Gibson

Gibson 16" L-5 (1937)

$12,500.00

Pickup available at 165 Showroom

Usually ready in 1 hour

On Consignment
Expedited Shipping Required

Product information

This late-model, 16" body L5 makes a compelling argument as a vintage archtop guitar that can do it all.

For many, the original, 16" Gibson L5 rules as the quintessential archtop guitar, a sublime design that finds appeal across a surprisingly wide range of genres. This 1937 L5 is a wonderful instrument: a natural choice for jazz chord-melody work, but a guitar equally at home excels as both a rhythm and lead melody instrument in any number of acoustic settings.

By 1937, production of Gibson's new, larger, 17" body version of the L5 was in full swing. Of the more than two hundred L-5 guitars Gibson shipped in '37, it is thought that fewer than a dozen were 16" L-5 models. As such, an example in such well preserved condition is an exciting find, all the more so when it sounds this good!

Materials
Style
16" Archtop
Top
Spruce
Body
Figured Maple
Bridge
Rosewood
Tuners
Gold Grover
Tailpiece
Trapeze
Pickguard
Bound Tortoise
Color
Sunburst

Neck
Neck
Figured Maple w/center laminate
Binding
White with b/w purflings
Fingerboard
Ebony
Inlays
Pearl Block
Nut
Bone
Scale Length
25.5"

Other
Case
Period Hardshell

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Glenn Nichols, Repairs & Restorations

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When restoration is needed, we approach it with respect and restraint - always in service of preserving the instrument’s integrity and extending its musical life for decades to come.

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