The Gibson L6-S

**Greentone** · 07-26-2019, 10:33 AM

Santana, too. But, like you, I never saw these artists playing the L6S except in Gibson ads.

This is pretty common...artist endorses an item but plays/records with something else.

**ronjazz** · 07-26-2019, 10:56 AM

Martino played an L5S during his Joyous Lake period. Never saw him with an L6S in the 40 years I followed and studied with him.

**jads57** · 07-26-2019, 11:00 AM

1975 I saw Santana using a L6S into his Mesa Boogie Mk1. Sounded wonderful,but it's the magician not the wand.

**triangulum** · 07-30-2019, 08:47 AM

Yeah, Santana for sure played it in 74 and 75 ... pretty sure it can be heard on Borboletta, Iluminations with Alice Coltrane, and one track on Flora Purim's Stories to Tell.

Di Meola endorsed in advertisement but doesn't seem to have used it. Martino played the L5-S, which perhaps has become confused with the L6-S. That leaves Mclaughlin, who perhaps ended up on the list erroneously due to the Santana association?

This is as I had expected. I held a glimmer of hope as most of the rock players on the same list had in fact played the L6-S at one point or another.

Thanks.

**Greentone** · 07-30-2019, 09:18 AM

FWIW, artist use or no, the L6S is a very good guitar. The ceramic magnet pickups, designed by Bill Lawrence, are quite useful for a wide variety of sounds and types of music.

I used to use a first-year, Gibson L6S Midnight Special for work in the pits for shows because of the wide variety of music I was able to convincingly cover with it. I could play everything from jazz to chicken-pickin' country to hard rock with the guitar. I still like it very much, but I gave it to my son when he was touring the country in a Southern rock/Jam band. He has owned a large number of instruments, but the L6S is still his favorite guitar.

Look for examples that still have the sealed, Bill Lawrence pickups--if you can find them.

**sgosnell** · 07-30-2019, 09:47 AM

I ran across one of them in a pawnshop in the early '90s, and almost bought it, but it had a bent tuner so I passed. I don't recall the price, but IIRC it was only a few hundred dollars. I still kick myself for not buying it.

**triangulum** · 07-30-2019, 02:05 PM

Agreed! ... I actually have two ... a '79 blonde Deluxe and a '76 tobacco burst Custom, which is my main guitar. Thus my interest L6S players. I just enjoy hearing what other people have done with it.

**jads57** · 07-30-2019, 03:48 PM

Not a bad guitar but always hated the neck profiles on Norlin era Gibsons.

**Woody Sound** · 07-30-2019, 03:48 PM

Originally Posted by ronjazz

Martino played an L5S during his Joyous Lake period. Never saw him with an L6S in the 40 years I followed and studied with him.

The Gibson L6-S-1977-jun-cover-pat_martino-jpg

**rob taft** · 07-30-2019, 06:25 PM

Originally Posted by ronjazz

Martino played an L5S during his Joyous Lake period. Never saw him with an L6S in the 40 years I followed and studied with him.

Ditto, I bought one (and still own) due to my love of PM's music but unfortunately mine didn't come with the PM Talent Knob.

**neatomic** · 07-30-2019, 07:38 PM

mike oldfield used one...

The Gibson L6-S-gibson_l6-s_live-jpg

cheers

**Litterick** · 07-31-2019, 06:27 AM

I have had mine for twenty-two years. I am still finding new sounds in it.

The Gibson L6-S-1975_bychristophersimonsykes-jpg

**citizenk74** · 07-31-2019, 09:46 AM

For me the L6S was "the one that got away" in my guitar journey. My wife spotted one of the L6S ads in GP and opined that I should get one. I agreed but only ever encountered one in the wild. Gibson had seen fit to adorn it with a shade of brown that I really, really didn't care for, so I passed it up, which for me is highly uncharacteristic. Seriously, I'm very broadminded, but that brown was a bridge too far.

**citizenk74** · 07-31-2019, 09:54 AM

Originally Posted by Woody Sound

That was the GP issue that introduced me to the thinking of Pat Martino and ignited my interest in the L5S. I've only seen one in the wild, but couldn't swing the jing at the time. A weight-relieved version would be most welcome, especially if G threw in a stereo VariTone. A guy can dream, right?

**garybaldy** · 05-28-2020, 07:02 AM

The Gibson L6-S-fb_img_1589118801814-jpg

**Woody Sound** · 05-28-2020, 08:34 AM

One cool feature that I think a lot of people don't often notice is, you get 2 extra frets clear of the body, compared to a LP.

**whiskey02** · 05-28-2020, 09:26 AM

“No jazz tones”? What are you talking about......

**rpjazzguitar** · 05-28-2020, 03:59 PM

Originally Posted by citizenk74

That was the GP issue that introduced me to the thinking of Pat Martino and ignited my interest in the L5S. I've only seen one in the wild, but couldn't swing the jing at the time. A weight-relieved version would be most welcome, especially if G threw in a stereo VariTone. A guy can dream, right?

The L5S was my main guitar for a couple of decades. I had a 74 (I think, just after they dropped the low impedence pickups) which was stolen, and then an 86.

It's a beautiful looking guitar. Very comfortable to play, except for the weight. I had a PAF reissue in the neck position, which I preferred to the Super Humbucker that was standard.

Eventually, it developed some thinness of tone in the highest notes, which I could not get rid of, even after taking it to three master luthiers.

The L5S may be brighter sounding, on average, than a Les Paul. I think (without really knowing) that it might be due to the use of more maple.

I preferred the older model which had a trapeze tailpiece iirc.

**rob taft** · 05-28-2020, 09:45 PM

I own a 74' sunburst L5S. It was the first year of the humbucking pickups. In 76', Gibson switched the L5 tailpiece to a stoptail. In 74', it was Gibsons most expensive solid body at $965.00 and $110.00 for the case. If someone wants to buy one, make sure it comes with the OHSC as that is nearly impossible to find. The only guitar I owned that was heavier was my 69' Dan Armstrong Lexan.

**entresz** · 05-28-2020, 10:00 PM

I've had two Gibson L6-Ss - one was a blonde reissue from 2011 with maple fretboard, the other was a 1977 sunburst with ebony fretboard.

The 1977 sunburst was a far prettier guitar, the ebony fingerboard with dot inlays was very elegant looking. The sunburst finish was beautiful too. The original Gibson "superhumbucker" pickups are great too. Much clearer sounding than the typical PAF style pickup. More like a filtertron in a lot of ways. The narrow nut and strange neck profile was a bit strange though, I never really got used to it.

The 2011 reissue was much more comfortable to play. Had a normal nut width, the neck profile was the typical Gibson slim-taper neck I think. I put Bill Lawrence L-90s in it and had it rewired as per the original 1970's Gibson schematic.

I no longer have either, I found the neck pickup sound on both a bit choked due to having 24 frets. I did a lot of musical theatre gigs with them as they're so versatile. But as a pure jazz guitar, a Les Paul is probably better. That said, I would love a set of the L6-S superhumbuckers to fit in a LP or even an archtop. They're really unique sounding.

**whiskey02** · 05-28-2020, 10:38 PM

Also, are we sure he's wearing jeans and a denim shirt (not cool) or (god help us all) a jumpsuit that he copped from.......DEVO?

**steve burchfield** · 05-28-2020, 11:52 PM

Terry Haggerty of the Sons of Champlin played one . His outstanding work can be heard with the Sons live on YT or by himself. One of my and R.Fords favorites!