Introduced in 1951, the L-5CES (the earliest examples were labelled L-5SEC) was intended as an electric version of the L-5C. In effect, it replaced the three pickup ES-5 – described in Gibson’s…
Dealer, private sale or online auction? In the past, used instruments were purchased from a store, found in the ‘for sale’ columns of a local newspaper or bought from a friend or…
Lynn Wheelwright: “The Super L-5 pictured here is listed in Gibson’s records as having been shipped on June 2nd, 1938. Alvino was deeply into classical guitar at the time, which explains why…
Sunburst Finishes “This 1927 L-5 was sent back to the factory in about 1940 and the finish on it is distinctly different from the finish it would have had originally. On the…
“I joined a band playing 1920s style jazz in the early 1990s and was given a cassette tape of songs to learn,” says guitarist Richard Barnes. “The first one was ‘Dinah’ by…
In Part One of our feature on Eddie Lang’s guitars, luthier and guitar historian Todd Cambio looked at the instruments played by Eddie Lang before he settled on Gibson guitars in the…
Musician and luthier Todd Cambio established Fraulini Guitars (https://fraulini.com) to offer traditional performers’ instruments modelled after the classic designs of the early 20th century. As a result of his research into the…
The Gibson L-5 went through a number of modifications before it was relaunched in 1935 with a larger 17-inch ‘Advanced’ body. The most notable of these included the switch from a birch…
Introduced in 1912, the Gibson L-4 had a 16-inch wide body, an oval soundhole, a neck that met the body at the 12th fret and a 20-fret fingerboard (below, left). By 1928 the…
Nitro Nightmare One of the first thermoplastics, Celluloid – a material produced by combining nitrocellulose with camphor and added plasticisers – was widely used by Gibson and many other manufacturers for bindings, pickguards and other plastic parts.…