“The 1941 L-5 guitar pictured below (Serial Number 97291) was purchased at the Southern California Guitar Show in 1995,” says guitar historian and collector, Lynn Wheelwright. “It was in the condition shown here and I intended to restore it. Though it was a project that I never got around to, I decided to take the time to map out the carve thickness of the top and back for my records. To do this, I used a MAG-ic Probe thickness gauge. I thought this info might be of use to others and figured a good way to get it out there was to share it on Paul’s great L-5 site!”
To see this guitar, head to this page.
I don’t think those readings are accurate, some areas about 1/16″ thinner than a violin ?
Most of the areas should be around 3/16″
Hi Jay, I am not a luthier so I can’t comment. Lynn however is an established authority on prewar instruments and I’d be surprised if he got this sort of thing wrong. Why not contact him through Facebook? I’d be interested to hear his reply.
All is good, they are correct mostly in the 3/16 to a little under 1/4″.
I looked up the MAG-ic Probe Thickness Gauge and the measurement is in 1/1000 Mil, I thought it was in millimeters and thought I saw a decimal.
It is so cool to have that mapping.
I have built three carved arch top jazz guitars.