The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Does anyone have any experience with the Gibson L-30?

    My local guitar shop just got one in from the early 40s. I don't know its playability yet, but it looks like whoever owned it before kept it well. I'm probably going to go in and play it soon...

    Anyways, the price is the reason I'm posting this before I even try the guitar. They have it at $375 which I feel is absurdly low... Don't vintage Gibsons usually go for a lot more? I feel like that's implying that there's something wrong... again, I'm going to try it soon, but I feel like I can't pass this opportunity up!

    Thoughts?


    Gibson L-30-gibson-l-30-jpg

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  3. #2

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  4. #3
    Thanks for the info! It looks to be in similar condition to that one, believe it or not... It's one of the later sunburst models, however not the ebony finish. But that was a great find, thank you again.

  5. #4

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    I hope you didn't miss this part: "...and is now one of the rarest of all Gibson archtops."

  6. #5

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    Here's another site - very informative.I tried but couldn't provide the link to the exact L-30 page. The site is www.guitarHQ.com, and the guy calls himself the 'Vintage Guitar Info Guy'. The site gives ' collectibility ratings' to most models. On a scale of best-to-worst, A to F, this model gets a 'D' . He does this with most other vintage Gibsons, and also has an Epiphone section. For what they're asking, I'd say it's worth checking out. I'd also have to agree with the site that an L-30 wasn't a high-end model, even though not a lot were made. IMHO. Dennis

  7. #6

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    I have an old 1934 Gibson L37 with a cracked top which is the same size as yours. I found it in one of the many music instrument shops in Denmark Street in London 15 years ago. It certainly isn't a great instrument as far as sound is concerned. I only bought it because it had an original 1938 Charlie Christian pickup (the one with the notch under the B string) retrofitted. To be frank, it not that great with the pickup either, and I may have someone install the pickup in a custom built guitar one of these days.

  8. #7
    Jabberwocky: I did see that, and I'm hoping that that doesn't just apply to the ebony models.

    Dennis: thank you for the useful link, I suppose that would explain why it isn't more expensive... It's probably still worth looking at though, considering its age and the fact that my local guitar store never carries anything cool like this.

    Thanks everybody

  9. #8

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    I don't know where you live, or how close the nearest guitar store may be, but I'd keep checking them out. Also, and this may be more important than finding an instrument - find the 'Go-To' luthier in your area. Period. Ask the players. I don't mean the guy at the local music store who puts strings on the instruments, and then 'sends them out for the big stuff'. If you're trying to learn to play jazz - -go hear your local musicians - -and please listen to them !! And then politely ask them where they take their stuff when they need work. A good luthier can work magic on any instrument - even a three hundred dollar one. A lot of times these guys work out of their homes, and only daytime hours. Hope this helps - -it sure helped me finally get all my guitars - including a 1960's Harmony - they way they were meant to be !! Dennis

  10. #9

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    There is an ebony early 30s model in black at Guitarbroker

    1700$

    Pics included. Funny.. I saw the ad in Vintage Guitar last night after reading this thread lol.

  11. #10
    Here's the development for those curiously awaiting my report!

    I went in today. Obviously plenty of scratches a few places where the paint was worn off. Overall, looks damn good though, it's the kind of wear that just shows character. Short description on the tag explains why the guitar is so cheap: the back binding needs some work. Under closer inspection, I saw that the back of he guitar is unsealed from the sides for a length of about 2 inches about half a centimeter up from where it should be. Small.

    Trying it, it feels great. Has the vintage V shaped neck that Gibson used to make. After a while I decided I really enjoyed it. I talked to the guys working and they gave me the number of a locally renowned luthier who would fix it for $200ish. Considering the sound that I got WITH the binding problem, I figured that it was worth it.

    Another guy came in to the guitar store literally 10 minutes after I sat down with the guitar... I felt bad that I had the right to buy it because he said he'd driven about an hour to get the guitar but... It's mine now!

    There was one discrepancy though and I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this. It may not be an L30. It really looks EXACTLY like the L30s that I've seen online, with one distinct difference. All of these L30s have the description that the Gibson logo is silkscreened on the head-stock. My L30 has a Gibson inlay. Thoughts?

    Thanks for all the help in deciding that it was worth it! I'll try to get some pictures up soon, maybe even some recordings.

  12. #11

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    Congrats, man. Can't wait to see pictures!

  13. #12
    Oh, I also meant to ask... Should I put acoustic, bronze strings on or should I do nickel flat wound or nickel round wound? I can't tell if I should consider this as more of an acoustic or more of an archtop... Thanks!

  14. #13

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    This one has no pickup, right? I'd go bronze.

  15. #14
    What bronze strings do you guys usually use? For my acoustic I used to use Martin strings, but I haven't used that guitar in a very long time and I feel like I'd change the brand these days...

    Thanks

  16. #15
    So I just researched more. I found out the year first using the serial number and the "FON": it's actually from 1937. So I started investigating all the "L" models of that year. The L30 still said it had the silkscreening done on the headstock for the logo, not an inlay, so I kept looking and, low and behold, it's an L50! The L50 went through many identity crises in its early years, and there was a time where L50s were produced with F holes OR with a round hole. The early F hole models are very similar looking to the L30s, which is why the design kept changing. In 1937 in particular, the L50 looks similar enough to the L30 that they're very confusable!

  17. #16

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    Congrats on the old Gibson! I have an 1939 L30 sunburst. Was my dads. Love it. Especially for old school finger style blues... aka Robert Johnson type stuff. She's nicked up, but the sound is fantastic!

  18. #17

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    Dear fellows, I just purchased a really nice Gibson L-30 in its original Geib case (see attached picture).

    I am using Thomastik JS110 Flatwound Extra Light Jazz Swing on my Gibson ES-125 since I like low gauge. Would you also recommend them on the L-30?


    I would also like to try it amplified. Any pickup recommendations? Preferably removable.


    Thank you !
    Attached Images Attached Images Gibson L-30-gibson-l30-geib-jpg 

  19. #18

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    Strings: That guitar was built to play unamplified with bronze round-wounds. To hear its originally-intended voice try an 80/20 set. IME anything lighter than .012s does not push hard enough to bring out a true acoustic sound.

    Magnetic pickup: As on an L-50 or your ES-125, the fingerboard extension is glued to the top -- it isn't lifted-up like on, for example, an L5 or ES-175. That's going to limit your choices for floating magnetic pickups. There's just not enough room to fit a DeArmond pickup up against the fingerboard, let alone a thicker Johnny Smith style floater. Your choices:

    a) The Kent Armstrong "2D" pickup or other super-slim model may work.

    b) A DeA 1100-style pickup can work if you don't try to put it up against the fingerboard. That means it won't be in the traditional "jazz home plate" position like your ES-125, but some people like it anyway. Also, those are built to work with a pickguard, so you may have more work involved.

    c) Rout for a magnetic pickup. (People will yell at you but it's your guitar, do what you like.)

    Piezo pickup or mic: You can swap in a Fishman-style piezo archtop bridge. You can stick on a piezo button, plain or fancy, although results may vary widely. You can also use a mini mic -- either clamp-on or internal. Any of them are going to amplify the acoustic voice of the instrument -- it's not going to get that classic jazz sound that your ES-125 delivers.

    Play on, and report back please!

  20. #19

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    I prefer monel (mona steel) over bronze strings. I like Martin Retros, and for that guitar, I wouldn't drop below .012s.

  21. #20

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    I agree about the strings -- Monel .012

    Removeable pickup: One of the KRIVO stick-on pickups should work. Measure carefully and you may have to remove the pickguard to provide enough clearance for the pickup cable. They stick on with blue putty, remove cleanly and sound great: KRIVO PICKUPS - Home

    * Just noticed there is no pickguard! So much the better if you want to use a Krivo.
    Last edited by pcjazz; 04-14-2020 at 01:01 PM. Reason: no pickguard in photo!

  22. #21

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    Congrats on your L-30. I have a 35' L-30. Here are my thoughts: On mine, at the end of the fret board I have only a 5/16 inch clearance between the top of the guitar and the bottom of the strings. As much as I'd like, this isn't enough to add a floating pickup. A pickup would have to be 1/8th inch -- or the thickness of four credit cards. I chose instead to install a K&K pure mini with a Tapastring mini-jack output at the end pin. As for strings, I use GHS Vintage Bronze which is a bit mellower than phosphor bronze. I think on older guitars they brings out a truer tone. However, as Sam Sherry and customxke noted above, bronze strings work plenty well.

    When you say you want to try it "amplified", I guess you have to decide if you want an amplified acoustic sound (like my setup), or an old-school early electric guitar sound. I think for the electric guitar sound, as Sam noted you might have to rout for a magnetic pickup.

    I actually once considered doing this on mine. To keep it feeling vintage correct, I looked for an ES-100-type blade pickup. Pete Biltoft had a repro once and I almost bought it. In the end I decided I didn't want to cut a hole in my top. However, if this is what you want to do, you might check with him. Be sure he knows how much clearance you have -- it may affect if he can built you a pickup or not. Attached is a picture of an ES-100 with the blade-pickup.

    Gibson L-30-d2467-jpg
    Last edited by archtopeddy; 04-14-2020 at 02:42 PM.

  23. #22

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    Monel 12's, dead, never change them, that's what I have on my L30. Gives it a unique character. It will never sound like an L5 so I let it have a voice of it's own. There is so little clearance at the end of the fretboard. Possibly a Lollar Gold Foil could slip under there.

    Barry

  24. #23

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    Hi all,

    I've been playing my 30's Gibson L-30 a lot recently and every time I pick it up it astounds me. It has such a warm, rich and deep, growly tone with almost as much low end as my Gibson L-00 and Martin 00-18 flat tops. Not really what you would expect from a small body archtop? I've watched pretty much every YouTube video out there of other L-30's and compared to mine they all sound much thinner and some (but not all) somewhat brittle and harsh. Some still sound great though!

    I'm not trying to brag saying I have the best sounding L-30 out there but I'm genuinely interested as to why mine sounds like this. Does anyone else have an L-30 and how does it sound? Mine has much more open, deeper sound with more low end than my 16 inch L4 (though I love that guitar equally) which is more mid-range focussed and indeed more than every 17 inch archtop I've played even, though I've only played a handful.

    I would love to play a few other L-30's to see how they compare but like most vintage Gibsons there are never any close to me. The action is great on it at the moment, and very low! But the bridge is screwed all the way down and it will likely need a neck reset at some point in the future, or maybe not? I'm just kind of scared of getting anything done as it sounds so perfect to me how it is now.

    Here are a couple of vids I made a while ago so you can hear it. The finger style blues has had no EQ added, just a touch of reverb. It was recorded on a zoom H1, placed roughly in-between the f holes and the end of the fingerboard - slightly further towards the neck than my right hand.

    The slide piece was similar, no EQ but more reverb added on that one.




  25. #24

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    You both sound good, very good.

  26. #25

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    Quote Originally Posted by rabbit
    You both sound good, very good.
    Thanks Rabbit