OK … The 1964 Gibson B-45 arrived 4 or 5 days back, safe and sound after its flight across the Pacific.
Upon opening the well packed shipping carton the case seemed in good condition by sort of well used, but when I opened the case it revealed a delightful instrument. A check all round, no issues to speak of, no damage during the transportation - sometimes heavy drops can cause internal bracing to shift or come adrift, but everything seems as it should. Quick tune up as I needed to get back to work after dashing home to move it from my front patio to the security of the house, and wow what a sound. A wave, nay, a Tsunami of fundamentals and harmonics. Such a thick and special sound that this 12 string acoustic makes.
The guitar itself is in great condition... in fact the excellent photos that the seller had for the REVERB page almost over played the nicks and dings that come with a 55 year old acoustic guitar. It seems also a little more amber coloured on the spruce top , with the back being a quite red stained mahogany. All the tuners work nicely, the binding is perfect and has that nice rounded edges that 60s Gibson and Epiphone acoustics and thinlines have, unlike modern versions that still seem to have a sharp edge. maybe it's the binding material itself, but that old binding is great.
Interesting that the neck heel has never been drilled for a strap button and while it has been played, it is overall in superb condition. A very small amount of bridge rotation due to the high loads of the 12 strings, but then again I have 6 string acoustics that have similar amounts of rotation, so one could even argue, it is as expected for an acoustic of this age. Later versions of this instrument removed the bridge/saddle/pins and just had the bridge/saddle with a trapeze tailpiece, to reduce the loading of the spruce top and bridge. This produced an instrument with less energy. It is quite apparent that this early version of the instrument that I have is very loud. The neck is wide (2") and I do have slight issues with some of my bar chords but in general it is a lot easier to play than I thought it would be.
We have a few threads here at OSG on the topic of finish checking and in some cases finish cracking and falling off. When you look over the B-45 the checking that exists is not apparent at all. You have to align the light (sun) in a particular way to show up the checking. Almost all 1964 Gibsons/Epiphones will have checking and the finish will be very stable and un likely to flake off. (unlike some of the guitars from the latter half of the 60s. There is a photo below showing this crazing / checking that can sometimes be seen. (It appears to be under or inside the finish, rather than all the way to the surface).
There is one fundamental design flaw is the Gibson12 string bridge/saddle set up … the location of the holes for the bridge pins. The additional 6 holes are located equidistant from the two "normal" string holes, rather than being offset (closer to its main associated string) to allow the "pairs of high low strings" to sit neatly over the saddle. As you can see in the photos below, some of the strings have to take a left or right turn to line up as they go over the saddle. Modern 12 strings often have the holes offset to allow alignment as the strings go over the saddle.
But in spite of this slight design flaw there is perfect intonation and I have spent almost all the past few days getting to know this enjoyable instrument. As I mentioned the sound washes over you and you need to remember to play all the strings, as sometimes the lower strings can overwhelm the Bs and High Es if you forget to put the normal energy it, because you are getting the high frequencies from the other high strings of the 4 normal bass strings. But once you learn that this is a strumming instrument all is good.
The action is exceptional good, being consistent along the entire neck. The adjustable saddle set up uses an ebony saddle and I did have thoughts of replacing the ebony saddle with a bone/ceramic adjustable saddle, but after hearing the guitar play I probably won't do this. Another observation is that maybe the frets are a little higher (different gauge) than say a Gibson Southern Jumbo or J45/50 from the same year. Maybe they used slightly higher frets to assist with playing (note the guitar has not been re-fretted at any stage)
I have had remarkable luck over the past 7 years with buying vintage Gibsons/Epiphones (3 years as far as acoustics go), given that I do not get to play them prior to purchase. Every one has been a superb instrument and this B-45 is no exception. I can attribute my "luck" to a number of factors. Investigating / learning about the instrument I have GAS for, doing my homework on what is currently available (including looking at pricing) and lastly dealing with sellers that are good. (their history, their willingness to answer questions, if they will provide additional photos and even just consider shipping outside of the USA). I have to say that the REVERB seller
SS VINTAGE (George) was a true gentleman and I can recommend dealing with him. The instrument was better than he described, he shipped almost immediately and the packing of the instrument into the shipping carton was top rate. Could not have asked for anything more.
I have added a couple more of the sellers photos (that are superb) as well as my usual on the patio/ivy shots:
relaxing alternative to doing actual work ...
