Gibson acoustic guitars, anyone have any preference or insight?

pikingrin

what is this?
Guitar Center is not my favorite place to go to look for stuff but it's close to campus and I can stop in on the way home without going too far out of the way and wasting too much time. Tonight I saw a used Gibson hummingbird in the acoustic room so I figured I'd give it a try to see if it was any different than an old copy made by Pan (aria) that I have in my herd. Well, it was disappointing to say the least. Didn't seem to have nearly the volume or balance as an indonesian (or chinese) made guild concert body that I picked up afterwards. The neck on the bird felt great but damn, it really wasn't much to write home about and it still had a $2200 price tag on it used.

Which brings me to my question to everyone here who owns a Gibson acoustic: was this one just a fluke? I know the models vary and I've also heard negatives about some other gibson acoustic models but more in terms of overall sound, not necessarily volume. I guess I expected more out of a dreadnaught.
 
Was it new or used? Were strings recently changed? What was the room's humidity level? There are so many variables when it comes to acoustic guitars. Many GCs just hang the guitars on the walls, don't adjust them or set them up, they get played by every JoeSchmoShredder who comes in and if they sit there fora a few months the strings become worthless.
 
Well, the humidity in the room was 52% (a little high if you ask me), it was used but appeared to be mint and the strings weren't in too bad of shape. The strings on the cheapo Guild ($400 used compared to almost 6x that) were in far worse shape and it sounded great. It hasn't been there for more than a week, didn't see it the last time I was in...
 
Hummingbirds are kinda bright. You have to like that tone and know what you want from the acoustic. The vintage J-45/50 and CF-100e are the best Gibsons, imo. They're all unaffordable, but if you find one in a shop they're a blast. Gibson and Martin make the best acoustics to my ear, but you have to find "the one" within their lineups, and that takes a lot of testing.
 
hummingbirds are low volume guitars, not sound cannons by any stretch of the imagination. They are more about soft articulation. That's why you never see bluegrass guys playing one. A banjo, fiddle, and mandolin would totally drown one out. They play Martin D28's...they are loud sound cannons. The Martin's are too bass sounding for my particular tastes. I'm not a huge fan of Gibson acoustics. They lack consistency IMO. I have played J45's that sound wonderful, and I have played J45's that suck. I guess my favorite Gibson are the jumbos. If you find a good one they sound incredible....plus, they are really cool looking guitars.

I have an American made guild DV52 that I wouldn't trade for 2 Gibsons. It has a complex sound, fantastic articulation, and is louder than a Martin D28.
It has it all.
 
Yeah I agree Gibsons are inconsistent. I'd never buy one online for that reason, no matter the price. You have to test a Gibson for sure. But if you go in a shop and find one of the good ones, they rival anything ever made.

Take it with a grain of salt 'cause I'm finicky about acoustics. Eg. I hate every Taylor I've ever played, and people consider them top notch. Martins can be great, but many of the newer ones sound thin/like ass to me. I like the darker sound of a full bodied Martin (Hd28) or J50 (good ones), etc. If you're thinking about within the context of a mix the acoustic would be different than if you're playing live/solo.

The best thing is to go to a shop that has a good selection of acoustics and try them. If you travel and go to cities stop in the local music stores and test everything you can. Cities always have great stuff you won't get to test in small town shops.
 
Eg. I hate every Taylor I've ever played, and people consider them top notch.

On the other hand, I've loved every Taylor I've played, and I'm one of those who consider them top notch.

A friend of mine as a Hummingbird which he got in the seventies. I was never keen on it, because it always sounded dull. However in recent years he has had some work done to it (I'm not sure what) and gone for different stringts and it sounds way better.

Another mate has an Australian custom made guitar (I'm not sure what sort) which he uses for bluegrass. It is amazingly suited to that, but I can hardly play it . . . the strings are like railroad tracks.
 
I haven't loved every Taylor I have played, but a majority, for sure.
On the other hand, I played a used J45 at a GC a year or 2 ago that was totally unimpressive. Don't typically see used Gibsons around here.
 
I love the way Taylors play, but hate the way they sound. I much prefer Gibsons' sound, but they're a little more unwieldy. Just never bonded with Martins for some reason, even though 90% of my favorite players play them almost exclusively.

And welcome back, pikingrin. Wondered what happened to ya. How's the weather up there?
 
some of the best sounding guitars...IMHO...we're the Yamaha acoustics from the 1970s. The red dot ones. They were simply awsome....especially for a cheap ass acoustic guitar. They had phenomenal volume. There was one in the local pawn shop here a few years back, and it was scratched and beat to hell and back. It was really in rough shape cosmetically....but on my God did that thing sound good!! Made the fender, Ibanez, and Alveras acoustics they had sound like toys in comparisan. Ixwas in the market for an acoustic too.They wanted $300 for it and it didn't even have a case. They wouldn't come down on it and I passed. I went to Guitar Center and played everything they had...I realized I was gonna have to spend $2500 to $3500 to get in the same ballpark tonewise. I went back to the pawn shop the next day and it had already sold.
:cursing::spank:
I STILL kick myself for letting that one get away.
 
I hate Gibson acoustics with a passion. I don't even care what they sound like. All that overblown woodwork and silly flowery scratch plate detail makes me want to smash them.

I'd go Martin, Taylor, Maton (not that you'll find them anywhere near you) any day before a Gibson. As jimistone points out, there's good stuff from Yamaha. Takamine too with their Martin knock offs.

Mind you, I hate most things Gibson, except for Les Pauls, of which I have two, so you can safely ignore me. :D
 
I would try several other brands, keeping an open mind. I had a Charvel 625C for the last ten years, sounded really good, even with a laminated top. I also have a Conn GC size, rumored to be a red label Yamaha built for Conn. There's quite a bit of similarity structure-wise. If you're set on a Gibson, go for one of the plain ones, like The Songwriter model, or a B-25.
 
Cardio: school, only 2 semesters left, and a house build, have kept me busy enough. Got my barn guitar, right by the beer fridge, that keeps me going in the meantime. Still kicking on the git-fiddle and relegated to recording the git and uke on my old tascam handheld for now. Is what it is...

Armistice: yeah,..I only played the bird because I have a japanese knockoff from the late 60's and wanted a comparison. And I've always jonesed for a j45 for some reason. Have a nicer Taylor and just recently got rid of my Martin so, to go along with the rest of this thread (and site), it seems like that is all pretty subjective. :D

At any rate, I just go in to GC to see what's there at least twice a month and the hummingbird was dissapointing to my ears/tastes/standards so I thought I'd pose the question to see if anyone else has more experience with them to get an idea of whether this one was a fluky suck waste or not. I am pretty sure that the responses haven't answered my main question but it has been interesting, in a sociological way, to see them all. Thanks!!
 
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