Hey brother man, the 35 should be mahogany back and sides. I believe the 45 you have there is walnut and that's a bit of an explanation of the pricing. When you factor in the upgraded tuners, mahogany back and sides, higher end electronics/fretboard being rosewood and the case, you tend to hit that grand extra mark. However and to your point, that G-45 (without that crazy hole on the side) is one killer guitar. Why they added that silly extra hole on the side for later versions is beyond my comprehension. The tone difference is clearly in the back and sides wood. They are both great guitars and sound fantastic. I had a J-15, which was walnut back and sides and I loved that guitar. I think that's now reflected in a J-45 studio, so basically a J-15 replacement. By the way, I never pulg in an acoustic, so I'm in the same boat you are. A very well done video 👍
Of the two, j35 all day. I had a 2013 j35 reissue that sounded amazing, but it was a bit too loud to sing over. That forward x bracing just sounds better than most other slope shoulders.
Gibson's acoustic guitar has always had individual differences, so it takes a lot of trial to choose from. So I bought it after waiting for a call from a long-established store that I trust. I waited for about a year. According to the owner of the shop, even if 10 bottles are in stock, most of them are not at a good level. And that was Gibson's acoustic guitar.
I own this G-45 Studio. Its awesome guitar! I just pull out Fishman Sonitone pickup, and instal LR Baggs Anthem. Also, I swap the saddle and the pins to bone. And after these upgrades, my guitar is extraordinary! I think Gibson discontinued first generations of G-45 because they realize its much valuable guitar for the price. Just to give advice to G-45 owners. Dont sell it, because for couple years the price on market will be much higher for sure. Also, to refer on your comparison between J-35, and G-45. The acoustic sound is much better on G-45. But J-35 maybe have better pickup.
The value for the price of a G45 Studio is pretty outstanding. The LR Baggs is definitely a better pickup system than the Fishman, so that might be an upgrade I'll do later on. I'll definitely be changing the saddle and pins out at a future string change. I have done that with my 1986 Fender Newporter and the difference was quite noticeable.
Now I am no Luthier but man I think you have a left handed saddle in the J-35. Usually the G/B string have to be compensated and it looks like your bass side is compensated , might want to have it checked out. I look on Sweetwater and you can not tell. I have my eye on the J-35 for awhile now , Thanks for the "Real World" review !
I had to go check this out to see if I was missing something, but it looks like the whole thing is smooth. The whole saddle just has a rounded top to it, no compensation on either side. And that's why I referenced it in the video, because I don't think I've ever seen that on any Gibson that I've played before. It really makes me wonder if that's just how it was done before they realized they needed to/could compensate for intonation on the saddle.
Funny thing is after watching the driftwood video i looked insude my 2019 g45 studio and didn't see any if the issues . I've heard from people who owned bith say the first year generation seened yo be better but i only have the one lol
I've played a couple of the new G45s and looked inside of them. One had some squeeze out of the glue, but both of them seemed to be pretty well constructed, other than that. I looked inside my first gen G45 and there is none of the quality issues they saw in the Driftwood video. Also, in my 2020 Hummingbird and 2022 Dove, there are no quality control issues, as well. Which makes me wonder if they just got a bad guitar. Every plant has their own version of a bad day here and there. Even PRS, whose quality control is outstanding, has to take one back or send a shipment back to the far east because something just isn't quite right. Either way, I would definitely choose a first gen G45 over a newer one. If for no other reason than the better case and lower price.
Gibson does still make a G45, but it's not the same as this model. Same shape but with different materials and they have a "player port" on the bass side of the guitar. They have all kinds of reasons for it, but I've played one and was not impressed. I think the first generation G45s are the way to go, if you can find one for sale for a decent price. This particular one is a Studio model, but I believe they also made a "Standard" version.
3 year string changes? Yikes! I can if tracking need changes every few days…..never more than a month, your intonation with strings that old is off, I am sure of it. Just the way it works. The thing here is the j35 has a long historical aspect that Gibson actually got fairly correct, unlike the last time the j35 was reissued , they got the logo correct, the fire stripe pickguard is historically correct, the only thing they got wrong were the pickup, tuners and bracing patterns. The j35 reissue also has a wider fretboard, if you fingerpick and the vintage correct small triangle bridge, the fundamental tones are different due to guitar back and sides, not so sure the pickup out tells that story so well, the g45 is a good tone, but nothing like the j35, has a lot more harmonic content, I own the reissue j35, I did rip out the electronics , the tuners were changed to three on a plate tuners with plastic buttons, that are more historical correct, the nut bridge, pins, and end pins all changed to ivory. My j35 was picked out of 6, it was the most balanced , and lightest of the bunch, I think key for any Gibson is playing beforehand, no matter what the price point is, some are dogs, some are stellar. The same exact models are tonality wise be all over the map with Gibson, they are all pretty, but some sound flat out bad, have wolf tones, and so on. This holds true even at the custom shop level. Just my two cents
Neither one of these guitars had 3 year old strings on it. The G45 had Elixir 12 gage strings that were about a month old and the J35 had factory strings that were, approximately, 3 months old at the time. Neither one of these guitars really gets enough play time to warrant string changes every month, but definitely get changed once a year now. My electric guitars get more use and, frequently, get quarterly string changes.
Studio series is good. They're smaller and sound different lacking some depth and bass. J-35 has the true and full J-45 sound with a bit more highs. Faded version makes it a great deal and clearly the superior instrument.
J-35 is actually closer to the Gibson AJ when it comes to what’s under the hood. J-35s have advanced jumbo bracing. It’s like an AJ only in a shorter scale and with mahogany instead of rosewood. J-45 is braced very differently.
I would venture to say that the J35 internally is built better with the bracing and overall construction. The walnut back and sides are less expensive than the mahogany on the J35. There’s a video out there by a luthier that explains how inferior the construction methods are on the G series acoustic.
Walnut is definitely cheaper and more plentiful. And the construction of the J35 probably is better, especially if it's built to 1930s spec. If you're talking about the video that Driftwood Guitars did (which is an exceptional channel, btw), he broke down the newer generation of the G45, which is different than the first generation of the G45. Having looked inside of my G45 Studio, the problems he addressed in his video are seemingly absent from this example of the first generation. Which leads me to wonder if his was just a bad day example or if mine is a excellent day example.
Driftwood's video series where he takes apart those guitars and shows how they are made and what they are made of is very cool. I'm a subscriber to that page, for sure. After watching his video on the new G45s, I broke out my mirror and light and went to town looking inside mine. The difference was interesting, to say the least. Which gives me an idea about a video looking at the insides of all the Gibson and Epiphone acoustics to see how different/similar they are inside.
Hey brother man, the 35 should be mahogany back and sides. I believe the 45 you have there is walnut and that's a bit of an explanation of the pricing. When you factor in the upgraded tuners, mahogany back and sides, higher end electronics/fretboard being rosewood and the case, you tend to hit that grand extra mark. However and to your point, that G-45 (without that crazy hole on the side) is one killer guitar. Why they added that silly extra hole on the side for later versions is beyond my comprehension. The tone difference is clearly in the back and sides wood. They are both great guitars and sound fantastic. I had a J-15, which was walnut back and sides and I loved that guitar. I think that's now reflected in a J-45 studio, so basically a J-15 replacement. By the way, I never pulg in an acoustic, so I'm in the same boat you are. A very well done video 👍
Of the two, j35 all day. I had a 2013 j35 reissue that sounded amazing, but it was a bit too loud to sing over. That forward x bracing just sounds better than most other slope shoulders.
Appreciate your reviews 🎶thanks
Nice breakdown!
Gibson's acoustic guitar has always had individual differences, so it takes a lot of trial to choose from. So I bought it after waiting for a call from a long-established store that I trust.
I waited for about a year. According to the owner of the shop, even if 10 bottles are in stock, most of them are not at a good level. And that was Gibson's acoustic guitar.
I own this G-45 Studio. Its awesome guitar! I just pull out Fishman Sonitone pickup, and instal LR Baggs Anthem. Also, I swap the saddle and the pins to bone. And after these upgrades, my guitar is extraordinary! I think Gibson discontinued first generations of G-45 because they realize its much valuable guitar for the price. Just to give advice to G-45 owners. Dont sell it, because for couple years the price on market will be much higher for sure.
Also, to refer on your comparison between J-35, and G-45. The acoustic sound is much better on G-45. But J-35 maybe have better pickup.
The value for the price of a G45 Studio is pretty outstanding. The LR Baggs is definitely a better pickup system than the Fishman, so that might be an upgrade I'll do later on. I'll definitely be changing the saddle and pins out at a future string change. I have done that with my 1986 Fender Newporter and the difference was quite noticeable.
@@guitarsandgears3948 LR Baggs Anthem is definetly the best pickup for acoustic guitar. Let me know when you upgrade your G-45 Studio 😉
@@guitarsandgears3948hi! So, did you upgrade your G45 Studio? 😊
The J-35 is braced less tight and more open south of the sound hole. Wider X-Brace.
Now I am no Luthier but man I think you have a left handed saddle in the J-35. Usually the G/B string have to be compensated and it looks like your bass side is compensated , might want to have it checked out. I look on Sweetwater and you can not tell. I have my eye on the J-35 for awhile now , Thanks for the "Real World" review !
I had to go check this out to see if I was missing something, but it looks like the whole thing is smooth. The whole saddle just has a rounded top to it, no compensation on either side. And that's why I referenced it in the video, because I don't think I've ever seen that on any Gibson that I've played before. It really makes me wonder if that's just how it was done before they realized they needed to/could compensate for intonation on the saddle.
@@guitarsandgears3948 Who knows it just looks weird , I have had my eye on that one , thanks for the video !
Thank you so much for this video it was very helpful
Glad it was helpful.
Funny thing is after watching the driftwood video i looked insude my 2019 g45 studio and didn't see any if the issues . I've heard from people who owned bith say the first year generation seened yo be better but i only have the one lol
I've played a couple of the new G45s and looked inside of them. One had some squeeze out of the glue, but both of them seemed to be pretty well constructed, other than that. I looked inside my first gen G45 and there is none of the quality issues they saw in the Driftwood video. Also, in my 2020 Hummingbird and 2022 Dove, there are no quality control issues, as well. Which makes me wonder if they just got a bad guitar. Every plant has their own version of a bad day here and there. Even PRS, whose quality control is outstanding, has to take one back or send a shipment back to the far east because something just isn't quite right.
Either way, I would definitely choose a first gen G45 over a newer one. If for no other reason than the better case and lower price.
Does Gibson still make the g-45? Maybe I'm wrong but I thought Gibson discontinued it.
Gibson does still make a G45, but it's not the same as this model. Same shape but with different materials and they have a "player port" on the bass side of the guitar. They have all kinds of reasons for it, but I've played one and was not impressed. I think the first generation G45s are the way to go, if you can find one for sale for a decent price. This particular one is a Studio model, but I believe they also made a "Standard" version.
@@guitarsandgears3948 thanks.
3 year string changes? Yikes! I can if tracking need changes every few days…..never more than a month, your intonation with strings that old is off, I am sure of it. Just the way it works.
The thing here is the j35 has a long historical aspect that Gibson actually got fairly correct, unlike the last time the j35 was reissued , they got the logo correct, the fire stripe pickguard is historically correct, the only thing they got wrong were the pickup, tuners and bracing patterns. The j35 reissue also has a wider fretboard, if you fingerpick and the vintage correct small triangle bridge, the fundamental tones are different due to guitar back and sides, not so sure the pickup out tells that story so well, the g45 is a good tone, but nothing like the j35, has a lot more harmonic content, I own the reissue j35, I did rip out the electronics , the tuners were changed to three on a plate tuners with plastic buttons, that are more historical correct, the nut bridge, pins, and end pins all changed to ivory. My j35 was picked out of 6, it was the most balanced , and lightest of the bunch, I think key for any Gibson is playing beforehand, no matter what the price point is, some are dogs, some are stellar.
The same exact models are tonality wise be all over the map with Gibson, they are all pretty, but some sound flat out bad, have wolf tones, and so on. This holds true even at the custom shop level. Just my two cents
Neither one of these guitars had 3 year old strings on it. The G45 had Elixir 12 gage strings that were about a month old and the J35 had factory strings that were, approximately, 3 months old at the time. Neither one of these guitars really gets enough play time to warrant string changes every month, but definitely get changed once a year now. My electric guitars get more use and, frequently, get quarterly string changes.
Studio series is good. They're smaller and sound different lacking some depth and bass. J-35 has the true and full J-45 sound with a bit more highs. Faded version makes it a great deal and clearly the superior instrument.
J-35 is actually closer to the Gibson AJ when it comes to what’s under the hood. J-35s have advanced jumbo bracing. It’s like an AJ only in a shorter scale and with mahogany instead of rosewood. J-45 is braced very differently.
I would venture to say that the J35 internally is built better with the bracing and overall construction. The walnut back and sides are less expensive than the mahogany on the J35. There’s a video out there by a luthier that explains how inferior the construction methods are on the G series acoustic.
Walnut is definitely cheaper and more plentiful. And the construction of the J35 probably is better, especially if it's built to 1930s spec.
If you're talking about the video that Driftwood Guitars did (which is an exceptional channel, btw), he broke down the newer generation of the G45, which is different than the first generation of the G45. Having looked inside of my G45 Studio, the problems he addressed in his video are seemingly absent from this example of the first generation. Which leads me to wonder if his was just a bad day example or if mine is a excellent day example.
@@guitarsandgears3948 Thanks for your clarification on the construction of your guitar. Yes, I was referring to the Driftwood video 👍
Driftwood's video series where he takes apart those guitars and shows how they are made and what they are made of is very cool. I'm a subscriber to that page, for sure. After watching his video on the new G45s, I broke out my mirror and light and went to town looking inside mine. The difference was interesting, to say the least. Which gives me an idea about a video looking at the insides of all the Gibson and Epiphone acoustics to see how different/similar they are inside.
Internal construction on the j35 faded is 2x better!
Старый конь борозды не испортит (переведите правильно)
Eastman slope shoulders trump them BOTH in quality and sound at a significantly lower price point…
I disagree about the sound and Eastman guitars get pumped out in China lol. I’m all set. More for you.