In 1965, in Stockton, Calif., my mom found a Dove for me… it was at a music store that was going out of business and I was just starting to learn guitar. She borrowed $250 from my grandpa and got it for me. I had it until 1983 when it got stolen. Since that day, I have always watched out for it (George Strait plays one). There was a small dimple above the pick guard, from where my brother threw a cherry pit and hit it. We were arguing over how to play a song. I will always miss how easy it played … a neck like no other. As always, thanks for the great reviews!
Thanks for that remembrance! I hope that your Dove, however far and wide it's traveled, has found plenty of love along the way. Makes me think of the Red violin - sometimes I like to think of instruments having lives and stories of their own, and we as the players are just the supporting characters :)
Very "Gibsony" sums it up beautifully. The sound is such a contrast from Martin, Taylor or Guild. You are either a Gibson lover or not, no in-betweens in love.
I have a Jadee Dove Japan knock off from back in the day that was my grandfather's that sent me down the Gibson bird path. I became so obsessed with my dove that I purchased several others and also got a dove tattooed on my arm. Great guitars.
The way I hear it, there's the J-45 sound, open it up & you have the Hummingbird, continue on the same line and you have the Dove. Every relevant video I see makes me glad I bought the Hummingbird.
Both are lovely. But the maple seems a bit bright on the Dove. And the Hummingbird is a little muted. I love my Songwriter (rosewood) - sits right in the middle of the frequency of those two. Not too blingy. And it has the chug.
I am reminded of a cherry burst from 1972. A used Gibson bird. The iconic sunburst. Broken (repaired) headstock, $750.00 I was young and didn't understand. I should have brought it!
Both nice guitars, but i prefer the crispy highs and the scooped mids on the Dove. I guess you can always replace the pickguard if you dont like it. The Gibson Country Western pickguard would probably fit nicely on these.
I have an epiphone dove and I love that guitar. it definitely has a different sound. Haven't had a chance to try the Gibson version. Keep up the good work!
Two terrific and very iconic guitars to compare. Really wish you guys would compare an Epiphone Dove Studio and Epiphone Hummingbird Studio. I've always been attracted to these guitars but $4,000 is not in my budget.
I don’t get why people think maple is bright. I don’t hear it that way. I played a maple hummingbird once (so 24.75” scale). It was so thumpy. I loved it.
I have been playing a friend’s Dove all week. I own a hummingbird J200 and 34 Jumbo and j45and many Martins the Dove to my ears does not sound bright to me. It sounds like very deep bass and a very compressed sound.
@@jamesgmorse3463 For the record, I don't hear mahogany as "bright" either, at least not usually; my D-18 is woody and dry. I do hear my M-36 (rosewood) as bright; it's wet, reverby, and yes also bassy and deep.
I have a Hummingbird I bought at Music Villa that’s 25 1/2” scale. I got it in 2006, but it was made in 2005. It has the thick, hand painted molded pickguard.
Shortly played side by side, they do sound different, but when heard with less memory from one an other, they sound pretty much similar I had found, as if the differences (bridge, scale length or others) had been sorted out as to get a closer response from both instruments...🤫 (if that makes any sense)...
Love that you guys did this. I was actually waiting for it to come up. More j-185 would be fun too, altho I don’t know what to suggest for comparison this time!
13 years ago I got a hummingbird for myself for a big birthday. It seems to suit my voice just perfectly. The only gripe I have is that the fancy pickguard keeps peeling up from the top and I'm afraid of messing up the nitro if I peel it off. Anybody have a solution? Is it a warranty thing? I press it back down and it stays for awhile, and then just curls back up again.
It is covered by the lifetime warranty but Gibson will just replace it with another made of the same rubbery material. MV Custom Guitars sell Gibson reproduction pickguards but they are pricey.
Same thing happening on my songwriter. I just ordered a reproduction from " Greasy Groove ". They are located in Canada. $18.00 plus shipping. Having a guitar tech do the switch. Chemical called naphtha will help with removal and cleanup.
hummingbird was more my favorite BUT i think paul hit it on the head with the crispy new string sound might have been throwing me off a bit. if i had the choice of the two i would take the dove though cause i believe tom petty wrote a ton of stuff with his dove.
They both sound great, but the Hummingbird sounds better to my ear. I'm not a flashy guy and certainly not a flashy guitar player, so I would like these guitars better if they were less ornate, but apparently most people like the Gibson bling.
Funny how these things work. My first acoustic steelstring was a J-45 and not long after that I decided to buy a cheap guitar as a backup and as the guitar to drag with you on parties and just to always have a guitar nearby, not sitting in a case. That cheap guitar was an Epiphone Dove Pro II. There’s something about the look that makes me prefer the Dove over the Hummingbird. But also the longer scale length and the brighter sound (the Gibson I mean, not the Epiphone). Yeah man, I love the Dove. Then again, I love the SJ-200 as well. And the unique sound of an LG-2. I already have ‘all’ the Martins I could ever hope for. Maybe it’s time for another Gibson. Hmmmmm… 🤔
@@maxwellfan55 : Thanks! But you know, I divorced years ago, the kids moved out, old enough to live on their own, I don’t care for expensive stuff other than musical gear and guitars. So I’m just enjoying myself now that I can for as long as it may last. But even under these circumstances it’ll take me 16 months to save for a good guitar. I’m not bragging, I’m just happy. 😊
Martin Kleinmann,I have the same issue with my hummingbird.The scratchplate raises up about an 8th of an inch on the outer edge,pisses me off although I m too scared to do any repairs,bopught my guitar new about 6 years ago.
I had the same problem. The pickguard is made of a soft rubbery material that refuses to lie flat.I ended up buying a replacement Dove pickguard from MV Custom Guitars. My guitar shop put it on and it looks GREAT, just like the original.
Love Gibson but I could never order one. They don’t seem to be CONSISTENT. Same guitar at different stores are like night and day. Plus do they come WITH electronics ?
Believe this or not, my uncle Hartford Synder designed both of the pick guards that the guitars were named after. He worked at Gibson n Kalamazoo Michigan for 35 years. Very creative. I have a Gibson Dove Custom with a bubble back or raised back. Ever seen another one.. Also have a couple extra pick guards that he gave me.
Paul, great idea for a "white" Dove, maybe a torrified top and clear maple back and sides? And a "round C" neck profile? Does Gibson have a thin finish? Just thinking. Thanks, Paul and Quinton!
Not only do they have a thin (“VOS” whatever that means) finish, but they have a nice satin finish too. My hummingbird “vintage” (2015) has a nice thin nitro finish.
Both are really great but I like the hummingbird a little more. Great strumming guitar. I'm surprised they didn't call the J-45 the Jaybird or something lol
It’s called the Country &Western. I had one Sheryl Crow Signature in the Hummingbird shape. Looking forward to your visit at Gibson. Still I’d love to see a comparison between J-45 and an AJ.
I don't mind the birds on the pickguard. I prefer the Hummingbird guard though. Then Dove etching is clearly a bird, the hummingbird, flowers and butterfly could be anything from a distance. It just looks like random designs. If we're talking asthetic, as for tone, I like the bright crisp of the Dove and I also like dry balanced thing the Hummingbird has too. it's like the Maple vs Birch drums debate. Maple has its thing loud, bright and Birch is a bit more focused, dry and works well in an studio. Natural EQ. I think if I were dropping big $ I'd get a Hummingbird. In a colour other than cherry.
Hi Peter - I hear where you caught some RHCP with the E-shape descending strums! I was just goofing a bit, but I do like that song, and have quoted it continuing further up the neck in other vids. It's an infectious acoustic rhythm/chord structure for sure. Thanks for watching!
In this review you guys totally missed something that should have been addressed, the fact that Doves are produced 2 different ways, sometimes with a maple neck and other times with a mahogany neck. Mine is all maple but I think the current iteration is mahogany. In addition, I actually have both of these models and favor the Hummingbird for finger style (both because of sound AND a marginally wider string spacing) but, the Dove for flat picking. You should compare a maple neck Dove to a mahogany neck Dove for fun. Just my 2 cents.
Hi there, i thing it's unfair to begin the video with strumming, as long as you strum much stronger the Dove than the Hummingbird. So i can imagine at once wich has your preference :-) You should (when demo or comparison) always start with finger picking. I've been thinger picking all my life long on this Gibson Hummingbird that i still play with great pleasure. But i would have been really interested in hearing and discover the sound of a splendid Dove, when picking a Jerry Reed tune (or better if you can.... i can't ^^). Generaly speaking, i think that's when demoing acoustic guitars like those, you should alaways start with finger picking. Who will imagine to pay the price of so nice guitars, only to strum 3 chords on a scout boys jamboree, or bandcamp or as a sideman !? Anayway... Anyway, congratulations from France, where I never miss an episode :-)
Both of these guitars sound great in this review. However, if they played something past the third fret on the B or E string. you wouldn't be able to heard the higher notes with anything else being played which is the downfall of these guitars.
Привет из России 💪 Я не очень понимаю, о чëм вы говорите 😅, но по звуку мне больше понравился калибри, голобь излишне яркий(на мой вкус) . Но это по видио.., возможно в руках инструмент ощущался бы по -другому) Жаль, что теперь такие инструменты можно только по видео смотреть. Официально они у нас больше не продаются, а те что продаются стоят, как чугунный мост 😀
Привет из США! Большая часть того, что мы говорим, это просто случайный разговор :) Мы стараемся, чтобы гитары говорили сами за себя! Dove был немного ярче в моих руках, но также имел немного больше глубины - иногда это не видно на видео, но это мир ютуба. Спасибо за просмотр! (пожалуйста, простите за путаный перевод от Google!)
I look forward to the day when a domestic musical instrument industry takes off in Russia. I’d love to see what you come up with that is uniquely Russian in nature. You had a domestic synthesizer industry. Is there anyone making guitars on a large scale in Russia? Also, what are the popular music gear stores in Russia?
but those are so gaudy , kitchy , prehaps hire some italian of rench designers to make them les eyesore , redesign those , it works with american cars perhaps it might help
In 1965, in Stockton, Calif., my mom found a Dove for me… it was at a music store that was going out of business and I was just starting to learn guitar. She borrowed $250 from my grandpa and got it for me. I had it until 1983 when it got stolen. Since that day, I have always watched out for it (George Strait plays one). There was a small dimple above the pick guard, from where my brother threw a cherry pit and hit it. We were arguing over how to play a song. I will always miss how easy it played … a neck like no other. As always, thanks for the great reviews!
Thanks for that remembrance! I hope that your Dove, however far and wide it's traveled, has found plenty of love along the way. Makes me think of the Red violin - sometimes I like to think of instruments having lives and stories of their own, and we as the players are just the supporting characters :)
I’m a proud owner of a ‘72 Cherry Bust Dove Custom that was my fathers it’s nothing short of incredible!
Very "Gibsony" sums it up beautifully. The sound is such a contrast from Martin, Taylor or Guild. You are either a Gibson lover or not, no in-betweens in love.
Oh yea there is 😂. I Love Martin's and Gibsons. Gotta have both 👍. Always have a HD28 around and a J45
I have a Jadee Dove Japan knock off from back in the day that was my grandfather's that sent me down the Gibson bird path. I became so obsessed with my dove that I purchased several others and also got a dove tattooed on my arm. Great guitars.
@01:47 - mentions the difference in scale-length. Originally, the Dove was a slightly wider instrument at he lower bout, too.
Totally awesome I think the Dove 🕊️ sounds the best
The way I hear it, there's the J-45 sound, open it up & you have the Hummingbird, continue on the same line and you have the Dove.
Every relevant video I see makes me glad I bought the Hummingbird.
Paul: “this is the bird review” 😂
Both are lovely. But the maple seems a bit bright on the Dove. And the Hummingbird is a little muted. I love my Songwriter (rosewood) - sits right in the middle of the frequency of those two. Not too blingy. And it has the chug.
I am reminded of a cherry burst from 1972. A used Gibson bird. The iconic sunburst. Broken (repaired) headstock, $750.00
I was young and didn't understand. I should have brought it!
Great comparison video thank you!
Both nice guitars, but i prefer the crispy highs and the scooped mids on the Dove. I guess you can always replace the pickguard if you dont like it. The Gibson Country Western pickguard would probably fit nicely on these.
Cheers Bozeman! Thanks for a great Gibson review!
I’d love it if you guys did some videos in the Gibson factory! Don Ruffato (sp?) is a treasure.
I have an epiphone dove and I love that guitar. it definitely has a different sound. Haven't had a chance to try the Gibson version. Keep up the good work!
Two terrific and very iconic guitars to compare. Really wish you guys would compare an Epiphone Dove Studio and Epiphone Hummingbird Studio. I've always been attracted to these guitars but $4,000 is not in my budget.
I don’t get why people think maple is bright. I don’t hear it that way. I played a maple hummingbird once (so 24.75” scale). It was so thumpy. I loved it.
Probably because you’re 94 years old and your hearing is completely shot
@@AlfimAlves Don't confuse me with your mom.
I have been playing a friend’s Dove all week. I own a hummingbird J200 and 34 Jumbo and j45and many Martins the Dove to my ears does not sound bright to me. It sounds like very deep bass and a very compressed sound.
@@jamesgmorse3463 For the record, I don't hear mahogany as "bright" either, at least not usually; my D-18 is woody and dry. I do hear my M-36 (rosewood) as bright; it's wet, reverby, and yes also bassy and deep.
I have a Hummingbird I bought at Music Villa that’s 25 1/2” scale. I got it in 2006, but it was made in 2005. It has the thick, hand painted molded pickguard.
I never heard of a Hummingbird with a 25 1/2 scale. Please tell more.
Just got my Dove from Bozeman in August...amazing guitar. Sounds great plugged in which is not my experience with other acoustics i've heard
Shortly played side by side, they do sound different, but when heard with less memory from one an other, they sound pretty much similar I had found, as if the differences (bridge, scale length or others) had been sorted out as to get a closer response from both instruments...🤫 (if that makes any sense)...
Love that you guys did this. I was actually waiting for it to come up. More j-185 would be fun too, altho I don’t know what to suggest for comparison this time!
13 years ago I got a hummingbird for myself for a big birthday. It seems to suit my voice just perfectly. The only gripe I have is that the fancy pickguard keeps peeling up from the top and I'm afraid of messing up the nitro if I peel it off. Anybody have a solution? Is it a warranty thing? I press it back down and it stays for awhile, and then just curls back up again.
It is covered by the lifetime warranty but Gibson will just replace it with another made of the same rubbery material.
MV Custom Guitars sell Gibson reproduction pickguards but they are pricey.
Same thing happening on my songwriter. I just ordered a reproduction from " Greasy Groove ". They are located in Canada. $18.00 plus shipping. Having a guitar tech do the switch. Chemical called naphtha will help with removal and cleanup.
Pickguard peeling apparently, is common with Gibsons so why bother with replacing with original when it will just happen again?
hummingbird was more my favorite BUT i think paul hit it on the head with the crispy new string sound might have been throwing me off a bit. if i had the choice of the two i would take the dove though cause i believe tom petty wrote a ton of stuff with his dove.
They both sound great, but the Hummingbird sounds better to my ear. I'm not a flashy guy and certainly not a flashy guitar player, so I would like these guitars better if they were less ornate, but apparently most people like the Gibson bling.
Great video! Both great guitars - legends. I have and love the dove!
The Hummingbird to this tin ear…but that Dove ain’t horrible!🎸
Funny how these things work. My first acoustic steelstring was a J-45 and not long after that I decided to buy a cheap guitar as a backup and as the guitar to drag with you on parties and just to always have a guitar nearby, not sitting in a case. That cheap guitar was an Epiphone Dove Pro II. There’s something about the look that makes me prefer the Dove over the Hummingbird. But also the longer scale length and the brighter sound (the Gibson I mean, not the Epiphone).
Yeah man, I love the Dove. Then again, I love the SJ-200 as well. And the unique sound of an LG-2. I already have ‘all’ the Martins I could ever hope for. Maybe it’s time for another Gibson. Hmmmmm… 🤔
Now you're braggin' dude, but best of luck to you!! Another Gibson...YES!
If I may recommend....a J200 Studio. Hidden gem, you may not put it down.
@@maxwellfan55 : Thanks! But you know, I divorced years ago, the kids moved out, old enough to live on their own, I don’t care for expensive stuff other than musical gear and guitars. So I’m just enjoying myself now that I can for as long as it may last. But even under these circumstances it’ll take me 16 months to save for a good guitar. I’m not bragging, I’m just happy. 😊
Martin Kleinmann,I have the same issue with my hummingbird.The scratchplate raises up about an 8th of an inch on the outer edge,pisses me off although I m too scared to do any repairs,bopught my guitar new about 6 years ago.
I had the same problem. The pickguard is made of a soft rubbery material that refuses to lie flat.I ended up buying a replacement Dove pickguard from MV Custom Guitars. My guitar shop put it on and it looks GREAT, just like the original.
Love Gibson but I could never order one. They don’t seem to be CONSISTENT. Same guitar at different stores are like night and day. Plus do they come WITH electronics ?
The modern versions do and the original don't. So you choose.
I have one of the Hummingbird Originals. I absolutley love the Hummingbird. If I had more money than since, I'd have a Dove as well. LOL
Believe this or not, my uncle Hartford Synder designed both of the pick guards that the guitars were named after. He worked at Gibson n Kalamazoo Michigan for 35 years. Very creative. I have a Gibson Dove Custom with a bubble back or raised back. Ever seen another one.. Also have a couple extra pick guards that he gave me.
Paul, great idea for a "white" Dove, maybe a torrified top and clear maple back and sides? And a "round C" neck profile? Does Gibson have a thin finish? Just thinking. Thanks, Paul and Quinton!
Not only do they have a thin (“VOS” whatever that means) finish, but they have a nice satin finish too. My hummingbird “vintage” (2015) has a nice thin nitro finish.
@@JesseDylanMusic thanks. Something crazy would be a 12-fret.
@@texhaines9957 Yeah, I can't even remember the last 12-fret Gibson I saw...!
Both are really great but I like the hummingbird a little more. Great strumming guitar. I'm surprised they didn't call the J-45 the Jaybird or something lol
Hahahaha you made me LoL!
Piggyback on what Paul said, maybe making something similar to country and western?
Try Gibson flat wound strings on the Dove for a jazzier tone (.50--.11) or Brite Wires (.46--.10) for easier Barre cords & string bending.
It’s called the Country &Western. I had one Sheryl Crow Signature in the Hummingbird shape.
Looking forward to your visit at Gibson.
Still I’d love to see a comparison between J-45 and an AJ.
I don't mind the birds on the pickguard. I prefer the Hummingbird guard though. Then Dove etching is clearly a bird, the hummingbird, flowers and butterfly could be anything from a distance. It just looks like random designs. If we're talking asthetic, as for tone, I like the bright crisp of the Dove and I also like dry balanced thing the Hummingbird has too. it's like the Maple vs Birch drums debate. Maple has its thing loud, bright and Birch is a bit more focused, dry and works well in an studio. Natural EQ.
I think if I were dropping big $ I'd get a Hummingbird. In a colour other than cherry.
Quinton, were you playing Breaking the Girl?
Hi Peter - I hear where you caught some RHCP with the E-shape descending strums! I was just goofing a bit, but I do like that song, and have quoted it continuing further up the neck in other vids. It's an infectious acoustic rhythm/chord structure for sure. Thanks for watching!
Would love to hear a comparison between a faded hummingbird and a Dove
In this review you guys totally missed something that should have been addressed, the fact that Doves are produced 2 different ways, sometimes with a maple neck and other times with a mahogany neck. Mine is all maple but I think the current iteration is mahogany. In addition, I actually have both of these models and favor the Hummingbird for finger style (both because of sound AND a marginally wider string spacing) but, the Dove for flat picking. You should compare a maple neck Dove to a mahogany neck Dove for fun. Just my 2 cents.
Question: given that top vibration is crucial to guitar sound, wouldn’t those giant & thick pickguards be counter-productive?
I love the dove, but I can't live with that silly bridge. I know it sounds stupid, but I just can't do it.
I’d like to see an Epiphone inspired by Gibson Dove. I prefer the Dove over the Hummingbird.
I like the hummingbird best. Mahogany all the way for sound.
the Dove for me.
what up with Q....????? Is he on Ozempic????
Hi there, i thing it's unfair to begin the video with strumming, as long as you strum much stronger the Dove than the Hummingbird. So i can imagine at once wich has your preference :-)
You should (when demo or comparison) always start with finger picking. I've been thinger picking all my life long on this Gibson Hummingbird that i still play with great pleasure. But i would have been really interested in hearing and discover the sound of a splendid Dove, when picking a Jerry Reed tune (or better if you can.... i can't ^^). Generaly speaking, i think that's when demoing acoustic guitars like those, you should alaways start with finger picking. Who will imagine to pay the price of so nice guitars, only to strum 3 chords on a scout boys jamboree, or bandcamp or as a sideman !? Anayway... Anyway, congratulations from France, where I never miss an episode :-)
Both of these guitars sound great in this review. However, if they played something past the third fret on the B or E string. you wouldn't be able to heard the higher notes with anything else being played which is the downfall of these guitars.
bought.
...and I don't have a maple...
Humming bird deeper sound..
Hate the birds on the pick guard
The Dove pickguard is beautiful
Привет из России 💪
Я не очень понимаю, о чëм вы говорите 😅, но по звуку мне больше понравился калибри, голобь излишне яркий(на мой вкус) .
Но это по видио.., возможно в руках инструмент ощущался бы по -другому)
Жаль, что теперь такие инструменты можно только по видео смотреть. Официально они у нас больше не продаются, а те что продаются стоят, как чугунный мост 😀
Привет из США!
Большая часть того, что мы говорим, это просто случайный разговор :) Мы стараемся, чтобы гитары говорили сами за себя! Dove был немного ярче в моих руках, но также имел немного больше глубины - иногда это не видно на видео, но это мир ютуба. Спасибо за просмотр!
(пожалуйста, простите за путаный перевод от Google!)
@@quintonking9960 Спасибо за ответ!) Очень нравится ваш канал. Удачи вам 👋
I look forward to the day when a domestic musical instrument industry takes off in Russia. I’d love to see what you come up with that is uniquely Russian in nature. You had a domestic synthesizer industry. Is there anyone making guitars on a large scale in Russia? Also, what are the popular music gear stores in Russia?
Amazing instrument and they sound beautiful, but they are way overpriced compared to what is out in the marketplace.
Gibson MoJo
Totally agree- love the sound of the Dove, hate the way they both look. Not fan of bling.
Oh, these Gibsons are things of beauty!
I want those minutes of my life back!!
What a load of NOTHING that was! 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
The pick gaurds are too big, they take a lot away from the potential sound, like a muffler. Why have excellent wood, then cover it with plastic?
but those are so gaudy , kitchy , prehaps hire some italian of rench designers to make them les eyesore , redesign those , it works with american cars perhaps it might help
it wasn’t too gaudy for all the legendary musicians who used it.