Serial number: 97649

Year shipped: 1942

FON: 7611H-7

Headstock: Horizontal ‘Gibson’ script logo (lacks a dot over the letter ‘i.’) The headstock inlay is the same as that found on the 1924 Gibson TB-5 trapdoor banjo. Original bone nut

Neck/fingerboard: 20 fret fingerboard with pointed end and narrow block inlays from the first fret. 25 ½-inch scale length and wide neck heel

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

Hardware: Gold-plated metal parts including Varitone tailpiece and engraved Grover Sta-Tite G-98 open back tuners. Rosewood bridge and long bound pickguard

Notes: The unusual headstock inlay, which is the same as that found on the 1924 Gibson TB-5 trapdoor banjo, can also be seen on L-5 serial number 89849 (shipped in 1933), L-5 serial number 91615 (shipped in 1935), which was built for guitarist Carl Kress and L-5 serial number 97670, which was owned by Roy Smeck (shipped in 1943). Similar gold-plated Grover G-98 Sta-Tite tuners with engraved  buttons were fitted to the earliest Super 400 model

This guitar is one of 20 Sunburst finished Advanced L-5s shipped in 1942

 

 

 

Images courtesy of Joe Viniko at Archtop.com