Gibson L-5c

[Woody Sound]

It was a fine day for sure. The Heritage JS clearly is a winner guitar and maybe the most underrated Johnny Smith Guitar. Acoustically it was superior to the Guild JS that I played. The neck and workmanship is first rate. The more I see Heritage the better I am finding them as guitars. Equal to a Gibson JS.

I owned both the Gibson and Heritage versions at the same time. The Heritage was by far the better guitar.

[ThatRhythmMan]

I owned both the Gibson and Heritage versions at the same time. The Heritage was by far the better guitar.

The Gibson JS varies considerably from guitar to guitar. I would put my ‘68 up against anything similar. I’ve played others, particularly from the ‘70s and ‘80s that were pretty dead as acoustic guitars.

[Stringswinger]

The Gibson JS varies considerably from guitar to guitar. I would put my ‘68 up against anything similar. I’ve played others, particularly from the ‘70s and ‘80s that were pretty dead as acoustic guitars.

IMO, an archtop guitar with a floating pickup should be a loud and resonant acoustic guitar first and foremost. I have never played a Gibson or Heritage Johnny Smith that met my expectations in that regard. Perhaps that is why I never have owned one. I have played Gibson Johnny Smith guitars from the 60's through the 80's and all were dead acoustically. I hear that good ones are out there. I would love to play one one day.

[deacon Mark]

IMO, an archtop guitar with a floating pickup should be a loud and resonant acoustic guitar first and foremost. I have never played a Gibson or Heritage Johnny Smith that met my expectations in that regard. Perhaps that is why I never have owned one. I have played Gibson Johnny Smith guitars from the 60's through the 80's and all were dead acoustically. I hear that good ones are out there. I would love to play one one day.

I have owned 2 JS Gibson's over the years. They were a decent guitar but I can tell you this L5c I have completely blows both of them away in acoustic performance, sound, and power. There are definitely JS that I have played that were fine acoustic guitars as good as they come at least in what they were designed to sound like.

Since I visited Johnny at his shop many years ago in Colorado he explained this to me as I had my Barker guitar with me at the time. He said he wanted a guitar that had the highs sustain up the neck and did not really want to hear the rumbling sound in the bass. He then explained to me how the neck's of his guitars were supposed to be put on and joined the top so as to transmit this particular sound. This makes perfect sense since he played those piano voices up the neck and was going for the singing sustain that seems to almost float in the air. So for Johnny Smith that deep bass that has power and sustain would not be where he was looking for sound. One reason I don't like flattop guitars is they never cut if for me up the neck in the treble especially D style.

He did like my Barker guitar and knew Bill Barker personally. He told me to never sell the guitar as such they were only going to get much more expensive and this was in 1979. He was astute and knew exactly what was going to happen with carved top guitars as they require much attention and detail compared to a flattop guitar. I cannot argue with Johnny Smith for the obvious reasons, however I will say I personally like an acoustic archtop with a balance voice. I like the bass to be warm and sustaining and the treble to be even up the neck. I must admit like SS I too prefer an L5 over a JS at least most of the time and I have played tons of them and repaired them in fact. Actually I even prefer the Super 400c over the L5 but I must admit at times in my aging, a 17 inch guitar feels pretty good.

If I could have any Gibson Guitar made to order I personally would like a Super 400 but with a 25 inch scale instead of the 25.5. I think the small difference would feel better even though I have large hands, and it would be just a bit warmer in tone, at least I would hope based on shorter scale. My friend up the road here about a mile has one of Bill Hollenbeck's 18 inch Time Traveler guitars like mine, but his has the shorter 24 27/32 scale he used on his 17 inch guitars. Mine has the 25.3 scale. I can tell you that mine does sound a play a bit different than his because of that. I might add that this guitar he has is a masterpiece of work and sound. Now which one is better.......well that is like deciding which person of the Trinity is superior.........

[wintermoon]

IMO, an archtop guitar with a floating pickup should be a loud and resonant acoustic guitar first and foremost. I have never played a Gibson or Heritage Johnny Smith that met my expectations in that regard. Perhaps that is why I never have owned one. I have played Gibson Johnny Smith guitars from the 60's through the 80's and all were dead acoustically. I hear that good ones are out there. I would love to play one one day.

That was pretty much my experience until last year when a friend picked up a blonde 60s Smith on trial. He brought it over for my opinion and I told him if he wasn't gonna buy it I was. That thing wasn't just the best Smith I've ever played it was one of the best acoustic Gibsons I've ever heard period, filled the room.

[QAman]

That was pretty much my experience until last year when a friend picked up a blonde 60s Smith on trial. He brought it over for my opinion and I told him if he wasn't gonna buy it I was. That thing wasn't just the best Smith I've ever played it was one of the best acoustic Gibsons I've ever heard period, filled the room.

Wintermoon,
Norman's guitar just picked up a blonde double pu GJS. See 11:00 of attached link.

Sent from my SM-P610 using Tapatalk

[floatingpickup]

Wintermoon,
Norman's guitar just picked up a blonde double pu GJS. See 11:00 of attached link.

Sent from my SM-P610 using Tapatalk

That blonde one is a beauty. Norm’s description of the differences between a JS and an L5 was very incomplete. There are a number differences. He didn’t actually describe the nut width properly either.
Keith

[Woody Sound]

Sounds like a great overall experience, nice to read.

[floatingpickup]

That was pretty much my experience until last year when a friend picked up a blonde 60s Smith on trial. He brought it over for my opinion and I told him if he wasn't gonna buy it I was. That thing wasn't just the best Smith I've ever played it was one of the best acoustic Gibsons I've ever heard period, filled the room.

I have a ‘69 Gibson JS and it sounds fantastic to my ears. The acoustic tone and volume is everything I want in a good Archtop. I also have a ‘63 Gibson L5C for comparison. I find that the L5 is bright and the JS is warm. I like them both but I think I actually prefer the warmth of JS for much of what I play. I would go with the L5 if I was playing acoustically with other instruments and needed the cutting power of a brighter guitar. They both have Gibson JS pickups and sound similar plugged in.
Keith

[Crm114]

I wholeheartedly agree

now you guys know I’ve got at least five different variations of the Golden Eagle
at least three of them are really exquisitely detailed.
there’s a ghost belt versions of the D’Angelico Excel (Number 20)X

an American eagle (Number 19)

and a handful of really fancy acoustic ones not to mention Patrick’s old favorite single pick up Golden Eagle in blonde


STating my personal preference I think these golden eagles are far nicer because they are acoustic guitars they’re not carved so damn sick like some of the gibson L5 are

Big

I owned both the Gibson and Heritage versions at the same time. The Heritage was by far the better guitar.