Gibson L-12 Sunburst (1939)

1939 Gibson L-12 acoustic archtop just into the shop on consignment!

This Pre-War era Gibson shares lineage with the L-5 and is one of the premier acoustic archtops that Gibson was offering at the time. It was owned by local professional musician Joe Aprea as noted on the custom-made truss rod cover. This particular L-12 was built in the early part of 1939 and still exhibits the desirable X-bracing that was abandoned shortly thereafter in favor of parallel bracing.

There's no lack of volume in a 17" archtop, but the X-bracing definitely brings more liveliness and dynamic response to the table, making it excel both as a rhythm and lead instrument. The neck is a very comfortable rounded C profile with a moderate taper, and with a great refret done in-house, playability is as good as it's ever been!