I'm seriously thinking of parting with my L-5

[Zigracer]

Well, last year as some of you know, I sold a few guitars and bought a beautiful L-5 CES. The guitar is beautiful, sounds exactly like I was expecting and plays great. The problem lies with my 7 string guitars - I'm hooked and have been hooked since I got my first 7 in 2021. Sure, I still play 6 string guitars and use them for my pop/rock solo gigs, but I find that unless I have to practice for one of those shows, I'm so smitten with the 7 stringers that they're all I reach for. I find that I'll pull out the L-5 once in a while, just to remind myself how nice it is, but that's it. It is an awesome guitar, and I think that I wrote on these very pages, that if Gibson made a 7 string version of the L-5, then that's what I'd have.

With all that said, I think I'll list it soon. I'm not a collector and only keep guitars that I actually play and this L-5 needs to be played. It's not a museum piece.

Stay tuned....

[Stringswinger]

I tried 7 strings and found that I could not go back and forth from 7 to 6. If I was smitten with playing 7 string (I wasn't....6 strings challenges me enough and there are times when I even muse that the Tenor guitar would have been a good idea), I would sell my 6 string guitars and fully commit. GLWTS!

[Zigracer]

I tried 7 strings and found that I could not go back and forth from 7 to 6. If I was smitten with playing 7 string (I wasn't....6 strings challenges me enough and there are times when I even muse that the Tenor guitar would have been a good idea), I would sell my 6 string guitars and fully commit. GLWTS!

Well that's kinda where I am, except for the Rock and Roll and pop thing. Most of my playing is completely different for those genres and I've played that stuff for so long that I have a lot of muscle memory in place for so many songs. And I don't really see myself strumming an acoustic Eagles song or playing Rock this Town on the jazz 7. But yes, if I am playing jazz or a "jazzified" pop song or even a lot of blues, the 7 is where it's at for me. It just sounds so lush with that low A string. Really does so well for accompaniment for solo singing too. So that's where the L-5 is probably the odd man out. Kind of too bad, because the tone is to die for and it is a beautiful instrument. But then again there is no tone if it's sitting in the case.

[Woody Sound]

I tried 7 strings and found that I could not go back and forth from 7 to 6.

Same here.

[darkwaters]

Six strings are all that my brain can handle……. barely.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I don't really see myself strumming an acoustic Eagles song or playing Rock this Town on the jazz 7.

So get yourself a solid 7. PRS makes a wonderful one that I'd have bought if it had been available when I got my ESP hardtail 7 and my Epi LP 7. The PRS is available both In the USA made series and In the Asian built SE. Both are excellent, and you can rock.your @ss off on either.

I also use a Tele 7 for blues & rock / pop. If you want a really fine 7 string like it, contact Chris Forshage in Austin. He'll make you a Tele 7 that will do anything a Fender Tele will do & far more. I put Alumitones in mine. There are Duncan HBs in the ESP and EMG in my LP. A 7 string solid is a whole new good old world! You don't have to have a pointy guitar to play one!

For a more traditional approach to a rockin' 7, Epi still makes a 7 string LP (the Heafey signature model). It's about the same price as the PRS SE7. And you can get the Forshage designed Tele 7 made in a good Chinese factory from Matt Raines (also in Austin) for about $800. The woodwork is excellent, the neck is very comfortable, but the hardware is cheap. It would need a good bridge / TP (I like the Hipshot), better pickups, metal ferrules (which cost about $10 from multiple vendors on Amazon), and a good setup. The SS frets are fine, but a perfect setup by Marc Tappan (Guitars 'n Jazz) really made it a different guitar.

Try a solid 7 - I think you'll like it. And you'll never go back!

[Zigracer]

So get yourself a solid 7. PRS makes a wonderful one that I'd have bought if it had been available when I got my ESP hardtail 7 and my Epi LP 7. The PRS is available both In the USA made series and In the Asian built SE. Both are excellent, and you can rock.your @ss off on either.

I also use a Tele 7 for blues & rock / pop. If you want a really fine 7 string like it, contact Chris Forshage in Austin. He'll make you a Tele 7 that will do anything a Fender Tele will do & far more. I put Alumitones in mine. There are Duncan HBs in the ESP and EMG in my LP. A 7 string solid is a whole new good old world! You don't have to have a pointy guitar to play one!

For a more traditional approach to a rockin' 7, Epi still makes a 7 string LP (the Heafey signature model). It's about the same price as the PRS SE7. And you can get the Forshage designed Tele 7 made in a good Chinese factory from Matt Raines (also in Austin) for about $800. The woodwork is excellent, the neck is very comfortable, but the hardware is cheap. It would need a good bridge / TP (I like the Hipshot), better pickups, metal ferrules (which cost about $10 from multiple vendors on Amazon), and a good setup. The SS frets are fine, but a perfect setup by Marc Tappan (Guitars 'n Jazz) really made it a different guitar.

Try a solid 7 - I think you'll like it. And you'll never go back!

I bought a solid headless fanfret 7 last summer so that I could take it on our boat and practice while on vacation. Maybe I'll get something else at some point, such as a Tele style or the PRS. I understand and don't disagree with your suggestions, but at this juncture I'm very happy with my Gretsch guitars and Johnny A sig with their Bigsby trems for that type of music. I love using the Bigsby. I don't have any trouble switching back and forth (maybe because I stink all the way around), and again I've got some great muscle memory for the R&R/pop songs I play. I really don't see myself playing a cover version of say - Tequila Sunrise on anything but a six string flat top. I've seen several 7 string classical guitars, but not steel string acoustics for that genre of music.

All of that just leaves the L-5 as the odd man out. The sound of the L-5 is just beautiful. If I hadn't been bitten by the lush tones and range of the 7 string, the L-5 would be the guitar for me and I wouldn't have sold the GB-10 and Benedetto Bravo Deluxe 6 I had. I had Benedetto make me a Bravo 7 which is really a pleasure to play and complements my Palen 7 very nicely.

[nevershouldhavesoldit]

I really don't see myself playing a cover version of say - Tequila Sunrise on anything but a six string flat top. I've seen several 7 string classical guitars, but not steel string acoustics for that genre of music.

Try a 7 string flat top. I bought an Ibanez AEL207 jumbo (16") new when they came out in 2013 and it's been fantastic. It sounds and plays very much like the Guild jumbo 6 string I had for years before I went to 7s. It's pretty much in the same quality league with my Fujigen built and much more expensive AF207, but it sold for about $500 new at the time. There are a few of them on the web.

Ibanez now sells a 15x4 3/8" 7 string flattie (the AEG721) that looks promising. I haven't seen one in person, but I may buy one sight unseen. For $400, it's probably the buy of the century. If it's dismal, I'll return it. But the only dismal Ibanez I ever bought was the first 7 string flattop they made, which came out about 20 years ago. It was horrible - intonation, fit, finish, tone quality, neck, frets etc were all abysmal. They stopped making it very soon afterward, and the AEL207 released in 2013 was the result of all the lessons they learned from one of their rare failures.