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this post has been my experience with every archtop i've ever had, since the day i got them. it's all i do.
my most similar guitar is a byrdland, and i'm still surprised by how aggressive and smooth the bridge pickup can be. for the uninitiated, if your guitar has more than one pickup, there is a switch on your guitar that lets you toggle between them. either move it down or toward the bridge, depending on the orientation of the switch.
but back when these things were invented, there weren't as many distinctions as there are now. it was just a guitar. people used them for early rock and country and whatever else because a guitar was a guitar. they still are, by the way.
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08-11-2018 10:40 PM
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I have a .012 gauge set of Thomastik Bebops on, replacing the unwound 3rd the set comes with with a wound 3rd.
Originally Posted by Gitfiddler
If I still had my 175 I bet that would have worked well too - I’ve heard that guitar in non jazz contexts before and it seems to work really well for almost any style. I don’t have any recordings unfortunately (unless someone was recording the musical, which I can check on). Originally Posted by gggomez
I did use the bridge pickup on two tunes since on the original cast recording it sounded like what the guitarist was doing. It worked very nicely and I was happy with the sound. Nice to actually put the bridge pickup to use too since I never use it haha. The neck pickup did a great job though and I could have easily used it for all of the songs instead of I hadn’t heard the origins cast recording to try to copy the sounds there. Originally Posted by rhoadsscholar
Regarding feedback, I’ve never had feedback issues with this guitar. I don’t usually have feedback problems in genera with archtops except sometimes with my PM100 (that guitar is notorious for feeding back) but I can control it easily. Keeping the amp in the right place has a lot to do with it for me and if I have room to position the amp on my left in a specific spot I won’t ever have feedback.
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There was a time when I sold all of my instruments to get a 1920s L-5 with a McCarty pickup. I got the guitar from an aging studio musician and jamming partner of Grant Green. How could I go wrong?
Well, my gigs were rock and blues, and I was just getting into jazz. Feedback was a problem. I had a lot of help though managing it.
Tone was not an issue. With lighter round wounds it worked fine. The same was true with my subsequent guitars: Guild AA, Es-175.
I did one musical with a Howard Roberts and another with an ES-345. They all work.
There are some guitars better suited for certain genres, no doubt. But most guitars get by in most situations.
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Jerry Miller plays an L5 Originally Posted by Dhango
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Great Jerry interview... Originally Posted by customxke
Jerry Miller | Vintage Guitar(R) magazine
It's named Buelah, and he bought it new from Gibson factory, and he called Gibson every day to annoy them..
Easily mistaken for a 175 due to the Florentine cutaway...
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Guitar dealer/historian George Gruhn said Maybelle Carter's 1928 L5 was "the most important single guitar in the entire history of country music.”
She could fingerpick a pretty tune, but when needed, she was a drivin' rhythm machine, who could hold her own with anyone.
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This is a really special guitar, a 2014 L5 Premier. I flew down to Vinny's and picked it up yesterday. I've lusted after one of these and finally pulled the trigger. Being mainly an acoustic player, it knocks the ball out of the park. And it is in perfect condition. I can't say enough good things about Vinny either. The interaction was a pleasure, and I got to play his new Campellone too! Pretty darn special. QAman sold one of these a couple of years ago, and I didn't move fast enough and wasn't about to let this one get away. It's pure bliss, as perfect as a guitar can be, IMHO! Thank you Vinny! You are awesome!
Last edited by skykomishone; 09-16-2018 at 02:14 PM.
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It just looks RIGHT. Congratulations!
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Enjoy the visual, aural, and physical pleasure of playing that baby. Such a joy to hear of your pleasure at both getting this and visiting with Vinny!
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That is a beauty and if I was going to play an L5 that would probably be the one! Play us tune on it.
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Skykomishone,
Gorgeous guitar and a wise choice. The Gibson Crimson L5's are fantastic guitars , and buying from Vinny insured you the guitar was already critiqued for perfection.
Do enjoy. By the way, did you take the guitar back on the plane ?
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A real classic beauty!
How is it braced?
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Sky,
Vinny was fond of that guitar and sad to see it go.
I am glad it found a good home and it will get all the hydration it needs to stay perfect for the rest of its life with you.
It’s great to see a terrific guitar go to a great home.
Congratulations.
Joe D
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Steve,
The pleasure was all mine and a joy to meet you. I really appreciate that you flew down to get it with my shipping fears.
My wife already stoled the money and hired a landscaper to redo our drought dead front yard. Happy wife/happy life.
May that L5P bring you years of joy. It is a special one for sure. Even has the evo gold frets. The fact that it is A braced makes it special too. Gibson will never make these again.
Hope to hook up with you next summer and play some of your sweet axes.
I love happy endings.
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A braced Originally Posted by Marty Grass
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Great score sky, what an amazing L5. Vinny's great to deal with and has made alot of guitar dreams come true hear on JGF. Enjoy that beauty.
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As Ralph Cramden used to say, "hamana hamana hamana." That's one sweet L5P. Beautiful finish, and--of course--Vinny kept it in perfect (i.e., mint) condition.
You will enjoy this guitar. It will become your No. 1, I predict.
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beautiful in every way...tale & guitar
a great story for our forum here..a union of jazz guitar lovers!! all of us!
congrats & enjoy
and hopefully you'll be enjoying that new front garden soon vinny!!! nature inspires!
cheers
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I don’t know maybe his no.2......his no.1 is pretty special. Originally Posted by Greentone
Jimmy D would like him. He took off my girlie TI 12’s and put on manly 13-56 rounds.
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An L-5P should sing with 13-56 rounds.
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Sweet guitar, great story! Only on JGF! Congratulations, and play it in good health!
Also, really fine photograph. You have an eye.
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Congratulations Steve! That's one beautiful guitar. Okay, I'll have to come over and play that one, and the Campy, and the Anderson, and the vintage '175, and the piano...I might need the spare room!
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Someone can name this guitar ! Inside the body there is a label with the words Custom Built for Henry Allen by William Malon (or Malone!) March 21, 1969.
What value can it have? Thank !
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Does it say L5 inside? Looks closer to an L4 although the type of wood doesn’t match up and is what you would normally see on a 175 and there are too many other differences to think it’s an L4 since it is kind of a mix of stuff. The tailpiece would also have been used on an L4 but the inlays are what you’d see on an L5. Although the L4 is what I think of with that body type in 69 they were still using the Florentine cutaway. I’m very curious about it though - looks cool. Maybe if you got in touch with Gibson they could help you try to find out more about it. Also is there any sign that someone replaced the neck or tailpiece? It kind of looks like someone put an L5 neck on a 165 or one pickup 175 body. Originally Posted by Dariocing
Someone can name this guitar ! Inside the body there is a label with the words Custom Built for Henry Allen by William Malon (or Malone!) March 21, 1969.
What value can it have? Thank !
Paul
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Good evening ! I bought this guitar at the Gardiner Houlgate auction on 12-12-2018, as the guitar sounds great, I just wanted to get to know its story! Greetings Dario
Last edited by Dariocing; 01-31-2019 at 04:37 PM.
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I like it !
its unique.....
what at is the scale length ?
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It looks like it started out as a non cutaway.
Back in the 70's there was an article on how to do this.
Also looks like it was stripped and refinished. The finish and the cutaway was not very well done. It could have been in bad shape before the modifications.
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?Its not the first time I've seen a one off custom order come out of Gibson, sort of ES175 body with an L5 neck and TP, its kind of funky cool... Nice score...
Big
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scale is 25.50"
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From my POV, you bought an L-5C/CES neck and tailpiece, a Benedetto/P-90 pickup, a wiring loom and a bridge, some straplocks and used Rotomatics, all conveniently packaged into a plywood box that allows you to demonstrate their functionality. Sell the parts as a group and throw in the plywood box for free.
Definitely worth 1600 euros to the person who wants to restore an old L-5C/CES and needs a tailpiece and neck.
Or just play the crap out of it.
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Dear Hammertone
Why do you think the violin maker would have bought an L5 handle, an L5 tailpiece, a Benedictine pickup, all very expensive, to assemble a guitar on a poor body? Surely it is not well finished, but the body is of a Gibson ES-125, the same size, to an original ES-125 40s of my property. It is different only in the thickness of the fir-tree! (5mm-L5 and 3mm the Gibson es-125). Maybe it's your envy!
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I wouldn’t assume anything on that guitar. Not the authenticity of the label. Not that those components were bought new. Not the provenance of the donor body. It is completely posible that it was cobbled together by some hobbyist from the remains of wrecked guitars. As you point out, the finish isn’t terribly impressive. Originally Posted by Dariocing
But none of that really matters to your question. Even if it was all new Gibson stock, it is still a Frankenstein of little value to a collector or Gibson fanboy. It’s value is as a player only.
That could be huge value to you if it plays great. But given the current market, quirky used arch top guitars with no collectors value or brand caché may or may not be worth €1600. I think at that price a seller would be quite satisfied with the sale.
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Because the violin maker can. Because there is one born every minute: someone who wants what Gibson never made but oughta, in his point of view. Originally Posted by Dariocing
The value to you is what you paid for it at that auction. The value to the outside world is exactly as Hammertone sez: a box of old Gibson parts.
As the resident JGF cheapskate, I'd put a value of $300 on it. The tailpiece is worth something to me; the rest of it, not so much.
Technically, that mashup of Gibson parts is considered a counterfeit Gibson. Please do not sell it on as a real Gibson because that could get you into a lot of trouble.
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I must congratulate you on the deal you got. I've done much better with the tailpieces I've sold in the past couple of years. They all went to folks who are restoring old guitars - L-5, ES-5, L-7, ES-175 and more. I still have a few old and NOS Gibson, Bigsby and Gertsch tailpieces, a bunch of ABM Guild, Hofner, Hoyer and Roger tailpieces, and a large pile of ABM 1251, 1266 and 1281 tailpieces. Even a few East German ones. And a Waverly or two. At least they all don't take up too much room. Originally Posted by Jabberwocky
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Doing a search on the web, I discovered that it is a guitar assembled with the body of a Gibson ES-125C '60s,neck and tailpiece Gibson L5 ,pickup Benedetto. It works great!
Last edited by Dariocing; 02-09-2019 at 07:45 PM.
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Not sure if the Seller is a member of this forum or not. Just pulled the trigger on a near mint 2002 L5 with incredible flame. One owner instrument that looks to be in terrific shape. If you claim to play jazz guitar, I think you have to own one of these some time in your life. More of my pics next week when she arrives. Attached pictures are from Seller's Reverb.com ad.
Cincy
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Oh man, a blonde. Oo la la. Looks amazing and you can’t beat an L5. Congrats and enjoy!
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Goodness gracious - that is one gorgeous Gibson L-5!
And that is one of the most incredible flamed backs I have ever seen!!
That's a guitar you could play all day long or just sit there and look at all day long.
Lucky you!
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I would love to own one, but I would argue that most people would barely consider my playing to be jazz!
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Well I've owned two in my lifetime, so I guess I play jazz guitar doubly! Originally Posted by Cincy2
Seriously, that is a special nice specimen!
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DS71 is right, "Man, that's hot." What a beauty. And, for my money, it doesn't get better than a blonde L-5 CES.
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!!!!!! Will arrive on Wednesday next week.
Cincy
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Cincy2, that's a beauty! You're going to love it! Congrats. Also, I've always wanted to ask you, does your moniker 'Cincy2' have anything to do with Cincinnati? Just curious. I've known a boatload of jazz players from around those parts.
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Welcome to the L5 family. We all feel like we "married up" when we got these amazing guitars.
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Between that one and Lawson's, 2 of the nicest newer L5's I've ever seen.
Congrats in advance..
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I played a friend's 2013 L5 CES crimson L5 a few weeks back and under a certain light I noticed faint lacquer cracking around the pointed part of the stinger at the back of the headstock.
Is this normal?
Is the stinger a veneer that is painted?
BTW...the guitar seemed beautifully made and played/sounded wonderful.
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I left a Johnny A too near a window for too long a few hot summers ago and the lacquer started to bubble up around the stinger and some of it peeled off. I haven't figured out if the stinger is an actual thing or just black paint. If it's a thing, it's very thin.
Danny W.
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I am having exactly that problem repaired as we speak. Addam Stark, one of the best Nitro specialists in the nation is doing the work and tells me that shrinkage causes the problem. It is an easy fix.
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It is a laminate that has a rounded tip but Gibson paints over it to make it a sharp point. Many lacquer check in that area because of the wood differences and as stated shrinkage. Most of the time it is just checking.
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My understanding is that factory stingers are finish-only, but that some repairmen will finish over a headstock break with a stinger if they can't make it invisible. Not saying that's the case at all here.
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