Gibson L-5 (1939)

Gibson's Advanced L-5 is one of the most powerful acoustic archtops to come out of Kalamazoo, and this parallel-braced beauty is a great example of what these famed instruments are capable of.

This 1939 Gibson L-5 in Sunburst finish is just one of only a handful of these Advanced models we've had in the store over the course of many years, and we're thrilled to have another great example here in our showroom!

This pre-war L-5 is a bit of a transitional model to some degree, with the primary change coming by way of its top bracing. Gibson moved from X-bracing to parallel bracing in the early/middle part of the year, which redefined the voice of this model from a warmer, more open acoustic voice to a punchier, more focused and fundamentally strong tone. Alongside the Premier models, these became frontrunners in the jazz world for their capabilities as a rhythm instrument in larger bands. As one of the more decorated guitars offered by Gibson throughout its production life, this L-5 features a beautiful carved Spruce top with gorgeous highly figured Blister/Birdseye Maple back and sides. Multi-ply binding is used throughout, including on the 3-Piece Maple neck and Ebony fingerboard, as well as the headstock. Its commanding presence makes it one of the most identifiable Gibson models in their storied history.

This is a very nicely preserved example overall, though it's had some changes to account for degradation of original components which were often subject to failure. The original celluloid pickguard had begun to disintegrate and off-gas, which required us to remove it and install a proper replacement. The new celluloid guard is a wonderfully aged example from Sanchesi pickguards, and it fits the guitar perfectly!

Our repair shop refretted the fingerboard with Jescar 47095 fretwire, striking a delicate balance between the original small banjo fretwire that Gibson originally used and the more modern medium jumbo wire found on many Gibsons produced today. This kept the profile and look a bit more vintage-accurate, but offered enhanced playability. With the refret, some light binding repair was also taken care of.

Lastly, we were tasked with the challenge of repairing one of the rarer tailpieces used by Gibson during this time period (or any time period, really) - the hinged L-5 tailpiece. Due to their construction and the high tension created by heavy string gauges, the tailpiece hinges often failed, resulting in an unusable tailpiece. Under most circumstances, a similar reproduction tailpiece would be installed in its place; given there are no modern equivalents to this specific style, we employed one of the most talented guitar builders and parts makers in the business - Ron Thorn - to figure out a path forward to repairing the original. Boy, did he absolutely knock this out of the park! Ron custom machined a small hinge plate out of solid brass that he was able to mount to the underside of the tailpiece with a trio of small machine screws. Not only is the repair more solid than the original, it maintains the look incredibly well. Kudos, Ron!

The guitar includes its original Geib tweed hardshell case, and although rough around the edges, is still doing a nice job of protecting this great old L-5.