Gibson G45

lapua65

Anyone tried these yet. Was due to look at one today but was sold this morning. I have my eye on the new solid wood Sigma SDM SG5 that is the hummingbird style but wondered if the G45 was a worthy guitar for the same money. I haven't heard much about them.

dombennison

I recently bought a G45 studio after I sold my Martin 000-16 - Honestly, there's so much bang for the buck with the G45. I recorded it for the first time the other day and it sounded great. The G45 studio can be a little aggressive in the mids (around 1.5kHz) but that's being super picky and you could tame that with different mics, positioning and EQ. The G45 sounds way more expensive than the price tag. The finish is great, super comfortable, rounded neck profile - it's fairly chunky but not a baseball bat to play. Very comfortable.
Really balanced tones, nice bright top end and a rich low end. Obviously not as much low end as a J45 due to the slimmer body but that super low end gets taken out in a mix anyway generally! To be honest, I find the slimmer body a little easier to play than the full size J45 - probably because my martin was quite slim so that's what I'm used to.

The stock pickup isn't great to be honest, and the battery drains even with the lead unplugged. But, it's perfectly good enough for rocking up at a gig and DI'ing - just remember to take a spare battery or a rechargeable one! 

I got mine brand new for £740 including the hardcase - I honestly don't think you can go wrong at that price for a USA Gibson acoustic with a hardcase and pickup. Really happy with mine! 

Hope that helps

Andy79

I’ve played a couple. Unimpressed the first time but second time really impressed.  It ain’t no J45 but it’s impressive non the less. 

The walnut Back and neck looks great too. The build quality was nice, pretty light weight and the simple appointments appeal to me. 

Just bear in mind it’s slimmer than the J so that contributes to the lack of thump of a classic Gibson slope

Kilgore

@dombennison.
. Where did you pick one up for £740?

dombennison

Kilgore said:

@dombennison.
. Where did you pick one up for £740?

It was on Guitar Galleries https://www.guitar-galleries.co.uk/  - they did have a 10% off coupon during lockdown when I bought it but I’ve seen them at about 780 on other shops, they just didn’t have stock available when I was buying

Kilgore

dombennison said:

Kilgore said:

@dombennison.
. Where did you pick one up for £740?

It was on Guitar Galleries https://www.guitar-galleries.co.uk/  - they did have a 10% off coupon during lockdown when I bought it but I’ve seen them at about 780 on other shops, they just didn’t have stock available when I was buying

Cheers.

I'll keep my eyes open. I'm quite interested in the studio, but I've only seen it approx £840. I'll do some digging for a better deal. 

lapua65

I've decided to go with the G45 but the Standard is top of the cash I have today. So I was wondering on opinions of getting the Standard and enjoying the more refined finish or buy the Studio and get it set up. Last couple of guitars I had set up in Warwick were pretty much different beasts once set up. I am a sucker for a nice bit of subtle bling on my guitars but haven't managed to get hold of the Standard yet to see if there is any significant difference in finish. Too hard to tell of the interweb.

Andy79

Big difference in finish. Gloss vs super thin satin and binding is different. Think the standard has BWB binding  I happen to prefer the studio but we of course, probably prefer different things 

pretty sure the studio has walnut board and bridge while the studio has a something resembling rosewood. Again, I prefer the studio in this dept also

The studio I saw also had some funky bear claw figuring in the top. Nice