Guitar Gear

Five years ago, I walked into a guitar shop in Waikiki, near the Alamoana Mall. Browsing through the shop, I saw that they had an HK Audio Elements PA system setup. I asked one of the guys that worked if I could check it out and he said, just get a guitar off the wall. My eyes were immediately drawn to the Gibson acoustics and I asked if I could pull a J-45 off the rack. I had recently gotten into Passenger and Mike plays a J-45. The guy came over and took it off since it was one of those that required “sales assistance.” Once he handed it to me, I plugged the guitar into the PA and was immediately transported to my happy place; that creative zone full of musical possibilities.

A couple of hours later, I resolved much like Wayne in Wayne’s World: You Will Be Mine!

Today that resolution came to pass. I just received a 2019 J-45 Avant Garde Walnut Burst. It is SO cool that I’m close to speechless, so I’ll just share some photos I took before I even tuned it up and played it.

When I finally did play it, I was again transported to my happy place. Though in the five years that I first played a J-45, I ordered this walnut version without ever playing one. I had just listened to recordings and watched videos with good quality sound, and merely had an idea of how it would sound. This definitely was a gut call, but I really felt in my heart of hearts that it would be a great choice. I wasn’t wrong.

Initial Impressions

After just playing it for about a half hour, here are my initial impressions:

1. First off, the guitar is absolutely gorgeous. The grain of the walnut is purely amazing. When I first looked at the back, I had to check myself. I haven’t seen a guitar back that looked like this except for a friend’s sapele acoustic (though sapele’s lines are more even). The striations on this walnut back and sides are incredible! It looks like a piece of frickin’ furniture!
2. The neck is perfect. At 24.75″ scale, it plays like a Les Paul neck, but it has a modern taper to it, so it plays even easier.
3. As for the action, it’s low without any buzz. It’s perfect!
4. The tuners are nice and snug and very smooth, making tuning a breeze.
5. As far as the sound is concerned, what it produces is the archetype of acoustic guitar sound for me. It has nice, round, well-behaved lows, and crisp mids and highs. While not bright at all, there’s a high-end overtone sparkle that really makes itself apparent when strumming.

I can confidently say that though I’ve only spent a little time with the guitar, it is everything I’ve ever wanted in an acoustic.

Some Quick Sound Samples

Fingerstyle

This guitar sustains notes like nobody’s business! I’m looking forward to playing it regularly because it really needs a while to settle in. But right out of the box. Wow!