Westerly Wood
Venerated Member
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- Mar 21, 2007
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Double pickguards are less of a tonal issue than the moustache bridge, because the double pickguards are in an area where very little sound/vibration is happening. The moustache bridge is sitting in the middle of the lower bout, which is where the sound originates. I think of the miustache bridge, or any excessively large bridge, as acting as an added brace, on top of the soundboard. I can see no way that it can be other than a tonal detriment.
J45s/J50s, SJNs can be great sounding guitars, so I don’t think all Gibsons are bad. I justhave never heard a J200 that sounded good. It may be that I expect a different sound. I have heard Martin J40s before, and they sound good, as did my F-50R before it went in for repair. Maybe I expected more from “The King of the Flattops”, but it comes across as more of a minor noble than a king.
That makes sense. I remember Martin guitars struggling in the 70s due to a change in the heavy wood of the bridge plate. Sounds right on then, your synopsis.