Back to Blog
Gibson songbird5/20/2023 ![]() ![]() There is a distinct sparkle to the treble strings in open chord sequences and, despite its intended purpose, it makes for a very capable bluegrass flatpicking machine. This instrument’s ancestor, the CL model, was intended as a direct competitor to the Martin dreadnought that saw a resurgence in the 1990s due in no small part to the MTV Unplugged series.ĭespite the 25.5” scale length and square-shouldered body shape, the G-Writer feels and sounds very Gibson. You don’t call a guitar the Songwriter without being extremely confident of its capabilities as an instrument to serve the vocalist/instrumentalist. This calms down those rogue bass frequencies to some degree. This is much less of an issue when playing standing, and an added advantage of this approach is that the guitar’s lively back is effectively decoupled from the top when in full contact with your body. This is still a very big guitar, though, and playing it seated for extended sessions can lead to fatigue in the right shoulder for shorter players. Set the bar: both guitars boast Gibson’s G-Collection Single Bar inlays The extra sympathetic resonance of the octaves does make things a little mushy when playing intricate pieces but conversely works very well indeed for slow airs and other expressive contexts. Slipping into DADGAD is a smooth process – the well cut nut and Grover Mini Rotomatic tuners make sure of that. Ring true: simple rosettes decorate the Sitka spruce tops Once you take a pick to the G-200, however, the clouds part and a chunky rhythm personality reveals itself which, rather like an orchestral gong, works best when you warm it up a little. ![]() It’s subtle but discernible, especially when playing fingerstyle. Open strings are loud and vibrant but once again there is a contrast with their fretted equivalents. This is particularly marked in root six barre chords further up the neck. ![]() There is a slight imbalance towards the low-end, however, meaning that bass notes within a chord will often last longer than the mids and trebles. On the button: the utile necks are set with hide glue and dovetail joints But what rises up is a big sound with a faster attack that we’re used to from a jumbo. Or maybe it’s the slimmer body, maybe it’s the Player Port, maybe it’s the longer 25.5” scale length, or a combination of all these things and more. Maybe it’s the walnut back and sides which can often lend a more immediately musical response to a factory-made acoustic guitar than maple. This G-200 doesn’t so much whisper as growl. This fact has led collectors of vintage J-200s to refer to them as “whispering giants”. Instead, what you can expect is a rich sound by virtue of the size of the chamber with a slightly ponderous response as the large soundboard flexes with each new attack. Now, here’s the thing about the SJ-200 and its variants – despite its size, it is not by nature an excessively loud guitar. Unable to resist the call of the jumbo we begin our playing session with the G-200. Window seat: the Player Ports allow you to peer into the guitars In use The ebony ’boards and bridges of both guitars are well cut and the fretwork is uniformly smooth. The necks are made from utile – an African mahogany often referred to as sipo – carved to Gibson’s Advanced Response profile, which in real terms is a slim and slinky C shape. As with the other models in the range, the back and sides are made from figured walnut, the soundboards are Sitka spruce and the bodies are a little slimmer than usual. ![]() Each has a Venetian cutaway, more elaborate bar inlays on its striped ebony fretboard, body binding and an LR Baggs Element Bronze pickup system. The G-Writer and G-200 take things up a notch in terms of both functionality and aesthetics. Earn your stripes: each guitar has a belly-down striped ebony bridge That said, we loved the sonic impact that the Player Port design had on the G-45 and G-00 so it will be fun to see how it works here. Peaking through it reveals not just the X-bracing and two tone bars but also internal construction that’s a little rough and ready. Gibson has since done extensive research culminating in the Player Port, an elliptical plastic-edged soundport in the shoulder of the guitars in this range.Īs with the other Generation Collection instruments we looked at, the Player Port also functions as a handy viewing port. Dating back to 1964, the ‘Modern J-45’ never went into production but the design featured a large circular sound hole in the lower bout. The Generation Collection, made in Gibson’s dedicated acoustic facility in Bozeman, Montana, is inspired by a recently discovered blueprint from the Gibson archives. ![]()
0 Comments
Read More
Leave a Reply. |