2013 Gibson L-5 Non-Cutaway Carved Shark #2

[M-ster]

Great thread, thanks for sharing, Travisty!

[339 in june]

Hey Travisty ! What a nice guitar
It looks like this guy's guitar : (May I introduce you to Bright Vador)


I am on the side of those who like things different, but beautiful
And this is different AND beautiful
Congrats !
Play it in good health for the many years to come

[citizenk74]

Are you really from North Coast PA?

Yes indeed. A few miles south of Pennsylvania's actual northern coastal patch, added as an afterthought to Wm. Penn's original land grant received from the English monarch in lieu of the massive debt owed to Mr. Penn's father, or at least that's what they told us in school in days of yore. We're still within the notorious "snow belt" grown now rusty but no less likely to deliver inconveniently large amounts of the hexagonal crystals in an alarmingly short time, such as the 5 feet overnight delivered to a town not far from here a couple of winters ago. As this phenomenon results from the gift of cool, fresh Canadian air blown across Lake Erie's icy waters encountering warmer air in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, I take the liberty of identifying with the coast. The flip side of the snow belt, a lengthened growing season in the fall, contributes to the region's wine industry, many of which are highly recommended. Your vessel could access these much-less-toxic-than-they-used-to-be-waters via the very spiffy St. Lawrence Seaway, a sterling example of international cooperation, if you are so inclined. If you're ever in the neighborhood, stop by. I'll spring for lunch.

[fws6]

I like the guitar very much, it is very nicely made. I think what throws people off is merely calling it an "L5" so youd automatically compare it to the very classical lines. On its own, it is a very strong design and the woodwork with those recsessed f holes is spectacularly well done.

But; On the pics where the carving is shown.... It looks like the bracing is carved into the top rather than glued on right....? I have seen more luthiers do it like that, but on this one it looks like a single bracing running straight through the middle ?? Is that even possible ?

[Dennis D]

....Re: " Fish Tales "

You think Gibson had to prove /sign a waiver / legally attest that no endangered species or images therefrom were used in the design of this instrument ?

I can hear the Gibson spokesperson now: " Yes, we are quite confident that even the concepts we used for this project comply with the Lacey Act and the Sustainable Woods Agreements ".

I mean everyone knows those Fish and Wildlife men never sleep.

( that also was too easy )..........

[travisty]

fws6,

According to Bruce Kunkel, "This brace is not added but is left as a result of the carving process." It leaves the glue line about 3/4" thick rather than 1/4" thick. I wondered whether this was enough but a) decided to trust BK, and b) had a thought that it was possible the arched nature of the sound hole construction added a kind of bracing on its own.

There are other guitars (I have seen German ones) which have been made with a single brace but they usually go down partway been the centerline and the bass side f-hole, more like a violin.

I agree on the L5 naming issue. Gibson appears to have called it that so I did but it really doesn't matter one way or another. It is what it is and it won't be mistaken for an L5 even if it were a normal color. #1,#3, and #4 in the series are two sunburst guitars and a blue guitar (with wood grain showing through) with pics linked in the other threads. #1-2 are non-cut, #3 and #4 are Florentine cutaways. The other three look more 'like' guitars simply because of color but the gills are indeed different.

[Bluedawg]

I'm loving the guitar myself

I like the different designs for archtops like D'Aquistos Avant Garde and the various designs it has spawned

And the Parker archtops as well

The other Kunkel archtops of a similar design to yours are beautiful in my opinion

[Guitarbean25]

That guitar is the most awesome ever

[2bornot2bop]

Gorgeous acquisition Travis! Congratulations!!!

Seems I saw her listed somewhere?

Discovery Bay? Not the "discovery bay" in Washington State near the San Juan Islands?

Fabulous photos too! Oh what outdoor lighting can do!!!

[travisty]

Thanks BD,
I liked the Parkers as well. The Avant Garde was actually a sound hole design seen in Germany before showing up in D'Aquisto's work but I think DA's work is great and I would love to have one.

Thanks GB25, that is quite the compliment and immediately made me think of both the Katy Perry outtakes of Friday night and the lego movie!

Thanks 2b.
'She was listed in the "weirdest" thread from last month. I had been following 'her' for close to a year in other places.
As noted in post #24, My version of Discovery Bay is in Hong Kong. The DB on the Olympic Peninsula (i.e. your neck of the woods) - a beautiful area, a good place to see tufted puffins, and a fine place to eat Dungeoness crab, I'm sure - is a ways away. Though family lives quite close by. And I've been there a couple of times.

[fws6]

>According to Bruce Kunkel, "This brace is not added but is left as a result of the carving process." It leaves the glue line about 3/4" thick rather than 1/4" thick. I wondered whether this was enough but a) decided to trust BK, and b) had a thought that it was possible the arched nature of the sound hole construction added a kind of bracing on its own.

I have seen bracing intergrated into the top carve before. What strikes me is the position of the brace.
I find bracing one of the most interesting subjects in archtop guitars, as the reasons for bracing and the differences are very subjective when you talk to one luthier vs another. Everyone agrees though that their specific bracing is of tremendous effect on how a guitar is sounding - although it is difficult to say how come, if you brace differently then you also have to carve the top differently. Anyways, if you look historically, like you say violin family instruments usually have one bar, but it is never placed in the middle yet placed more towards the bass side of the top. The bar is supposed to give the top more structural integrity on the side where string pressure is highest. And helps the luthier to balance the instrument i.e. the size and place of the bar determines to some extent the tone, and the highs vs the lows. Archtop guitars with parallel braces however do not have one but have two of such bars. But traditionally they aren’t really parallel as they are not placed the same , i.e. the bass bar is placed more outside and a little more slanted; whereas the treble bar is placed more towards the center and usually runs straight. I had some discussion about that with Bob Benedetto , why it is done like that and what happens if you string a right handed guitar for lefthanded playing or vice versa. To my surprise Benedetto said it was just tradition and in his opinion it doesn’t matter at all, and is far of lesser importance than any other skill of the luthier. He places the bars on parallel braced instruments on equal position. He is (was) mostly building x-braced guitars anyways. X braced archtops are actually an invention taken over from flat tops, and in my experience they have lesser projection, but a bit more warmth in the sound compared to parallel. I also owned a Stromberg which is a great guitar (if you find a postwar, the prewar are not as special). Such late production Strombergs again have one single brace, but it is running slanted diagonally over the top. Strombergs idea was to have the power of a parrallel combined with the thicker tone of an x brace. The result is a very thick midrangy sound that is good for rythm but not much favored by soloists, as it lacks clarity and definition.


I realize that all I typed above (probably my longest post ever) is very subjective and it will be easy to reject / disagree with many of my opinions and observations. Thats allright - it is a discussion forum. And this is the bolts and nuts part of the forum.

but still, to come to my point, one brace , placed exactly in the middle ??? That really strikes me as deviant from everything I have seen in archtop manufacture.

[Al Br.]

Wow, definitely different. As much as I like the traditional style I do like the different nature of the beastie. Very much the eye catcher and has to be a conversation piece as the number of responses posted would suggest. Congrats and enjoy.

[bananafist]

Interesting post fws6, I find one is always learning from this forum, and there is always more to learn. The Benedetto comments are particularly interesting.

I'm sure I'm not alone in saying I would love to hear a recording of this radical L5, acoustically, particularly. Its really all about how it sounds at the end of the day.

[eddy b.]

Gorgeous Guitar!!!

[edh]

Beautiful! I love it.

edh

[travisty]

Thanks all for the kind comments.

Thanks fws6 for your "longest ever post." Very interesting comments from BB. I too have seen the single diagonal brace before in a couple of different guitars (some going one way and some going the other). I think Gretsch used double vertical braces (parallel, not offset) in at least one model.

As noted in my comments on BK's comments, I expect the arch/tunnel aspect of the soundholes helps provide a fair bit of bracing so one could almost suggest there are three vertical braces (one central, one for each sound hole).

Braces/tonebars are a curious aspect. In my admittedly limited experience, I have discovered that neck shape/width/construction has a REALLY serious effect as does - in my opinion - aggressiveness of recurve. I expect wood selection to be reasonably important, and I expect arch shape to be of supreme importance as well. I would put any of these over whether the braces were X or parallel. But that's me. And I am happy to be told I'm wrong.

[Woody Sound]

I like how up close you can see the texture of the wood through the finish. Both the vertical of the spruce and the horizontal of the maple. Personally I wouldn't spend that much on that, but that's probably because I can't.

[jads57]

Please make a video so we can hear this Beauty in action. Thanks!