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Brother Paul, I thought the thermally aged had a sweeter tone. I love the depth that these 200’s have. Both were tone monsters, for sure. Great playing! I’m not going to kick either one out of the house, brother man 👍🏻

Hands down the vintage wins nice and and warm the standard needs to go you have my address.happy 4th

Firefly

Super Jumbos not for fingerpicking???.Somebody has clearly never listened to Michael Chapman's 'Naked Ladies And Electric Ragtime'.Didn't Ray Whitley's SJ 200 see the light of day in 1937?.I've had(and still own)J200s since 1972 including 3 Bozeman models.My Guild F50R(made in New Hartford)would eat them for breakfast according to not only me but a former Taylor and Larrivee clinician and demonstrator.I've got a slightly smaller rosewood GAD and a maple 17" Farida J66.Many years ago a guy was selling a '54 J200 and said a buyer would be in laminated body territory if they opted for a '55.I wonder if that was the situation down the years before a return to solid wood at the tail end of Nashville production and Bozeman models?.I heard that Gibson went with laminated though more expensive due to worries re structural integrity on a big guitar.Don't like the Epiclones though.

A friend of mine here in West Sussex (Southern England - UK) has one of these and I have to say I'm very impressed with it. The build quality is great, and unlike so many Les Pauls or Gibson LP copies, it's not too heavy. The neck and fretboard are great, it's very comfortable to play, and TBH I wish it were mine..! My guess is that it was made in Japan, partly because of the much lighter than usual weight, aprtly because of the super-high build quality.

Great video brother

You empathize with the people building them, but, take my money! Haha, well they took mine also. Whoever trained the children to build them, did a good job. I've gotten the SG so far with a 338 on order currently. The SG is incredible as well.

Wonder what will happen to boutique builders? Their cost has risen significantly. I bought a used Bourgeois this year for $4700 and a new one cost 13k.

It doesn't help that SamAsh is gone and Guitar Center is probably next to close shop.

I just bought a new Guild USA M20.. which the does not have the deep dread sound… because it’s the 00 version of what you have..but it still sounds rich. I love it.

Wow!! So beautiful!! Sounds great!! I have a Gibson J-45. Great tone, my friend!!!🎸

Yup I Need one of these guitars!!!!! Great tone!!!!

Gibson wins, but for the money, I will get an imported Guild. Great review

So wonderful performance!👍👍👍

I ain’t wasting time no more, cause life goes by like a hurricane. Bits of a song that resonates with us, for sure. A beautiful song, Paul. You’re more than welcome for myself being part of the now 500+ subscribers. As far as I’m concerned, time well spent just to get to know such a fine man who’s become like a brother to me. You’re the one that got me interested in the 200 to begin with and at some point one will end up in east Texas with me. A really great review, my friend. Now, how about a comparison between the red wine and the sunburst? I would guess that the aged top on this one is louder that the standard, but I’d sure like to hear it. By the way, Maryanne was always my girl 👍🏻

Lovely tone, such a roaring bass and chimy treble! I wonder if the tone will become mellower over time. Would love if it did to some extent. That's definitely a grand piano, I don't think the wine red is standing a chance!😁 Is it pickup-free? That's definitely a bonus for this guitar's tone! Lovely grain as well, I think tighter than most Adirondack. The 2 block bridge might not look as good but it's just a better design. Bridge holes should be closer to the saddle for optimal break angle. If they're far away, the angle is too shallow, and with inlay between the pin hole and the saddle you're kind of prohibited to ramp the bridge, which is a real shame. I understand a guitar can sound great even despite suboptimal construction, but when it's a guitar as expensive as J-200 it would really pain me to look at the bridge and constantly realise that the guitar's crucial part was robbed of its potential. Not saying that to put you down, I love the moustache bridge even though it's not an optimal design either, just a bit of geekness.🤓

Oh man, I understand that "in the back of my mind I always wanted a different thing". That's exactly why I ordered the new all-solid natural maple Epiphone SJ-200, I always wanted THAT. Thank you VERY MUCH for mentioning my review in the description, I greatly appreciate it!

The Guild is completely outclassed. 😮

Why do people always talk about resale value? Who buys guitars just to sell them? I just don’t understand. I have 31 guitars and I could get a crap about what their resale values are. Maybe some of you buys guitars just to sell but it just doesn’t make any sense at all to me. Just don’t buy the guitar.

In 1989 I purchased a new Gibson Les Paul Custom and a new PRS CE 24 Custom and when I was purchasing my first house I tried to sell them to help with my down payment 🫤 I couldn’t get more than $500 each both being in excellent condition 🫤 losing money on guitars is nothing new !

From the UK here, I have listed three guitars One Gibson, One Fender and a Kramer. Three to four times all low priced for what they are. No buyers. 1 silly offer for the Gibson that's it. That was on Ebay.

Well they arent that close. The guild is kind of tight/stiff sounding and has less detail/overtones. The gibson is simply a prettier sounding guitar. It sounded like a piano with a ton of bass. The songs sounded better on the gibson.

I think I like the fullness and sound of this Gretsch better than the recent Reverend 12-strings, which do look very cool. They just don’t seem to ring like a 12-string should.

Laurel fingerboards are so exciting. It is such garbage that we can't even get rosewood boards unless we sell our children to Gibson 😔

Sigma sg200 is supposed to be all solid woods

Thanks to the fraudulent illegitimate Biden regime.

The Gibson 200 was already defeated by the Guild f50r

Wow! Sounds really cool, Paul!!!Nice place, my friend!!

It's already dead

Don't know why you think everyone has so much time to waste.

In my opinion the Guild has the superior sound here.. I tested one against a Gibson and bought the Guild. The Guild just has a more balanced and full sound. The Gibson is too bright sounding for me and doesn’t have the warmth and personality of the Guild. The Gibson is a much nicer guitar to look at, but I’m here for sound not looks.

Excellent cover really well revisited with your own style and touch. Much inspired and talented. Full of poetry and tenderness. A real peaceful and relaxing pleasure to listen. Good for the mind and the ears. Exceptionnal guitar player and singer with a lot of feeling and sense of groove. Big big big like for this fantastic perform and brilliant sharing. Splendid and luminous.

Thank you for this informative video here !! Loved the song in the beginning!!!

no comparison the Guild is way better, the sound and the build are far superior

Hi Paul, How long did have the Epi Excellente before you did this video? I'm wondering if it had time to open up or if it was just new at the time... Great video! I once had a beautiful Guild D55 and I wish I still did. I can no longer afford to buy another one, so I ordered a mint made in Indonesia Epi Excellente. It is still in transit and I am hoping it sounds as good as I've heard from so many others. How hard would it be to remove that pick guard, (if I ever decide to do that)? Thanks, again.

Tame the reverb. Nice guitar if it has Lindy Fralin p92s. Oasis=Ugh

*PromoSM*

Sigma (I see that this vote is late). Nice video, too.

I just don't understand why they keep putting pickups in these guitars! I guess it's to be able to sell them at a higher price. The paradox being that it costs extra to get one without the pickup!

Well done mate 👍

Great information, brother man Paul! Loved the opening song and it was great to hear you singing again. I’ve never been hangry, what’s that? 😂😂

I'm so irritated when some dupious schmucks claim the BIG manufacturers lie a wood is solid while it's supposedly laminate. My brothers in Christ, almost every single Gibson has an endpin jack, unscrew it and see.🤦‍♀️

The ceos are eating up so much just get rid of them. Guitars will be more affordable

For the last 20 years I have focused on off brands. I rarely buy used but I have bought damaged because I know how to repair. My favorite guitar is a Washburn WP-50 law suit guitar. I bought it in 1989 and it is a keeper.

The guitar is going the way of the mandolin.when all people born before 1996 die the remaining people don’t give a sheet about guitars

From what I've seen starting in 2018 was a increase in all used gear. An SD-1 used selling for $44.99 & a new one for $49.99. Buying new is a no brainer. Recently SG' are way too high $549.99 for a Standard & used is no better. I never buy Gibson or Fender or anything that's 1K or more. It's a piece of wood & with some time you can get cheaper guitars to play fine. I know of high priced guitars that don't play right. Too many people hear with their eyes & in the end they all do the same thing. People can dictate the market if they just have the will power to say no I'm not paying for that. Even used HB are selling for more then the new ones on Reverb. The used market is terrible! We seen in 2020 how we can change the price at the pump. Doesn't apply to food but in other areas we can change it. We seen it in the car market where dealers were paying you more then what you paid for your car. Solution is simply stop buying. I'm sure you all have more then enough guitars.

Nice, I prefer the Epiphone one this one

Two amazing guitars, tough choice! Great video!

Paul, you should definitely do the double pick guard!!! All your other J - 200's are single pickguard. Stunning guitar, my friend!!! 👍🏻

Nice picking, some guys doing guitar reviews beat on the thing like using a washboard to do laundry.