most any other Gibson flattop model (lucky for us!) If I was stranded on a desert island with $45 dollars to my name (the price when introduced) and could have only one Gibson flattop, a 1940s or 1950s J-45 would be it!
By the late 1950s and 1960s the J-45 went through some changes, unfortunately none of them good. The worse thing Gibson did to the J-45 was to make the J-45ADJ (a J-45 with an adjustable bridge). The adjustable bridge sucked the life and tone from the J-45, and really killed the model (at least in my eye). Yes you can convert the adjustable bridge to a non-adjustable, but then it's not original any more. A "catch 22" at least to me, so I generally avoid the J-45 ADJ models.
Send me a photograph of the serial number. The "B" in the beginning indicates 1936 for certain guitars. I need to see pictures of the guitar to date it. Here's my email address:
jgenocidepatterson@yahoo.com
Send me some pictures and I'll get you a date and value. Thanks again for writing!
