In Search of the Wild Guitar: Gibson J-150

Over the last several weeks I’ve chronicled my search for a new guitar to join ranks with my veteran Alvarez-Yairi git-fiddle to serve either as my yeoman acoustic guitar or in open tunings as my bottleneck (slide) guitar, depending on which has the sound that lends itself best to this purpose.

I must admit, the Alvarez-Yairi, a solid wood, handmade guitar has spoiled me for anything less, with its solid wood construction - Sitka Spruce top, Mahogany sides and back, deluxe appointments, and enough pearl and abalone inlays to put shellfish on the endangered species list.

Not only that, the Yairi plays as good as it looks with perfect intonation up the neck and booming bass with well-balanced treble, much more so than the typical bassy Martin Dreadnought, whose body style it mimics. This is a true axe man’s axe, and I’ve had lots of drooling onlookers offer to buy it. But I’m not selling; in fact, if they can fit it into the box with me, I may take it into the next life.

Anyway, I took my Yairi with me to my local purveyor of fine instruments, Firehouse Guitars, as a control to make sure I was not fooled by my overheated emotions in the face of all that finely built wooden pulchritude. A fresh set of Martin Marquis .012 strings graced my Yairi to ensure it sounded its best.

I played every fine instrument in the house, starting with the legendary Gibson SJ-200, “the King of the Flat Tops,” and rightly named, I might echo. This was a special edition with the exotic Hawaiian Koa wood body, only $3,600 - a mere pittance for all that musical goodness. Like my Yairi, it fairly drips opulence with plenty of pearl and abalone inlays, and deluxe gold plated fittings. Simply scrumptious, in my eyes; great playing action to my touch, but not enough bottom (bass) for my ears. Don’t get me wrong, I could get by with the SJ-200, but I wanted to try all the nice guitars, and there were many - Taylor, Takamine, Martin, and of course the Gibsons. I lost count of how many I tried, but I never forgot the sterling playing qualities of those premium Gibson guitars.

I’m going to give it to you straight; I haven’t played a Gibson that was difficult to play. The large models all have a 25½” scale length and a 1.725” width at nut, so if you can play a Gibson, any of them will feel very much the same. If you’re not a guitar player, this will not make a big impression on you but if you are, you will know what I’m saying. The repeatability of feel is key to being a good guitar player.

The second key point is that you have to like the sound of your guitar. The better your guitar sounds, the better you will play, I guarantee it. If you play an old dead cigar box of a guitar, no matter how inspired you become you are not going to get the sound that will feed your playing. What I’m saying is, get enough guitar. A cheap guitar is no bargain if it is unplayable and furthermore sounds awful when you are occasionally able to grab a solid handful of music.

I’ll give you a crash course in finer acoustic guitars. There are two main body types, with a couple of variations, but they basically follow pretty true to form unless you get one of the modern types that try to mimic a solid body electric guitar. When I want to play electric, I get my “Fender Strat” and have at it. The techniques of playing acoustic and electric are quite different and trying to set up an acoustic to play like an electric gets you, this will be a surprise, the sound of - an electric. Anyway, that’s my story and I think I know what I’m talking about, at least it makes sense to me.

Where was I? Oh, yeah, there are two main types of body. The so called “D” for Dreadnought body and the “J” for Jumbo body, the difference being, the Dreadnought is shaped with squarer shoulders and a thicker waist while the Jumbo has the sleek curves of an hourglass, like the picture above, or your favorite pinup girl. ;>

The difference in shape generally accounts for the sound, the Dreadnought having a bassy tone which is good for rhythm guitar although some fingerpick “D” bodies with good success. The “J” has a generally more balanced tone, with more brightness. Of course, the different woods that guitars are constructed of make for different tones, also. Mahogany tends to have a darker tone while Rosewood and especially Maple have brighter sounds.

The Gibson SJ-150 is the same guitar as the SJ-200 with fewer frills. It has the same exact shape; a large round bottom like J-Lo’s, and fully rounded upper bouts, very much a feminine shape. The SJ-150 while not as luxuriously appointed as the SJ-200, still simply reeks elegance.

The body back and sides are made of premium figured maple, as is the neck, and the top is premium Sitka Spruce. The body is fully bound with six-ply celluloid which protects the corners of the instrument if you occasionally bang it against something or (the horror!) drop it.

The fingerboard is rosewood with large crown-shaped mother of pearl position markers. The bridge-tailpiece is a typical Gibson rosewood mustache which is skeletonized and fitted with a pair of pearl inlays. Nickel plated Gotoh machine heads handle the tuning. While a plain tortoise shell pick guard spans and protects the picking area. Other J-150s have a pickguard with the flower motif. They're the same-same, just take your pick as to appearance. The guitar, like most premium Gibson acoustics, is finished off with several coats of hand rubbed lacquer. It shines like a new car.

It should be noted that these guitars are solid wood, no laminates, plywood, pressed wood, cardboard, or anything but natural wood parts, handmade in Gibson's factory in Bozeman, Montana. The difference between a handbuilt wooden guitar and a machine-built plywood model that looks similar may be a function of 4 or 5X. I just like to think it adds a "zero" to the price.

How does it play? Like a dream. Like all Gibsons, they play very much the same, a good indication of the quality that is built into these instruments. The appearance is flawless. You can tap all around the body and hear the solid construction, no voids or unglued areas. The guitar fingers accurately all the way up the neck with no annoying buzzes. The J-150 is also fitted with an active Fishman transducer pickup with four band EQ. So you can plug in, if that’s on your agenda. The maple gives it a hellacious good bright tone with good bottom also. My personal preference is to get that bass in there solid and work my high notes over the roar.

I would like to share one more thing with you; there is no such thing as a cheap Gibson, to my knowledge, unless you happen on a guy under duress who must part with his baby, because that's what they are, and how you'll feel about yours when you get one. Think about it: BB King calls his Gibson "Lucille," and I have no doubt he thinks of it as just that.

The Gibson acoustic guitars start at about $1,700 and go up, up, up. This baby with all its understated elegance, excellent playability, and rounded tone goes for around $2,200. It may sound expensive but it’s a lifetime investment and, barring accident, it will be around long after you depart this vale of tears. Think of your posterity!

Like all Gibson acoustic guitars, the SJ-150 comes with a premium hard shell case included in the price. That’s a $150 dollar case so at least that takes away some of the sting.

Gibson also provides a limited lifetime "Gold Warranty," to the original purchaser, which you can either send in via snail mail or register at Gibson.com. At present there is a promotion where, if you register a Gibson Acoustic you will receive a kit including a limited edition Gibson Guitar bag, a set of strings, guitar polish, a special guitar strap, and a Gibson lint-free cleaning cloth. I'd say it's worth $75 - $100. Save your warranty paper and bill of sale in case you ever need warranty service, as it's required.

If you get the SJ-150, or any of the Gibson acoustics - there’s not a bad one in there - you will have yourself a guitar that you cannot outplay and one that will last as long as you will, given reasonable care. Keep it in its hard shell case and avoid temperature extremes and change the strings often. My personal string recommendation is Martin Marquis.

Thanks for stopping by!

Recommended: Yes