The newbie here with me is Gibson's SGJ ver 2014. It's not a costly affair, you can get one for less than $800.00. The reason I bought one was to keep an eye on the manufacturer's mid-priced offering. We do know too well that 'Gibson' has no entry level offerings in its catalog. If you wish for one, you have to dig into the Epiphone range which are quite detached from what Gibson is dishing out.
Here it is, a commemorative 12th fret marker which is, quite frankly, undesirable. It means nothing to the general players & collectors alike. In years to come there won't be a marked appreciation in value for these instruments for a simple reason- they are not limited edition. It'd be different if Gibson released a pool of special editions, souped them up a little to make them really special (read: Demand vs supply).
Equally undesirable are these tall grip-type knobs. It's a positive intention but do they solve any access-related issues? Simple answer- no. They don't free any real estate in that vicinity unlike the hat-type knobs where the tapered nature actually create more space for the fingers.
The 'J' models are affordable Gibson instruments. Affordability means cutting corners especially for big names like Gibson. There's obviously cost savings here as the guitar is devoid of a final clear-coat. The SGJ14 is a very ordinary guitar & priced as such. A guitar like this would signal if the manufacturer had gotten their fundamentals right because there were no extras to begin with.
