question about the gibson advanced jumbo

[Charlie Bernstein]

i keep seeing ads and reviews about the gibson aj and the gibson aj reissue. what's the difference? which is better? or are they the same thing?

thanks!

[90% water]

I got an Advanced Jumbo Reissue about 6 months ago fresh from the Montana shop. I mean it was fresh, the lacquer and wood aroma was overpowering for a month or so!
The original Advanced Jumbo was made back in 1939 or thereabouts and only about 300 were ever made. So an original is a pretty rare and highly prized guitar. They have the reputation of being some of the best and loudest acoustics that Gibson ever made.

The reissue is a very accurate copy of the original with the exception of the Brazilian rosewood.
As of last year Gibson no longer uses brazilian rosewood because of a rain forest agreement that Gibson signed. I asked the luthier who makes the AJ reissues in the Montana factory about it and his opinion was that, aside from cosmetics price and tradition, brazilian rosewood had a negligable influence on the tone of the reissue. I think Gibson Montana is doing great work right now. I work in a music store and we recently got in an order of 12 Gibson acoustics and they are all great. The AJ, the Hummingbird, a Southern Jumbo and an L-130 are standouts tonewise.

The tone of the AJ reissue is very lively and even. (For example I recently played a great Hummingbird with a definite thump and boom in the low E string. Very cool sounding guitar but I think I'd rather have a more even response especially for recording).
The AJ gets extremely loud without compressing or distorting. The dynamics are excellent for fingerpicking delicate passages, flatpicking blues or jazz and great for rhythm work. And the sunburst finish is to die for!!
90% water