Serial number: 95457

Year shipped: 1938

FON:

Headstock: Horizontal ‘Gibson’ script logo – no dot over the letter ‘i’

Neck/fingerboard: 20 fret fingerboard with pointed end and narrow block inlays from the first fret. Wide neck heel

Body: 17-inch body with maple back and sides and large bound f-holes

Hardware: Gold-plated metal parts including Kluson tuners with metal buttons

Notes: There is a repaired top crack. The gold plating appears to have been removed from the Varitone tailpiece (though the ‘L-5’ engraving is hard to make out, it can be seen in photo below). The body has been over-sprayed and there is some lacquer touch up visible in the f-holes. The bridge saddle is not original, the pickguard is missing and a strap button has been added at the heel. 

This guitar is one of 146 Sunburst finish Advanced L-5s shipped in 1938

Images courtesy of Mark Cleary