Gibson J-35

A dark chocolate brown ("vintage") sunburst jumbo round-shouldered wide-waisted flat top acoustic that looks just the job. No 141 of 250 of this limited edition re-issue made in 1995. Bought in England. I believe this is the only re-issue run since the original 2,500 or so J-35s were made between 1936 (when it was introduced @ $35 to be more affordable than the Gibson Jumbo) and 1942, after which they were superseded (when some materials became unavailable) by the J-45. I've seen (unconfirmed) references to 2 J-35s made in 1986 and 1992 respectively, but from my research so far I don't think any were made in those years (unless they were custom made?) although some prototypes were reportedly made in Montana in 1993 with expectations of making the J-35 a production model.

Select (sitka?) spruce top with fine figuring, in 2 pieces, almost black at the edges and yellow/orange sunburst for an area with c6-7" radius centred just behind the bridge. Body 20" long, 16" at widest point, with 10 3/8" waist widening to 11 3/8" level with the end of the neck, which finishes 1/8" from the sound hole. Sound hole round, 4 1/8" diameter with white/black/white rosette binding 1/4" from the hole. Firestripe mock tortoise celluloid pick guard in wider (cf teardrop) shape. Bridge ebony, rectangular (ie with sraight parallel sides) and a single pearloid dot inlay (presumably hiding the screws / bolts (if any?) into the bridge pad) to the outer side of each of the white E strings' bridge pins. Saddle slot open at the ends. Thick (at edge) white/black/thin white 3 ply celluloid binding on front.

Sides - dark red mahogany, but almost black by the neck, graduating from 4 5/8" at end to 3 3/4" at neck. Strap button at the fat end only, screwed centrally through white inlay that tapers from 1/2" at front to 1/4" at back.

Back - dark red mahogany with 1/16" wide black (ebony?) band running centrally up the length of the back. Single white binding all round, with 3 ply (w/b/w) binding covering the entire base of the D shaped neck heel.

Neck - 24 3/4" scale, dark red mahogany (but almost black at the heel) with 1/8" darker strip running centrally up the back (is it a 3 part laminated neck or is it just an inlay up the middle of the back of the neck?). Slight V sculpting to back of the neck, especially towards the body. Radiused unbound ebony fingerboard with pearloid dot inlay and white side dots. 1 11/16" wide at the nut. 19 frets, joining the body at the 14th.

Headstock flaring from 2 3/8" below the E tuners to 2 3/4" at the top, which is, er, crossbow shaped. Headstock slightly thinner at top. Vintage nickel tuners, individual, uncovered, marked "WAVERLY" with elliptic white finger knobs. Front of headstock gloss black veneered with cream inlaid pearloid old scroll-style Gibson logo. Usual bell shaped plain truss rod cover. 8 digit serial number stamped into the top (above the G & D tuners) of the headstock with "MADE IN USA" stamped (just visible) between the G & D tuners.

Inside, the top has tapered and scalloped X bracing (with the cross itself 1" from the sound hole), 2 parallel scalloped tone bars (aka transverse braces), 4 wing braces (2 each side of the X), a cross shoulder brace (tapered at the ends) 3/8" from the sound hole. Braces shaped to create a convex top (side to side and back to back). 1 1/8" bridge pad (maple?) shaped to fit the top's curved dome. Back has 4 cross bars.

Hard brown case with luxurious purple plush lining and soft top sheet.

Lovely tone with both strumming and picking. I like the balance between the low and high strings, particularly with medium gauge strings (13s), but it's somewhat easier to play with light gauge strings (12s) although there is a small loss of tonal quality.

All is excellent except for 4 things. At first I found I couldn't easily wrap my thumb around the neck to play the low F in a Dm or F chord (and I rely on these quite a lot). I therefore had the nut changed, supposedly to move the low E string nearer to the edge but the luthier didn't actually move it towards the edge but I've changed my technique and it's no problem.

The finish in the 1/8" gap between the end of the neck and the sound hole is a little poor, with the neck overlapping the rosette binding - it really doesn't matter, but pictures of original J-35s show the entire rosette binding so I think it's probably not quite right.

More serious was that the bottom E (only) was just a little out of tune as I went up the frets, but my luthier sorted this when he changed the nut (for bone instead of the original plastic).

The nirocellulose lacquer finish is irretrievably marked (slightly cloudy) in one place by sweat etc. I'm told this is because Gibson use a particularly soft lacquer for better tone and appearance - and overall it certainly looks good inside and out! Well, I've had the guitar since 1998 and it deserves to have sweat marks!

I've no reason to think this guitar should have any reliability or durability problems.

I've contacted the 'Gibson Web Guys' twice in the past and I got good responses.

I saw and played the guitar and loved it immediately. I'm very happy with it. It plays well, sounds good and looks great - and it says "Gibson" on the headstock :) - even if people can't read the old scroll lettering.

I use a Sunrise pickup and preamp when I need it amplified.

I've gone into a lot of detail as there's little about the J-35 on the www and as I'd be interested to hear from anyone with a J-45 (or other similar model) as to the differences between the J-35 originals and the re-issues or between different re-issue specimens: ian@zyggy.demon.co.uk (BTW - I've never given anything 10/10).