-
This guy thought it was worth it:
-
12-13-2017 09:26 AM
-
Isn't Prince holding a 30s L50?
-
Prince isn't holding an L-5...that's for sure.
-
What's a ZERO?
Originally Posted by Greentone
-
Yeah the L5 is THE jazz guitar ....
One day I'll get hold of one
-
How's the bonding coming with that one BM? Greatest acoustic you've ever heard? Originally Posted by BigMikeinNJ
-
If you are going to blow 5K on a new 17 inch fully carved arch top, the Hofner chancellor will blow any newish Gibson away.
Obviously, 1950s and 1960s era Gibsons will cost way more than 5K. But at that price point, for a newish or new guitar, the Hofner chancellor blows Gibson or Heritage out of the water.
There may only be one other person on this board who may agree with me but who cares? At least we know. :-)
-
Oh do tell us more Originally Posted by NSJ
If so, why the near anemic resell values?
Hofner Chancellor / Natural -build by Hubert Kaa- '' GERMAN JAZZGITARRE !! '' | eBay
-
Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
Oh do tell us more
If so, why the near anemic resell values?
Hofner Chancellor / Natural -build by Hubert Kaa- '' GERMAN JAZZGITARRE !! '' | eBay
I can’t speak to that, obviously it’s not well marketed. People don’t want to know about it that’s cool.
I don’t collect guitars so my only concern is strictly play ability, tone, and sound. I’m saying that my Chancellor is every bit as good as my 1962 L5C, back when Gibson made really great guitars. I will never sell either. Between that and the 1937 L7, and my ES 339 with a CC pick up and A very nice classical guitar, that’s essentially all what I play .
As you can see, there are three Gibsons in there of the five. I’m saying that the chancellor is every bit as good as the vintage L5C, and both of those are way better than anything new Gibson comes up with these days. In my Opinion. I brought my L5C from my teacher, and he knows guitars way better than anybody here—Koontz, DaQuisto. Benedetto , these are not just names to him but very close friends and colleagues. And that L5c is an exceptional guitar . He sold me the guitar on one condition that I would never sell it because you will never find a guitar as good as this from Gibson these days.
For a new chancellor to be on par with that, that tells me something. It has unbelievable clarity and balance between the treble and bass sides, warmth and Chrispness.
-
Anemic resale values? Based on a sample of one?
I track these once in awhile, since I had a lot to do with their development. They rarely come up or sale, since there are so few of them in existence (fewer than 150) and their owners seem to keep them for some reason. The one in Japan is a screaming deal, since they have no clue what it is.
Here are a few from the past two years that I've tracked, with @current currency conversion, not including shipping. If I had to guess, I'd say they are in keeping with Gibson L-5 models built in the same timeframe (the Chancellor was introduced in 2004 and [ed: as of the end of 2021] Hofner no longer makes them or any other jazz guitars in Germany. However, the guitar is much more comparable to a Gibson Johnny Smith/Gibson Legrand/Heritage Rose/Guild Artist Award than to an L-5CES or WES. I've personally sold a half dozen of them, none of which are listed below, and currently have four of them, including one of the two prototypes built in 2003:
@US$3,571 - used - ebay - Jananese reseller - @'06 blonde Chancellor
@US$4,432 - used - Ivor Mairants, London -£3,299. beat-up violin finish, but shellac can be repaired
@US$4,500 - used - Reverb - Soundspace in LA - '06 blonde Chancellor
@US$5,000 - used - Twelfth Fret - @'05 blonde Chancellor
@US$5,910 - used - Vollresonanz Jazz-Gitarre HÖFNER Chancellor HC-V-0 Gold Label, 4.999*€ VB
@US$10,520 - new - Marnic, Netherlands - new violin-finish - €8,900
@US$10,575 - new - KJ Music, Sydney, AU - violin-finish - AU$13,799
@US$11,480 - germanjazzguitars.de - Chancellor Thinline - €9,700.
They have been made with either blonde or violin finishes. The violin finish is nicer, IMO.
Two or three have been done with really custom finishes - one in trans-blue done in Germany comes to mind.
A half-dozen or so have been made with solid-colour finishes to hide wood blemishes, in a CES-style configuration - one or two of these have come up that were great deals. Some of these were thinline guitars.
Last edited by Hammertone; 02-26-2022 at 10:08 PM.
-
Originally Posted by NSJ
I'm ready to believe you ..... but if there are only 150 in the world my chances of getting my hands on one are pretty slim
And the next time I'm ready to spend $5K on a guitar I will most likely decide to stick with what I know ... Gibson, Heritage, Campellone ... or what I can get my hands on before I buy it .....
unless I find a really good deal
-
The Citation is truly a beauty to look at and play. Remember I have 4 Unity guitars to compare it to. And also a Triggs New Yorker (17 inch version) and a mid 90s Heritage American Eagle (get past the bling factor boys it's a monster). Yet with all of those around here the guitar I play the most: the '39 L5P... it's beat and it's a fretless wonder (original frets ??) but I love it. Originally Posted by 2bornot2bop
-
You know Mikey, There's not a single thing wrong with that.
There are times when I wish I still had my D'A Excel. Because when I sat down and played it, it was so smooth. But I am jealous that you are so comfortable with playing an older guitar. Even though I respected it so, I still always worried if the next time I pulled it out of the case, I'd see a crack or the binding would start to separate.
So to that end, please continue to enjoy that Legendary L5.
And I am really sorry if I was one who pushed you into that Citation. I kinda feel responsible.
Joe D
-
Played in a jam session house band this last weekend, and a few guitarists showed up with good instruments. I had my lefty elferink tonemaster, there was a player with a lefty 16" campellone (!), one gibson L5 and a couple other archtops. They all played through my henriksen, all sounded great and different, but the L5, to my ears, had some "jazz history" in the tone that the others didn't, if it makes any sense. All the L5s i 've heard or played were superb guitars, so i 'd say there are worth the price if you like that kind of tone.
-
Joe, to paraphrase Don Corleone: "never tell anyone outside the family what you're thinking, you're going soft in the brain from playing that Johnny Smith too much". LOL
I bid on that guitar in early October when I heard about the ES175 here. Two bids, just under 10k. Just like the fella here that snipe bid super low on that Mr Wu Super 400 tribute and won it, I wasn't expecting to win.... BUT it was long after I bid that I told you about it. And it was a blast texting you back and forth that auction morning as the Citation got item by item closer to going up on the Block... Amazing winning it for a 7k bid (with the BP and taxes it was $9700 roughly... pretty cheap for a perfect Citation).
Relax buddy, play those JS's.
Big
-
Sounds like a very sensible thing to do. You can only check out what’s available. Just saying that if you see one check it out. Originally Posted by Bluedawg
I posted a picture of mine on my Facebook page, and even Jonathan Kreisberg, who has never had a reason to comment on anything I’ve ever posted ( and rightly so of course, I don’t really know him personally, even though he is one of the best musicians around ), commented how beautiful it looks, essentially looking like Peter Bernstein‘s guitar.
It plays as well as it looks, and it’s a stunning instrument. The violin style finish is gorgeous.
The finish is French polish or shellac and it’s stunning. I don’t know why more top and guitars aren’t finished that way. Classical guitars at the top end have to be shellac or French polish because nitro or poly kills the residence .
My motivation for checking it out is of course thinking about the best guitar sound I have ever heard, which is 1980s era Jimmy Raney, and his Hofner Attila Zoeler model . The luthier who made my guitar also made Jimmy’s guitar. He,s apparently retired now, so I don’t think he will be making any more guitars.
-
Originally Posted by NSJ
Sounds like a great guitar ...
I'll have to keep an eye out for one in my travels
or look for a good deal ...
once I pay off my last purchase
-
Thank you so much, I do appreciate it! Originally Posted by pilotony
I have a few other hobbies that ,over the years, I've been involved in discussion groups and the first rule of thumb is "read old posts before asking. So I'm sure I won't have much to contribute for a while. I do look forward to meeting fellow NJ guys and meeting in person.
So, as to stay on point(if even only slightly,) regarding the ops question regarding L-5s, all I can say is "I want one". My response probably wins the daily title of "most useless Post of The Day"
-
Reading old posts sounds like a good policy ... Originally Posted by DMgolf66
But this place isn't going to attack you for starting new posts on subjects that were discussed in 8 year old posts
Chillax and join the fun
-
As far as jazz guitars go the L-5 is "it" in my mind.
My dream 'electric' archtop would be a mid 50's L-5 with staple P-90s like this one:
-
Hello everyone,
May i ask for an advice about l5 wes guitar prices at the moment? It is quiet difficult to find one online at the moment. Im looking for 2002 and up model. Finally found this one :
Gibson Custom L5 Wes Montgomery Guitar Vintage Sunburst - On Sale at Guitar World Australia
but the price is quiet amazing ( about 17000 usd ). Its a new one. What do you think about the price?
Really appreciate for any advice.
thank you so much.
best regards
-
At least 10K overpriced Originally Posted by Wes29
imo keep looking
-
Noted, I almost thought because gibson stop producing it, so the price has increased. Will definitely keep looking again then. Originally Posted by wintermoon
thank you so much Wintermoon, really appreciate it.
-
They are more expensive than ever but not that much more. Don't know if you're in the US but they'll be more expensive overseas.
Check Reverb and you can find a used one for much less. There's a couple on there now for less than 9K.
-
It seems the going price in the USA for a used sunburst WESMO is 7K and a sunburst CES is 8K. A bit more for the blondes and a bit less for the wine red examples.
Forget about asking prices on Reverb.com.
Prices in other nations may be higher.
New ones will be more and you will be waiting a long time to get it.
Reply With Quote
McCoy Tyner style Pentatonic sequence with 5ths,...
Today, 09:35 AM in Improvisation