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I say this as the owner of multiple Gibsons, including a J-45 that I love and play almost daily… the huge variance in playability and sound isn’t Gibson paying homage to the war years but rather a quality control issue they can’t or won’t fix. These can be stellar guitars, I would be heartbroken if something happened to mine, but play before you buy because they ship an impressive amount of duds.

A Chinese made amp? Uh, no thanks.

Good stuff man. Interesting comment about this guitar for you being primarily for lead playing. I think of a junior as a riff machine. 😊

got one just like this myself, lovely guitar and was an absolute steal!

Great analysis and demonstration. I learned through recording that with bass, drums, keyboards, and vocals, you need an acoustic that sits in the center of the mix. A good J45 does just that.

You could easily cut that whole front grille off and patch the tolex or re-tolex altogether.

What tubes does this require?

The Guild is the clear winner. Get the bridge fixed

Ps back in the 60-70s Alvarez has the lawsuit Martin's if you ever run across one in good shape get it I how a 12 string lawsuit Alvarez amazing guitar

These guitars are not really designed to be strummed the are afinger style dream that's the reason for no pick guard

Do a little research on that bridge it is amazing I have a early Alvarez Yairi that I wish had that bridge system

Im a fan of vintage Alvarez haven't looked at newer lines I have have the Martin ooo15sm which is solid mahogany 12 fret guitar slotted headstock and for under 1k

I ♡ my Excelsior as well. Great video.

quite out of tune there :) when you strum the chords its easy to tell

No arch top = More comfortable for a Telecaster player. Belly contour in the back of the body = Also comfortable for a Strat player.

Fender lost a lot to Kramer in late 70s and early 80s

The mystique = guitars have no quality control over the spund

Everyone agrees Alvarez needs more praise I love own a parlor one and this one is coming in a couple of days cant wait!!

I was stationed in Denver in 1966. I was at a folk club that year. A fellow was playing a J-50. I spoke with him between sets about Gibson guitars and that I was in the market for a better guitar than I already had. He said a J-45 would have been his first choice except for the price. I later found a J-50 from '66 that cost me $250, purchased in '67. Not all models sound the same from the same year, it is true. I found a great one that I had for many decades. Never regretted my choice. The pick guard and blonde top are the give away as to the model-- easily recognized.

When you swapped the p-100 out, did you have to use a shim for the p-90? I imagine being a stacked pickup it would be taller than the average p-90

Don't change the tone switch. Don't change the speaker. Don't change the tubes. For all that is holy...don't change the cabinet.

Yeah I think we as guitarists start off being trained as sheep to be honest. We need the certain "name" on our headstocks because we saw our heroes use them and anything short is a disappointment. I'm just as guilty as anyone. Then the large companies bend you over the sink because of it. Gibson had a chance to get my loyalty but they were just too far out of reach and when I finally was making good money I now have no interest in them I don't care who played them. That's how I first became an Ibanez guy, then a Fender guy. Value for money. With acoustics I have bought Martin / Taylor, but my favorites are the Yamaha AC5R and the Alvarez MD70EBG. So good. Just as good as any high end guitar I've played. We need to start rewarding the companies that give us extreme value for the money instead of those that would sodomize us just because iconic musicians have used them.

But there is an issue with string spacing on the Guild. I know because I have many Guild acoustic guitars. I have a smaller bodied 1969 F-20. I thought I loved it & kind of still do but the necks are wider. When I switch from my Guild Dreadnoughts or Ibanez acoustics to the F-20 it throws me off. I would need to play the F-20 exclusively for a while to fret the notes cleanly. I covet F-30’s because of players like Mississippi Joh Hurt & Paul Simon & they do sound amazing. Too bad they didn’t just keep the string spacing closer like on other acoustics.

About the bridge, why is it not your favorite? Is it the look that puts you off or something else specifically? I always looked at this type bridge as an innovative improvement in bridges. I like the no pickguard look.

I have the same one in yellow! Funny enough, I bought it back in 2021 at Austin vintage guitars. Cheers!

Gibson acoustics don’t sound good to me. I definitely like the sound of a Martin the best. Way different tones

I just bought a very clean ‘65 LG 1 - waiting for it to arrive… Very excited to play and bond with it.

These are super rare. Only 240 in butterscotch and 230 in white blonde. I emailed fender directly and this was their response

Nicely done!! They really do make great guitars!!

Is this model divided into two parts?

Amazing how the poor quality control of the pre-90’s can be rechristened as a positive.

Sweet. Thanks

This past weekend I happened on an old F30 in a shop; this coming week I'm going to take my '73 00-18 (not triple 0) and do a straight up comparison. They're about the same age, so it should be interesting. I've always felt the 00-18 was a bit lacking the bass department.

What microphone do you use? Good sound. I’m close to buying a hummingbird but this making me think twice

I own a 1972 guild f30...I bought it new in 1972. Mint condition.

How does it compare to that j-45 in the back?

WTF no tuner? Or no ears. Embarrassing mate

Good info! The J45 can also allow room for other instruments, like mandolin, as well as voice. I’ve owned a 2014 J45 Traditional - wonderful guitar - and now the Collings take on it, CJ45 T, with nickel bronze strings and only use it for picking on instrumental or solo music. A nice contrast and complement to the OM or 00 guitars with phosphor bronze strings I use for finger style.

I really wish I could find one cheaper. I am a really small guy.

Guild!

Guild...It has a nicer low end...And general vibe...It looks sooo sooo much cooler..;) It has that vintage thing some of us drool over...If you decided to stick with the Martin all good...I get it...Man acoustics are really really subjective...

I’ve came to the same conclusion, but I’d been playing Martin OMM for decades, but unfortunately had to sell and now an all mahogany with the Sitka spruce top is now about $3300. That makes me look twice and I gotta tell you you’re right I Alvarez is definitely the way to go.

I like the guild better

I love the Junior. A friend I played with in the late 70s had (has) a '54. I've wanted one off and on since. As an old guy, and one who was primarily a bass player who recently started playing again, I started looking. For my needs, a Gibson is out of the question. I found that either a Special or Junior with P90s is costlier than a humbucker model. I found an Epi Special for a hundred bucks on ebay and bought it. The plan was to do the P90 conversion. I still haven't. I want a Junior... with a P90.

Saying goodbye to your dog like I do my wife is priceless. Great review.

Love it

I have one of these in a Sweetwater cart trying to find a reason not to pull the trigger. I spent the Martin money on a D18 and I love it, but I’ve been looking for a rosewood guitar without dropping that much again.

Odd that you say those tuners don't belong because I have a 1991 J-45 with these very tuners too. Great rendition of that Hank song BTW.

I could use a short-scale Tele, but my optimum length is 25.75," with a 9 -10" radius, and 42 mm nut. I.e., a standard Gibson L-5 Jazz neck. -24" is kinda short in terms of intonation. Does it tune? Is it CNC made? Fret tolerance spacing for 24" must be far more precise than 25.4" scale. A 1/100th of a mm error in fret spacing can make intonation impossible on a three saddle bridge. BUT, you seem to have got one that tunes well, hence, it was likely CNC made. (YOU WANT TO SELL? How do I buy?). Frankly I think the best stuff Fender makes today comes from Mexico or China. If all you care about is usability and sound, get a Squire Affinity and do not worry about not having a spare £60,000 for a 1959 rosewood Tele! I suppose the Japanese will keep those guitars in glass cases in Japan. That's probably where my old '65 Esquire lives. How come the Japanese do not want to PLAY such guitars?! Weird. $400 for the Affinity will make you smile you can hardly loose. If the Polyurethane finish bothers you (it bothers the heck out of me!), use Gibson guitar polish as it has an ingredient that makes a PVC finish feel like a nitrate finish. I grant you that a PVC finish (polyurethane) looks like rubbish, feels like your playing a table leg, and will not allow a guitar to age naturally. When you are ancient, like me, your guitars will look the same as they did 50 years ago, Fender has been slopping their guitars with PVC finish for over 50 years now (since late 1967) and I'll never figure out why. It costs an extra 5 or 10 bucks per guitar to use nitrocellulose lacquer. I think most of us can afford an extra $50 - 100 clams for a guitar with a nitrocellulose finish. for a decent nitrate finish! Plus, LIGHTER wood would cause me to me BUY a couple of Fenders. I need a LIGHT Strat with vintage specs and a Tele, as well. In the old days, you could go to Manny's and at least one or two of the Teles would be under 6 lbs and there would be a 6 -6.5 lb Strat. If I wanted to lug around 10 lbs, I 'd get a Les Paul! Ironically, some of the Les Pauls are lighter than a new Telecaster!! Even the £10,000 "Masterbuilts" are as heavy as a Peter Built! -i.e., an 18 wheel lorry! Dear lord, this is not rocket science. Lighter Alder comes from the outside of the tree, and I do not care how it is cut, or if the body is made from two or three pieces. a SLAB-O-WOOD does not require a proper luthier! It's not a carved , sold Arch-top or flat-top. Light Teles and Strats sound, play and FEEL best. They always have. I am old. I remember. I still play an old Fender. It's a little over 6 lbs which is OK, but I find it HEAVY compared to my old 5 lb Esquire. Yes a 5 lb Tele is rare, even back in the early 1960s, but using outside cut Alder is easy to do (it's cheaper wood!), and I will pay EXTRA for a light Tele. (REASONABLE, Fender. You guys have gone super GREEDY). Why not rout chambers inside the guitar? The lighter the guitar , the better the resonance and sustain. Fender is now making a Tele and Strat model, both for about $2,200 that are perfect , except for their HEAVY WEIGHT. My current '62 has some life remaining but a new, LIGHTER Tele (under 6 lbs), selling for $2200, would cause me to BUY both a STRAT AND a TELE. SEE FENDER? You are LOOSING sales because you will not make them as you made them 60 years ago. Why is that difficult? The staff were not trained luthiers! It was a SIMPLE Slab-O-Wood. What is the problem? Leo was tighter than the bark on a tree, but he never made a mod that was not BETTER than the previous design. If there were significant savings, Leo passed it on to the customer. Leo loved to find better ways to do things for less money. He was a tinkerer, NOT a player. This is why Leo ALWAYS passed around a few FREE guitars to working professionals (in Clubs and Pubs). Leo made sure to get samples to players of ALL genrés ; -e.g., Jazz, Country, Pop, Blues, etc. This would supply the feedback he needed. Leo made guitars for every type of player. remember, that in 1949 and 1954, there was NO ROCK 'N ROLL! Fender Guitars were made for the same players that played Gibsons. Bob Will's lead guitarist, Eldon Shamblin was a Jazz-based player, and he LOVED his 1954 Stratocaster. It was priced right and served Mr. Shamblin well for many years. I am sure Mr. Shamblin bought one or two extra Stratocasters, just in case! If Gibson had rejected Les Paul's "log" design, Leo would have taken it with a big smile and the Stratocaster, would be named "Les Paul". Les would have made sure the neck was shaped exactly as the standard Gibson Jazz neck (24.75" scale and a 42 mm nut), and that it had a negative neck set angle. This would only have made it play better. Too bad. But, Gibson was who Les Paul sought because Gibson had been around much longer then Fender. -Ironic, because Leo had already discovered what Les had found. I.e., that a solid Slab-O-Wood was cheap to make and could sound and play well enough for most Jazz players. For Les' new style, he NEEDED a solid body guitar rather than a typical arch-top, which would feedback if used with the "Les Pulveriser™" Leo and Les would have made great freinds as they were both inventor/tinkerers. Alas, Les knew FAR MORE about electronics than Leo! They would have made a great team.

My Melody Makers feel sweet for similar reasons.