Gibson Review: J50 Deluxe

History:

Purchase: I just "stole" this at a garage sale for $250 including the hardshell case. It is a 1980 model. The guitar's hardware (tuners, frets) were badly tarnished and the wood finish was very dirty and smudged. It also came with some dead bugs inside.

What I Like About This Gibson J50 Deluxe: After cleaning this thing up and re-stringing it, it is a beautiful guitar that sounds great. Big, booming low end, intonation is excellent, octave are right on, fingers easily, nice neck.

What I Do NOT Like About The Gibson J50 Deluxe: I plan on lowering then string action (I do this to brand new Martins too though) and installing an internal transducer. Besides that, this guitar really isn't lacking in any area.

Gibson J50 Deluxe Quality Rating: Very Gibson-like, super quality, fit and finish is great. Even though this guitar had been neglected for 5-6 years, it cleaned up suberbly. Stays in tune very well (once you have stretched the new strings).

Review Summary: I was in the market for another Martin when I found this and couldn't be happier with this find. I have Gibson electrics but this is the first Gibson acoustic I've owned and I'm very impressed. The sound quality, excellent fit and finish combined with the price I paid ($250) make me give this a 5. This guitar would be a good buy at $800.

Rating of this Gibson product: 5

This Gibson J50 Deluxe Acoustic Guitars Review Submitted By: tornado watch

Review Date: 2003-04-21