Serial number: 76709
Year shipped: 1924
Virzi number:
Signed and dated by Lloyd Loar on March 31st 1924
Headstock: Diagonal ‘The Gibson’ logo with rhinestones added by a previous owner
Neck/fingerboard: 20 fret fingerboard with pointed end, dot inlays from the fifth fret
Body: Birch back, with maple sides. Virzi Tone Producer fitted
Hardware: Silver-plated metal parts including wrap-over tailpiece and Waverly three-on-a-strip tuners with engraved base plate and pearl buttons, mounted so that the cog is positioned above the worm gear. Short bound pickguard.
The guitar pictured here belonged to Gary’s Grandfather, Frederick Hill who was born in 1884 and died in 1934.
Gary tells us: “He passed away when mum was nine years old, 25 years before I was born. The L-5 had been stored away in its case for a lifetime.
“I don’t have much information, though we do know that he was a minister in Ontario, Canada. How he came upon the Gibson remains a mystery. That guitar was expensive in 1924 and I doubt he purchased it new. Unfortunately, everyone that knew him has now passed away.”
The F-5 Mandolin above was signed by Lloyd Loar on March 31st 1924. A similar pattern of rhinestones has been added to its headstock. Could it have belonged to the same person as the L-5?