Gibson L-5 with rosewood fretboard?

[2bornot2bop]

I've found that all the Sadowskys, including the LS-17, sound similar (very good) but not much like an L5. I tried a Guild X-700 years ago but don't remember it well. Never tried a Guild X-500. Since it has a laminate top, I didn't think it would get me into L5 sonic territory. I have tried the Heritage Eagle models and the good ones do sound close to an L5. As for budget, I don't want to spend more for a guitar with an L5 sound than an actual Gibson L5.

As always, any advice is appreciated!

For the price of a used Sadowsky you can just about buy a L5 WesMo...but Gryphon is the only dealer I've seen sell 5 L5's in under 6 weeks...each sold $4500 - $5200. No other dealer sells L5's that affordable...least none that I've found.

I do believe that you can get an L5-ish sound out of other cheaper alternatives but I got tired of trying out many guitars before realizing that the easiest (albeit expensive) path is just to get an L5.

Me 2.

you can get a used L5 or Wes for about $5k if you're patient.

Not so patient...Grhphon has sold 5 in 6 weeks.

As an illustration, between December 2013 and February 2014, I have seen four L-5CES Wes Montgomery for sale used for $4650 (1996 VSB), $4850 (2000 VSB), $5200 (1997 Natural), $6495 (2012 Natural) and one L-5CES, $5495 (2012 Black). There are others that I have missed. So, they are not in short supply if you want an L-5CES and not require that it be new.

PS And I forgot to account for the used 1998 L-5CES VSB that 2bop got for $2500!

Great sales stats! Yes, but 2b needed a good buy on his first L5CES!

[Woody Sound]

No richlite here!

But plenty of Martin Logan. Nice.

[AlainJazz]

f hole protruding so far into the soundboard is going to effect the vol, tone and bottom end IMO.

There's a reason most archtops share a similar design. It's hard to veer to far off without losing the attributes that draw you to an archtop in the first place. I like what Ribbecke and mcpherson are doing with the offset sound hole though.

p.s. the salesman at the store I tried out some archtops at this w/e said gold hardware is "gay"... (his terminology, not mine...)

Guitar Center?

[jzucker]

nope, not GC. And I wanted to buy a guitar but asked if I could get a 48hr eval period and they said they'd have to check with the owner on sunday (this was saturday). I gave them a card. They never called. I ended up buying the guitar used for $300 less than the store price but they lost a sale.

[jim dandy]

2b - nice L5! Thanks for sharing the pictures.

Again, thanks all for the input and information!