[H Juszkiewicz (HenryJ)]

W Workman (bkharmony), on 15 July 2010 - 12:23 AM, said:

Mr. Juszkiewicz,

I'm a big fan of Gibson Acoustics and someone who spends a lot of time talking about acoustic guitars on various forums, where the basic line on Gibsons is, they're good if you get that special one in 100, but most are duds. In other words, consistency.

Now, I personally believe this is bunk, but there's no denying this meme has taken hold, and there are very few voices out there telling the other side of the story. My question is in two parts:

1) Have there been or will there be any changes in Gibson's manufacturing process to address the "consistency" claims?

2) What, if anything, is Gibson doing in regards to Public Relations to counter these claims?

Thank you,
William

Great questions.

I believe the biggest reason that their are rumors of problems with Gibson acoustic guitars stem from when we first started production in Bozeman. It was a brand new plant and the first management team were the folks that started Flatiron Mandolin's in Bozeman. Like all new guitar plants, we had start up problems for the first couple of years, and the product was inconsistent.

Things have changed a great deal since those early years, and the quality and workmanship continues to reach new heights. I believe we build the absolutely finest acoustic guitar in the world today, and certainly can compare with Martin (again in my opinion).

Unfortunately, we live in a competitive world where sometimes sales people will use tactics to gain advantage like spreading rumors. Gibson has had rumors of various sorts since 1986 and some really are pretty outrageous. These are very hard to combat once they get started, since people rightfully believe that someone making poor product is going to deny it.

The proof in our product performance and quality can be seen in the people who play the instruments. Just watch one of the awards shows where great musicians play and see all the Gibson acoustics being played by the pros. The professionals that play our instruments are seen everywhere, and typically outnumber every other acoustic guitar brand players even though the other brands sell a great deal more product.

Currently, our biggest problem is producing enough instruments for global consumption. We have almost no inventory and have a limited ability to expand in the small community of Bozeman.

I believe truth always prevails in the end.

Thanks for caring!

[H Juszkiewicz (HenryJ)]

D Herlovitch (DougH), on 15 July 2010 - 12:41 AM, said:

Every day we see in the Gibson Forum many members writing pretty much the same two things..

The Gibson Les Paul line is confusing with the standard/traditional/reissue/etc..
Are there any plans to stream line the Les Paul line to make the guitars in each grouping just a little easier to figure out for new people.

The second thing is “is this guitar fake”…

Is it because Epiphone uses a Chinese a manufacturing plant that it makes it just a little easier for the unscrupulous Chinese factory to copy the Les Paul.

(BTW in my opinion Epiphone should not have used the Les Paul name, they should have named it the LPxxx or something.. since there’s lots of debate on Epiphone Les Paul’s “are just as good as” Gibson Les Paul’s)

(I’m really impressed on the amount of customer service response on the forum and now your own forum..)

What we call our core Gibson line is really pretty simple and traditional for Gibson USA product. What adds quite a bit of variety are two factors. Our fans love special runs of products, and our channel partners (dealers) like to have specially designed product which they find sells quite well. The 50's Traditional product is a great example of a Special Run that was a huge success while our core traditional models continue to sell very well.

Probably what is more of a problem, is not the variety of models, but our presentation of how each model fits into the Les Paul family. I think we do a poor job in general of giving our fans that big picture, tending to concentrate presenting one model at a time. I will work to correcting that, and I think it will help a great deal.

On the issue of Chinese copies, I would actually call them counterfeits, because the vendors are telling people they are real Gibson brand product and they are certainly trying to make them look that way. Fortunately, they are not great guitars, and most fall far short of even our lowest cost Epiphone.

The counterfeit business in Gibson products is just a piece of a multi-billion dollar counterfeiting business coming from China in everything from watches, to shoes. The problem is that the government of China does not enforce intellectual property laws, basically allowing anyone to make copies/counterfeits and sell them in Chinese retail shops and export this bad product. There is more Gibson activity because we are the largest brand in guitars and our guitar generally sell for higher prices.

We are still litigating the enforcement of our trademarks in Japan where we have been to the Japanese Supreme Court, and have had our claims rejected against companies like Tokai. We have won judgments against them in other countries on the exact same issues.

This is a really very hard battle and we have to fight it to protect our business. But the because we are not a huge company with unlimited resources, we can only chip away at the problem every day and spend as much as we can afford to try to solve the problem

We get dozens of calls every day from consumers who thought they had bought a Gibson to be disappointed when the received it.

In any case, our Epiphone Les Pauls, are real Les Pauls. Our plant manager in China was the plant manager in Nashville for a number of years and all our divisions work together to get the very best product for the price. Most Les Paul's come from our own factories in Quing Dao China and I believe they are superb instruments and great values. They do say Epiphone and our customer know what they are getting for their hard earned money.

Are the Epiphones as good as Gibsons? They are not the same. We try to make guitar affordable at Epi so the material and construction is different. The tops are typically laminated and the wood is a specie called Nato. There are other subtle differences. Both are great instruments, but they are not the same. I think they are both great values and both are professional quality.

I think what you believe is a lot more important than what I believe.

Thanks for taking the time. Henry

[W Dodd (Drew68)]

Delete

[S Moizuk (Apothecurious)]

First I would like to thank everyone who made a forum like this possible. This is a great idea for a company such as Gibson to directly listen in to what their customers are saying and provides them with another way to stay in touch with their fan base. Thank you Gibson for this opportunity.

I just had a couple questions regarding the Printed Circuit Boards (PCB's) that have started appearing in some of Gibson's guitars.

I have a 2009 SG standard that has the PCB in the guitar. What was the main reason that Gibson included these in their guitars? Was this a measure to decrease the time or cost needed to manufacture the guitar or was this something that was created so it would be easier to add aftermarket parts to the guitar down the line? If so, does Gibson have any pickup or PCB aftermarket parts that would be compatible with the PCB's in their guitars to allow users to customize their setups?

Another question: Could you please bring back the Gibson SG Special w/ 3 Single Coils? (I had to give it a try).

Thanks again for everything.

[W Workman (bkharmony)]

By the way, the team in Bozeman is producing amazing instruments. These people are true Artists, and I'm grateful for their work.

[d vallejos (duane v)]

First off Henry, thanks for jumping in and saving Gibson from oblivion during the 1980's. If it wasn't for you and your team, god only knows what Gibson would look like today, or if it would be in existence.

Secondly, again thanks for maintaining the "Made In USA" instrument line. In an age of businesses moving manufacturing abroad, you and your team have remained steadfast in producing top of the line instruments in the USA.

And in closing, kudos to you and your team for the Asian produced Epiphone line. Again producing a high quality instrument at a fair obtainable price for the younger musician, (and musicians with strict wives), is a very challenging task, and is a well represented instrument that can be used at the professional level.

Other than the above, nice to meet ya and cheers!!!

[J Chandler (ChanMan)]

Hey Henry J!

Great idea, this Forum, and what a brave new world we live in that allows us direct commincations access to the CEO of a great guitar company! We've been asked if the Gibson Showcase in Opry Mills will be re-opening, as there is some speculation that it will not. Can you shed some light on this?

Thanks sir!

Chan

[P Monné (Paul)]

Henry,

Thanks for the opportunity to chat. John Hall has been (pro)active on the Rickenbacker forum for a few years. Contentious threads over there get locked or deleted pretty quickly. It's a nice forum over there. I hope this one maintains decorum.

I'll get to the point.

1) I miss the Epiphone Elitist line. I have an Elitist Byrdland, and it really does compare very favourably with Gibson branded instruments. I wouldn't be surprised if you were cutting into your own market share. The Elitists were, (are) incredible instruments for the price.

2) I wish Gibson archtop jazz guitars were more available to audition in my part of the world. I'd really like to compare a Super 400, (Kitchener Ontario's Mel Brown played one), with am ES-5 Switchmaster, (Toronto's Jake Langley) with a Tal Farlow, (I saw Duke Robillard play one). There is no local dealer willing to bring in almost $30K MSRP of guitars on the chance I might buy one of them. Just about any trim level of a Les Paul is easy to find, but the limited market of jazz guitars leaves players like me wanting. <sigh> It's almost easier to get my hands on a Linda Manzer instrument than many of the higher end Gibson jazz boxes.

Peace,

Paul Monné
Brantford ON
Canada

[D Rice (Dice)]

Henry: First, its an honor to talk to you. This forum is a great idea on your part.

Random thoughts:

There are some great models in your current lineup - very diverse - keep up the good work.

On the Historic models, it would be nice to see you using Nitro which will check and fade like they did on the 50s models (less "plasticiser??"). Yes, this finish characteristic can be seen as a "flaw" - but to be honest, those of us shelling out that kind of money are "chasing" the original 50s models... Knowing that in 20 years, they will show some wear, but not fading and checking, is unfortunate. Screw the guys who piss and moan over a screw which is 1/32 of an inch "off" - that doesn't matter. A finish that ages and looks like the originals does, however. Even just as another finish variety (VOS, Gloss, and... ____ ).

More P90 models would be fantastic. I really think that you are doing a great job w/ the variety of "Studio" models. My first Gibson was a Studio (made sometime around when you took over at Gibson). I had it on "permanent loan" of some sort for a few years, and have since purchased 4 Gibsons (2 from the 60s, 2 new).

You've mentioned that this is in progress, but provide an assortment of needed clips for the PCB setup. I've pulled the entire board from my SG so that I can go w/ some vintage caps and handwound pickups (it sounded fine stock, but you know how we "tone chasers" are).

I'd like to give you a huge "bravo!" for maintaining the integrity of the Gibson name, and refusing to set up "Gibson Japan" or "Gibson Mexico" such as your main competitor has. Don't get me wrong - I love my Fenders - and their MIJ/MIM products are "nice" - but they degrade/cheapen the Fender name in my opinion.

Epiphone Japan - what happened? I've had 2 Elitist models, and can confidently say that they were among the best Les Pauls I've owned. If you had kept that line around, and offered them with a Nitro finish (even at $1300 or so) - they would have had steady sales.

More USA made Epiphones (original models) would be great. Not Custom Shop stuff - just regular old "USA" production and comparable in price to the Faded models (such as a Faded Wilshire, USA). And, a run of USA Casinos in the $2-2.5k range would sell like hotcakes.

Robots - interesting technology, but keep it as a "niche" kind of thing - I think that ever making it a standard option would be a bad move. That said, the continued R&D at Gibson is impressive - you've come up with some groundbreaking stuff.

R9/R0 models - I understand that flame maple is more expensive to source, but the $2k upcharge is "offensive." I know that most who are in this market can afford the extra $$, but I think that you'd sell a lot more of them if you made the upcharge $500-750 over the R8 prices. Speaking of Historics, the newer style C.O.A.s in the little black folder are great - much nicer than the old 8x11" sheet of paper.

Faded Juniors are priced higher than Faded SGs - 1/2 the pickups, 1/2 the hardware, 1/2 the electronics, less in the way of body contours..... Doesn't make sense.

You should include more "information" in the case candy w/ your guitars - one thing in particular that those who are ignorant regarding production of your guitars complain about is the "step" between the body and binding. They're not aware that you guys actually hand scrape the finish from the binding prior to clear coat. This would be something to address in the user info. "All of our bindings are scraped by hand, and you may observe that there is a ridge at the transition between the body and binding as a result. This is a sign of a hand crafted finish which you will not find on many guitars produced by our competitors" or something to that effect.

That is all I can think of at the moment... and I hope that at least some of my thoughts were helpful.

All in all, I think you're doing a great job w/ the company. There seem to be a number of disgruntled workers at Gibson who like to "make it known" that there are "problems" in the factory. You might take the time to address that issue. Great work tracking down and shutting down counterfeit production. There is an entire crew of guys over at www.mylespaul.com who scour eBay and report these counterfeits on a daily basis - which is a testimant to how much the guys over there care about your company and maintaining the integrity of Gibson guitars.

I'm going to give a quick shoutout to Sam Catalona, owner of Outlaw Music in Missoula, MT. He is a true ambassador to Gibson and we are fortunate to have a Gibson dealer of such quality in our part of the country. His presence does a great service to you and Gibson, and he really knows his stuff. It all of your dealers had the integrity that this shop does, you would see some serious benefit. Don't forget about "the little guy."

Thanks for listening.

-Dan Rice

[M Zwerin (Mike)]

Hi one quick question, why no maestro option on sg standards ans 61 reissues?

[M Berka (EmBee)]

Thank you for this unique opportunity to talk straight to one of the leading heads in the musical instrument business!

[J Beckett (b3john)]

Henry, thanks for opening up this forum. It's the rare CEO that will listen directly to the customer these days.

A couple of comments around model availability.

First, the "exclusive" to GC and/or MF models. Examples: ES-339 and LP Trad Pro. For regular production models (not limited runs or limited editions) it would be helpful if these were only "exclusive" for specific period of time, say six months or a year. I understand the economics of GC/MF and what that volume must mean to Gibson, but don't completely cut out your other retailers. It's frustrating for my local Gibson dealer to have to tell me a particular model or color would have to be ordered from MF or bought at a GC.

Next, the same applies to the "exclusive" to Japan models. I'm sure this generates some certain amount of buzz for those models in Japan, but it would be nice to be able to pick up these models in the States or in Europe or wherever. I'd buy that ebony Les Paul Doublecut Classic today if my local dealer could sell it to me.

Finally, many long-time Gibson players seem to like the really fat '50s necks and they have lots of options available to them. For those of us who prefer the '60s slim taper necks, the options are far more limited. I'm sure the models you offer are a reflection of your sales numbers, but have you considered an integrated search engine that would let customers filter the current models by a range of criteria (chambered vs weight relieved, '50s neck vs '60s neck, ABR-1 vs. Nashville bridge, pickups, available colors/finishes, electronic options)?

BTW, send me an email if you ever decide to put out a two-pickup Les Paul Custom in ebony with a '60s neck, nickel hardware, and white (not "aged" or "green") inlays and bindings.

[S Phillips (mudfinger)]

Henry,

You've either got nerves of steel, or you're totally insane; giving us players and collectors the chance to twist your ear. I love my Gibsons, and my loyalty to the brand runs deep. One of the many reasons I feel so passionate about Gibson is because it's an American company that actually builds something. There are a few things on my mind right now, suggestions, pleas even, that I wanted to express.

1. I understand the necessity of sourcing parts in the global economy, but I strongly believe that there are enough Gibson customers to support a few "All-American" guitars. I don't know where every bit and piece comes from, but it's my understanding that the magnets your company uses are made offshore; I would personally pay extra without flinching for a Gibson pickup with a U.S. Made magnet in it. This is just the example I've been ruminating on recently, but I think you get my point. Offer it up as an upsell option on your entire line, or as an optional version for a few of the Historics, but I think effort in that direction will not only result in sales, it will serve to enhance the company's reputation, and help to support other American businesses that are also actually making things right here in the U.S.

2. On a related note, it would serve the company's and the industry's long term objectives if you found a way to get smaller, independent shops back into the business of selling Gibsons. I don't shop at Guitar Center, ever, I don't buy guitars online, and I'm not the only one. I understand the economics of treating GC with a certain degree of favor, but please find a way to put Gibsons back in the windows of independent shops. I know you can make it happen without offending GC, and it would do alot of good for alot of people. And, yes, I'd pay extra for that, too.

3. Support the aftermarket. By way of analogy, in the 1960s, the Kaiser Corporation noticed that a company in NV was retrofitting their Jeeps with a Buick V6; rather than object, Kaiser dove in, partnered up, and started buying motors from Buick (they later bought the engine design, iirc) to install in their Jeeps. Decades later, those vintage Jeeps are among the most desirable ever made. You guys don't even own the old Leesona winders anymore, but the boutique winders who do own them are producing some very nice pickups. It'd be very cool to see a special-issue LP with Seymour's pickups, or a set of ThroBaks, or what have you. Same goes for companies who reproduce some of the vintage stuff to a high degree of detail; Pigtail comes to mind. I don't think it would harm your bottom line at all; you could charge more for those guitars, while putting some revenue in the hands of companies that basically exist to help make Gibsons the best that they can be. I know you're in with Floyd Rose, and people are raving happy about it, so let's see some more of the same!

4. Keep up with the experimental models. I DO hate that Darkfire thing, and I'll never use a Robot, but there are people out there who will love them, and in 20 years, some kid is gonna pick one up and change music forever with it. It's the nature of the beast that most new products fail, isn't it. Still worth the effort, and sometimes, as with the Axcess, the results are stunning and truly innovative.

5. Take good care of those employees; they work hard to give players like me the gear I need, and they deserve everyone's respect and support, especially yours. Your reputation on this issue is terrible, and is, in my view, the greatest threat to your legacy, and to the company.

That's it for now, I'll be thinking about Gibson today while I play mine, and if something else comes to mind, I'll be back for another chat. Thanks again for creating this forum, and here's to many, many more years of Gibson being a premier example of the great American musical tradition.

[H Juszkiewicz (HenryJ)]

S Moizuk (Apothecurious), on 15 July 2010 - 02:28 AM, said:

First I would like to thank everyone who made a forum like this possible. This is a great idea for a company such as Gibson to directly listen in to what their customers are saying and provides them with another way to stay in touch with their fan base. Thank you Gibson for this opportunity.

I just had a couple questions regarding the Printed Circuit Boards (PCB's) that have started appearing in some of Gibson's guitars.

I have a 2009 SG standard that has the PCB in the guitar. What was the main reason that Gibson included these in their guitars? Was this a measure to decrease the time or cost needed to manufacture the guitar or was this something that was created so it would be easier to add aftermarket parts to the guitar down the line? If so, does Gibson have any pickup or PCB aftermarket parts that would be compatible with the PCB's in their guitars to allow users to customize their setups?

Another question: Could you please bring back the Gibson SG Special w/ 3 Single Coils? (I had to give it a try).

Thanks again for everything.

The main reason for the circuit boards were quality and reliability improvements. We keep statistics on why guitars are returned, even those that come in for a repair or mod, to get a feeling for what we can improve in future designs.

One area that we saw a problem in was related to soldering. You can have solder joints that are marginal and fail after a long period of time, or simply degrade the signal, making the guitar not quite right.

This system eliminates these problems an insures a high quality electrical connection that should last as long as the instrument.

We are now working on making this system more friendly by allowing mods and aftermarket parts. I am hoping to release this in the next few months. It really isn't easy right now and we have to improve it.

[m dailey (milod)]

Mr. J...

First... Sorry, but as a longtime "car" guy, and you can figure my age from checking on the regular Gibbie forum, when I think "Henry J," I have images of a small vehicle in a light green that a fellow high school student was driving to class 50 years ago.

Hence the "Mr. J." Whatever.

Anyway my guitars are pretty much from 35 years ago; may be updated some day. But yes, I think in spite of some difficulties the past cupla years, you and your team deserve a lot of credit for keeping Gibson functioning post Norlin. There are no Gibson dealers within a practical drive of where I live and, functionally, not when I was playing for money and could justify a new instrument. But IMHO the loss of Gibson as a brand in the late 1970s would have been more tragic than loss of the Pontiac or Plymouth.

PR is increasingly important today and yet seems to be relatively poorly practiced across the board. This forum - and I assume you're kind of following the "Ask Ann Landers" format of someone reading and bringing pieces to your attention - is a very good idea.

But - hey, I've been serious on the regular forum offering to help get Gibson pix at the literal center of the nation. <grin> What the heck, you have my phone number.

m

[A Nagy (Kip0909)]

Hello,

First let me start off by saying thanks for giving your time to answer all these questions.

I have 3 questions for you,

1. Will there be any future releases of more robot guitars? Not necessarily the same as the first run of them, but with other options. Such as P90's, body binding, different finishes etc.

2. Will the availability of the 50's Tribute Studios be limited? I understand you're going through hard time's with the flood, and aren't able to produce the guitars as quickly as you hoped, but will the production continue as the year goes on? or will the guitars only be produced for a small amount of time with limited numbers.

3. A question about the finishes on the 50's Tribute Studio, On GC's website, it shows too different versions of the Heritage Cherry Sunburst. The default has a faded look to it, almost like a light honeyburst. The other shows more of a traditional Cherry sunburst, with the bright red burst, Is there actually two different versions of the Sunburst?

[d obaya (venuxdeluxe)]

Dear Henry ,
I'm living in France and I would like to buy a LesPaul Recording ..... but a new one ! Why don't you re-edit this beautiful guitar with some upgrade like Lundahl transformer , Allen Bradley pots , 1% precision resistor , polypropylene capacitor , XLR combo jack , neodymium magnets ...... and why not a preamp with phantom powering ? I am sure there is a lot of musicians waiting for this instrument . I love pear wood and nobody use it for a top finish.

Best regards

[W C (Walman)]

Dear Mr. J,

Thank you for all your hard work over the years and congratulations for all the great products that you have created. I had an idea that I would love to run by you. I was thinking being a Slash fan, would you consider perhaps doing a Slash 'November Rain' Les Paul based on the '59 LP he had from Joe Perry which was featured throughout the music video. I think the name sounds great, sorry I'm a sucker for marketing! It also happens to be my favourite song and the solo is regarded as one of the best of all time. I have a lot of friends that I was discussing this with and we all agreed that we would go out and buy a signed and aged version just based on the collectibility, look, investment potential and the 'name' of it.

One more question if I may, plenty of folks missed out on the Jimmy Page signed and aged Number Two which was very difficult to get hold of, I'm still trying now and looking at paying over $50k to get one if somebody does decide to sell. Any hint at a Number 3?

Many Thanks

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[C D'Agostino (Epi Plyr)]

Hello Henry,
I have been a Gibson fan since the first time I held my Melody Maker at the age of 16. Oddly enough, it is the only Gibson branded guitar I ever owned.
Don' get me wrong, I do own Gibson products, but they are Epiphone. I'm also not knocking Epiphone either. My guitars sound great, and do what I need them to do when I need them to do it. I have just one wish, and that is to own a Gibson guitar before I can't play anymore. I have never been a guy with a lot of money and when I had cash, I spent it on my family. So my wish is to own a Gibson guitar. Not a guitar with a faded finish to look old. Not a guitar that says Gibson on the head stock but doesn't sound like a Gibson. In essence, I am asking that you place innovation where it should be and create a line of guitars that the masses can afford. It is uber upsetting to see all these weird guitars that come out as the guitar of the month, and how long it took to come out with these maniacal concoctions, being sold on Amazon for less than half of what they originally sold for. The ideas are cute, but it should be apparent to you that they are a bad business decision. In my humble opinion, a good business decision is to create a line of guitars that look and sound like the pro guitars, and sell them to casual players. It would not take away any epiphone business because they would be priced above the Epiphone line, and it would not take away from Gibson's pro guitars because pro players need their pro axes to play consistently. This line would probably require more maintenance, and cases would be optional, but you would be satisfying a need to a market that has been starved for a Gibson product forever. Real Gibson Pickups, real binding, nitrocellulose finishes,Grover pegs, tune-a-matic bridges, Bigsby or Floyd Rose, you know what Im talking about. There are a million ways for you to save money in the manufacture of a commodity product, versus the manufacturing challenges and high costs of a herd of one offs that end up at a liquidator. Come on Henry, please think about it for a bit. It does make good business sense, and will help Gibson attract a larger portion of the market that will then be more inclined to upgrade to another Gibson when the opportunity presents itself. Selfishly, I'm 52 years old and would love to be playing a Gibson again soon. Please respond with your thoughts.

[M Westphal (mlwestphal)]

Mr J.,
First I would like to express my long over due thanks for your assistance way back in the mid-80's. I'm sure you don't remember at this point but, back when you first became CEO, when Gibson was trying to produce the (then) new re-issue acoustics in Nashville, you reimbursed me for a defective J-200 that I had received ( it was a special order that I had literally waited over a year to obtain), which was unheard of at the time. Obviously, as you can see from the collection listed in my profile, it did not make me give up on getting my ultimate acoustic from Gibson. Over the years, I've bought and sold many Gibson's, mainly acoustics, but a number of electrics as well. I agree with what you have previously posted about Montana concerning consistency, from my perspective what they deliver varies between very good, and GREAT. It has given me the confidence to special order colors 3 times (my SJ-200, J-185-12, and a standard J-185). My most recent acquisition is a special run Cherry Sunburst Dove From Fullers in TX.... it is a GREAT one , especially love the way the back and sides are shaded to show off the flaming (not the standard all cherry back). Needless to say, it sounds great too. I do, however, have a question. This Dove has the old style binding, which covers the fret ends, in fact all of my acoustics have had this style binding except the standard J-185. In a significant number of the Gibsons I've had, hairline cracks have appeared in the binding at the fret end. I've never been sure what the cause of this is, or if it is actually avoidable. My SJ-200 and ,J-185-12 have not had this happen but several in the past and in fact my Custom Rose Vine J-185 have. I treat ALL my acoustics the same (like gold in their cases!), is there a way I can reduce the possibility that my Dove will not develop these cracks? It's a small thing but if I can avoid it, I'd like to. Incidentally, I consider the SJ-200, Rose Vine, J-185-12, and Dove to be equally my ultimate acoustics (in case you were curious).
Thanks