Serial number: 96515 Tony Mottola

Year shipped: 1940

FON: 1343F-6

Headstock: Horizontal ‘Gibson’ script logo

Neck/fingerboard: Laminated maple neck, 20-fret ebony fingerboard with pointed end and narrow block inlays from the first fret

Body: 17-inch cutaway body with carved maple back, maple sides and carved spruce top with large bound f-holes

Hardware: Gold-plated metal parts including Varitone tailpiece and Kluson Sealfast tuners with Catalin buttons

Electronics: Bar-magnet ‘Charlie Christian’ pickup (see Notes below)

Notes: Gibson never catalogued a carved, cutaway electric model prior to WWII and only a handful were built.

L-5P serial number 96515 was originally intended for guitarist Charlie Christian. After Christian’s death in 1942, it was shipped to Gibson endorser, Tony Mottola, who used it for much of his career.

The guitar first appears in Gibson’s shipping ledgers on June 28th 1941 alongside an EH-185 amplifier designated for “Chas. Christian (NY Band)” – the New York Band Instrument Company was Gibson’s primary distributor at the time.

On April 21st 1942, it was shipped a second time to NY Band with an EH-185 amp for Tony Mottola. It was notated as “L-5P 96515 ES-250 Pick Up” confirming that it was built with the single bar magnet pickup in the neck position.

According to Tony Mottola Jr., the guitar was returned to Gibson at least twice for upgrades; in the 1940s a second bar magnet pickup was installed in the bridge position and in the 1960s this was replaced with a gold-plated patent number humbucker, the mounting screw holes from the earlier pickup filled with pearl dots. At some point a thin black plastic ring was added around the original neck pickup.

The guitar currently has a single switch on the cutaway bout plus individual tone and volume controls for each pickup. The pickguard has been cut to accommodate the bridge pickup.

The ebony bridge was hand carved by Jimmy D’Aquisto and signed by him on the underside. Tony Mottola wrote his name in pencil on the label and on the interior of the back beneath the bass side f-hole. The guitar has been re-fretted more than once.

There are two sealed grain splits to the top, one at the bottom of the treble side f-hole and the other off the bass side back edge. The rim around the tailpiece has several sealed splits running up to the jack area.