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I discovered a 1974 Johnny Smith for sale, and would like to know opinions on the instruments of that period. It's a three hour drive from here to the sellers place so i need to know as much as possible about the guitar in advance , in order to determine if it's worth the effort. One aspect of it would be some general knowledge about building quality in that period.
Thanks in advance
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04-23-2016 08:15 AM
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Be sure to ask about the truss rod before you go, and if he has a wrench to check it. Bring one! Check the straightness of the neck/fingerboard, especially around the area where it meets the body (12-18). Make sure there is enough room for bridge adjustment up and down.
The maple will probably be pretty plain looking, not a reason to turn it down.
Is it a 1 or 2 pu model?
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it's a 2PU model
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there are keepers and duds from all eras, but agree w/ Woody, check the neck out carefully.
the early 70's saw some of the most spectacular flame maple on some carved top Gibsons, I had a '72 L-5 that was pretty amazing, but by around '74, '75 it started getting really plain, but you never know.
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I'd agree, 72 seems to be a bit of a crossover year. I have an L-5 from 72, and the wood has some figure and flame especially on the rims, but also on the back too, but not spectacular, and the pickguard bracket is a bent piece if steel rather than the more attractive rod and foot or whatever it is called. Apart from that it has the rosewood bridge base, varitone tailpiece, no volute and the burst is nice so it escaped most of the cost cutting. From 73 on I think it gets more variable. These expensive guitars are really objects of desire rather than workhorses, so I think you have to make sure you really do like it. Over in the UK I have seen lovely JS models go for a song. I saw a lovely 1964 model go for £4000! Have you got photos?
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I would certainly want to play a 70's Gibby before buying. I have played and owned some wonderful examples, but I have also played and owned some less than perfect examples. In particular, I once played a mid 70's Johnny Smith that was a downright terrible guitar (ugly volute, no flame on the back or sides, thick paintjob with a poor sunburst and a neck that was not right and probably needed to be replaced).
Caveat Emptor....
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yep i got some fotos here are four of them:
probably it still has the original frets .......
and it looks well taken care of
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The wood is on the plainer side, but it looks in superb condition and the blonde finish is very nice. If you think it is being sold at a sensible price, then I would definitely try it out.
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Every JS I have ever seen in person was blonde except for one in wine red.
The thing with the JS guitars is that the necks were inconsistent in terms of the carve of the back of the neck. According to Smith, Gibson did not set up specific tooling for the neck and so different batches had different shapes. On one hand it makes them a bit unpredictable as two whether you will like the neck. On the other hand, you may find one that is perfect for your hand.
All three of the JS guitars I have played had great necks, excellent playability, the classic JS tone and excellent build quality. It'd be worth the drive IMHO.
I also think they tend to be the most overpriced of all Gibsons these days (except Les Pauls).
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I wouldn't be at all afraid of a 70s Johnny smith. They all play superb. Plugged in they are all pretty great. Acoustically they vary quite a bit. The norlan years are not the preferred years collector wise, but the Johnny Smith is a great guitar in any year. If your looking for a great player the 70s are really the way to go money wise. If your a collector open up your wallet and look to the 60s.
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It looks like a beautiful guitar. In addition to other suggestions - look at the top arch carefully for any flattening. Also bring a dental mirror and light to examine internal bracing to make sure nothing is visually loose and if undisclosed repairs are present. Good luck - and follow your senses.
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according to the seller the guard has been replaced by the gibson custom shop
Originally Posted by wintermoon
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George Benson's was a 1973. It served him well!
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Very nice silk on the back. Five knobs - v-v-t-t & a master volume?
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I hope it sounds like this one:
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Knobs: Switch, volume, volume, tone, tone.
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three position switch not master volume: neck/bridge/parallel Originally Posted by citizenk74
http://archive.gibson.com/Files/sche...mithDouble.pdf
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I do have a 1970 L5CES. It's a nice guitar but does not have as much "punch" as my 2003. The response is a bit "flat" in comparison. Originally Posted by rio
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That cross silk is crazy! That's the figure that comes with perfectly quartered maple. As a luthier, I consider that an even higher treasured wood than flame. I think it's beautiful! Originally Posted by plasticpigeon
On the topic of whether a 70's is good, I've seen bad and good. Mine is a player's guitar. I think it's pretty, but I don't really think about that. It's a really great player with a great voice that inspires playing. The neck is also REALLY great.
At that time though, I don't understand why they went with massive neck blocks that extended into the upper bout area. It makes for a heavier than necessary guitar and I haven't seen that on other Gibsons aside from the JS.
I really do love this guitar though, and you can see that cross silk on the back.
I used it a lot until I went 7 string.
David
Attachment 30726
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Plain wood while not certainly not as attractive as flame or blister maple has no bearing on tonal ability. In fact I was informed by Peter Wagner (Archtop Gibson Epiphone dealer,expert) that in the 1970's Gibson specifically selected plainer wood for their archtops. They felt the tone was more important to looks.
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That was something Johnny Smith himself wanted. The idea was to get more even sustain in the upper register. Originally Posted by TruthHertz
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I can see that...in theory. In practice though, it's a weird experiment and I didn't think it worked. I had a JS that I popped the back on a while ago. Chiseled out the massive block area and regraduated that area. Sounded so much better. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
Seeing that it was John D'Angelico that provided the model for the original that Johnny had duplicated at Gibson, I somehow feel that it's not something he would have approved of. Anyway, I hope Johnny was pleased with that design feature. I'm glad it's not an idea Gibson saw fit to use in a wider capacity.
David
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Ok, now i just came back with the 1974 JS.
A very nice and good sounding guitar. It's got a few minor issues such as a rattling pick guard, a few dings in the top, the original frets are still on, by now quite flat but only very little worn since the last fret job. I'm thinking of replacing the pickgard anyway for a regular one pickup size as i will not use the bridge pickup anyway. Maybe i'm going to sell the one which is on now.
Interestingly the screw for the truss rod was of different size than the regular Gibson tuss rods are. The wrench which i got with my L5 was too small, but the seller had a few wrenches around so we could get prove of functionality. A bit of "neck ramping" is present, but compensated with very low leveled frets.
It has flat wounds on with what i guess to be a high 10 or 11. I will replace them with a TI Swing 13 to 53, am looking forward to hear it after this is done.
Overall i'd say it has a kind of '60s vibe to it - visually and sound wise. One of my lucky days :-)
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good for you!
I saw the dings in the top , but not a big deal to me, unlike this one currently on ebay.
I 'd swap out the double guard for a single too, those doubles are really clunky and ugly looking imo.
but keep the original for a possible sale down the road.
If you go that route you might want to consider having it wired for an endpin jack.
enjoy!
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thanks wintermoon!
No, no no, just small tiny dings and no indication of danger for cracks at all, and yes i would like to have a wired endpin very much, but this would require to enlarge the hole in the tailpiece and i'm not sure yet if i'd like it enough to have that done.
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