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Gibson J100 Xtra Acoustic-Electric Guitar (with Case)
Super Jumbo with Moustache Bridge.
"The finest acoustic I have ever owned"
Feature:
Excellant tuners and a good roadworthy case. I also appreciate the humidifier.
Quality:
The quality of my guitar is excellant. It is now 2 years old and still looks like new. Like all gibsons, its ruggedly built and barring a mishap, should last me for the rest of my life.
Value:
I paid $1500 for this guitar and it blows away guitars costing twice as much.
Desirability:
The guitar looks nice, but truthfully, I don't care about looks, I care about sound and playability. This guitar is very sexy when you close your eyes and listen to it.
Sound:
I have owned over 50 guitars in my lifetime, including fenders, gibsons, and martins. This is the finest sounding guitar I have ever owned. I can't go one day without playing it. When I am not performing with it, it sits in a stand beside my bed and gets played every evening. The sound is very bassy and full. I do alot of finger picking and this guitar really is well balanced. I play it through a fender SFX acoustasonic amp and also mike it with a shure condeser mike. The shure brings out the bassy character of this instrument.
Support:
I have been a Gibson man my whole life - especially with Les Pauls. I have never had any trouble with support.
Overall:
The only guitar I want now is the Gibson songwriter deluxe. I will be buying one within the next year. After that I will be truly satisfied both on stage and in the studio
Excellant tuners and a good roadworthy case. I also appreciate the humidifier.
Quality:
The quality of my guitar is excellant. It is now 2 years old and still looks like new. Like all gibsons, its ruggedly built and barring a mishap, should last me for the rest of my life.
Value:
I paid $1500 for this guitar and it blows away guitars costing twice as much.
Desirability:
The guitar looks nice, but truthfully, I don't care about looks, I care about sound and playability. This guitar is very sexy when you close your eyes and listen to it.
Sound:
I have owned over 50 guitars in my lifetime, including fenders, gibsons, and martins. This is the finest sounding guitar I have ever owned. I can't go one day without playing it. When I am not performing with it, it sits in a stand beside my bed and gets played every evening. The sound is very bassy and full. I do alot of finger picking and this guitar really is well balanced. I play it through a fender SFX acoustasonic amp and also mike it with a shure condeser mike. The shure brings out the bassy character of this instrument.
Support:
I have been a Gibson man my whole life - especially with Les Pauls. I have never had any trouble with support.
Overall:
The only guitar I want now is the Gibson songwriter deluxe. I will be buying one within the next year. After that I will be truly satisfied both on stage and in the studio
"She Rocks and Whispers"
Feature:
My J100 came with its hard case and Gibson included a 'snake' humidifier, which I appreciated very much.
Quality:
It's gorgeous to look at. The antique natural finish is cool. The back is dark and I suppose it would be even more attractive if the back were a lighter shade, but that is not a big deal. I guess it would be good to have an attached pick guard. I am reluctant to put on the one which came with it, just because I'd be afraid it would mess up the guitar.
Value:
Well worth what I paid!
Desirability:
I OWN it, and I am glad I do.
Sound:
I have had mine for about 3 weeks now, and it is simply one of the best acoustics I have ever owned... and I have had a couple dozen. This guitar rocks or whispers, whichever you need. Wonderful tone plugged in or not. I frequently tune to Drop D or double drop D and this is by far the best sounding guitar I've played for that. Overall the J100 has a mid range and bassy tone.
Overall:
Can you tell I love this guitar? If you got the bucks for it, get it. I think you'll love it too.
My J100 came with its hard case and Gibson included a 'snake' humidifier, which I appreciated very much.
Quality:
It's gorgeous to look at. The antique natural finish is cool. The back is dark and I suppose it would be even more attractive if the back were a lighter shade, but that is not a big deal. I guess it would be good to have an attached pick guard. I am reluctant to put on the one which came with it, just because I'd be afraid it would mess up the guitar.
Value:
Well worth what I paid!
Desirability:
I OWN it, and I am glad I do.
Sound:
I have had mine for about 3 weeks now, and it is simply one of the best acoustics I have ever owned... and I have had a couple dozen. This guitar rocks or whispers, whichever you need. Wonderful tone plugged in or not. I frequently tune to Drop D or double drop D and this is by far the best sounding guitar I've played for that. Overall the J100 has a mid range and bassy tone.
Overall:
Can you tell I love this guitar? If you got the bucks for it, get it. I think you'll love it too.
"One Sunday Afternoon in August..."
Feature:
I really like the transducer bridge pick-up. I'm not too familiar wiht electric acoustic products so I don't feel that qualified to comment, but it does amplify the sound fairly accurately (although it tends to sound like an Ovation guitar at times). I also like the idea of incorporating the 1/4" jack with the strap button. It would have been nice to have a strap button on the heel end of the neck for convenience. The hardshell case is great! The gold tuning mechanism and pins provide subtle look of eloquence.
Quality:
I detect no failing in workmanship or quality in the construction and design of this guitar. The maple sides and back make for a really attractive guitar. I can probably enjoy just looking at it if could, but I know how good it sounds so I can't do so without wanting to pick it up and play!
Value:
I paid $1699 for my guitar and I feel that this was a fair price. I paid ~$1800 for my Martin.
Desirability:
I rate this category sort of blindly, since I'm assuming that this Jumbo is comparable in sound to the higher end J200 Gibson products. I'm not one for fancy features, so I thought the J100 xtra provided the perfect chance for me to own a Gibson super jumbo guitar. I hope I am not wrong in my assumption and I can proceed happy in my ignorance.
Sound:
I own a Martin D35 and in comparison the J100 xtra provides a "bigness" of sound not available on the Martin. For fingerstyle playing, the J100 xtra has more clarity and balance throughout the range of my playing. For heavier strumming it also provides the bite and projection. However, the D35 is more gentle and cohesive in the more "quiet" strumming tunes. I wouldn't rate one vs. the other since the two are fairly different in character and direct comparison may be futile. In addition, I use an ultra light set of strings on my Martin and a medium gauge on my jumbo which may account for some of the differences. But for me (who is a bit hard of hearing) I do appreciate the greater volume and clarity of the gibson j100 as it helps with my singing intonation.
Support:
I can only judge on the one instance where I solicited some support via email on their website. I was told by a young maybe ill-informed guitar salesman that if I wanted to use an ultra light gauge set of strings on my J100 I will have to have the neck re-adjusted and set-up. So I sent an email question to Gibson to which I received a response within 1 day. If you want to know, the Gibson technician said it would be no problem to switch to the lighter gauge without re-adjusting the neck.
Overall:
I can't rate this perfectly, although I am completely happy with my J100. I have to leave some room for improvement just in case my wife reads this and thinks that since I have the perfect guitar why buy another one? By the way, my wife is an angel letting me indulge my fancy and buy this J100 xtra on an impulse one Sunday afternoon in August.
I really like the transducer bridge pick-up. I'm not too familiar wiht electric acoustic products so I don't feel that qualified to comment, but it does amplify the sound fairly accurately (although it tends to sound like an Ovation guitar at times). I also like the idea of incorporating the 1/4" jack with the strap button. It would have been nice to have a strap button on the heel end of the neck for convenience. The hardshell case is great! The gold tuning mechanism and pins provide subtle look of eloquence.
Quality:
I detect no failing in workmanship or quality in the construction and design of this guitar. The maple sides and back make for a really attractive guitar. I can probably enjoy just looking at it if could, but I know how good it sounds so I can't do so without wanting to pick it up and play!
Value:
I paid $1699 for my guitar and I feel that this was a fair price. I paid ~$1800 for my Martin.
Desirability:
I rate this category sort of blindly, since I'm assuming that this Jumbo is comparable in sound to the higher end J200 Gibson products. I'm not one for fancy features, so I thought the J100 xtra provided the perfect chance for me to own a Gibson super jumbo guitar. I hope I am not wrong in my assumption and I can proceed happy in my ignorance.
Sound:
I own a Martin D35 and in comparison the J100 xtra provides a "bigness" of sound not available on the Martin. For fingerstyle playing, the J100 xtra has more clarity and balance throughout the range of my playing. For heavier strumming it also provides the bite and projection. However, the D35 is more gentle and cohesive in the more "quiet" strumming tunes. I wouldn't rate one vs. the other since the two are fairly different in character and direct comparison may be futile. In addition, I use an ultra light set of strings on my Martin and a medium gauge on my jumbo which may account for some of the differences. But for me (who is a bit hard of hearing) I do appreciate the greater volume and clarity of the gibson j100 as it helps with my singing intonation.
Support:
I can only judge on the one instance where I solicited some support via email on their website. I was told by a young maybe ill-informed guitar salesman that if I wanted to use an ultra light gauge set of strings on my J100 I will have to have the neck re-adjusted and set-up. So I sent an email question to Gibson to which I received a response within 1 day. If you want to know, the Gibson technician said it would be no problem to switch to the lighter gauge without re-adjusting the neck.
Overall:
I can't rate this perfectly, although I am completely happy with my J100. I have to leave some room for improvement just in case my wife reads this and thinks that since I have the perfect guitar why buy another one? By the way, my wife is an angel letting me indulge my fancy and buy this J100 xtra on an impulse one Sunday afternoon in August.
"I love the guitar."
Feature:
Materials are first rate, the guitar definitely needed a good set up out of the box, there was a gouge out of the frets between 2-8 but, when the frets were polished this disappeared. Also the factory action is set very high! Same as Martin D-28's! The tolex case is sturdy but not that appealing.
Quality:
As i said above the frets were scored in the factory, but this was easily fixed. The body of the guitar is beautiful to look at, the flamed maple back and sides are stunning!
Value:
I think I got this guitar for a good price, given its quality.
Sound:
Sound is wide open. With a good capo it is juicy and seems only to get better. The guitar is a loud guitar when played hard, but subtle and great sustain when played with a light touch. You could play most styles of music with this instrument.
Support:
The Dealers (who are also wholesalers/distributers) were a pretty surly bunch. The sale wasn't a happy experience. Although my contact with Gibson has been very satisfying. If I were Gibson I'd be doing some quality control on my dealers.
Overall:
I think I will keep this instrument for life. I have a lot to learn about it and I believe it can teach me some things.
Materials are first rate, the guitar definitely needed a good set up out of the box, there was a gouge out of the frets between 2-8 but, when the frets were polished this disappeared. Also the factory action is set very high! Same as Martin D-28's! The tolex case is sturdy but not that appealing.
Quality:
As i said above the frets were scored in the factory, but this was easily fixed. The body of the guitar is beautiful to look at, the flamed maple back and sides are stunning!
Value:
I think I got this guitar for a good price, given its quality.
Sound:
Sound is wide open. With a good capo it is juicy and seems only to get better. The guitar is a loud guitar when played hard, but subtle and great sustain when played with a light touch. You could play most styles of music with this instrument.
Support:
The Dealers (who are also wholesalers/distributers) were a pretty surly bunch. The sale wasn't a happy experience. Although my contact with Gibson has been very satisfying. If I were Gibson I'd be doing some quality control on my dealers.
Overall:
I think I will keep this instrument for life. I have a lot to learn about it and I believe it can teach me some things.
"A great sounding delicate big baby!"
Feature:
The tuners are plastic and cheap looking and not great and my guitar came without a pick-up.
Quality:
The finish was excellent: 10, the tuners aren't great: 5. My guitar toppled over in it's case in 1996, 3 months 'old', and the neck was broken. I had it repaired, but recently, 2004, after a slight bump the break openend up again: 1. 10+5+1 : 3 = 5.
Value:
Soundwise, yes, but don't treat it like your mother in law but like a baby!
Desirability:
For it's sound.
Sound:
A full dark warm sound with plenty of attack and a firm bass. I gave it a 9 and left 1 in change, because I haven't heard or played all the fine guitars on this planet...
Support:
No.
Overall:
After owning it for over 8 years, I'm trying to sell it with the break in the neck. The wood of the neck should be more sturdy, it's far to delicate as a users tool. The sound is great, but and because it's a very big guitar. It's very feedback phrone on an amp.
The tuners are plastic and cheap looking and not great and my guitar came without a pick-up.
Quality:
The finish was excellent: 10, the tuners aren't great: 5. My guitar toppled over in it's case in 1996, 3 months 'old', and the neck was broken. I had it repaired, but recently, 2004, after a slight bump the break openend up again: 1. 10+5+1 : 3 = 5.
Value:
Soundwise, yes, but don't treat it like your mother in law but like a baby!
Desirability:
For it's sound.
Sound:
A full dark warm sound with plenty of attack and a firm bass. I gave it a 9 and left 1 in change, because I haven't heard or played all the fine guitars on this planet...
Support:
No.
Overall:
After owning it for over 8 years, I'm trying to sell it with the break in the neck. The wood of the neck should be more sturdy, it's far to delicate as a users tool. The sound is great, but and because it's a very big guitar. It's very feedback phrone on an amp.
"Awesome tone!"
"wowzer...."
if you want big sound, especially pure living room sound.... this is the best guitar line out there.... i havent found a more earthy true acoustic sound than ive found in the gibson jumbo series
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