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travisty's first L5, indeed my first Gibson*.
A preface: my wife and I collect wood and bamboo craft/art work, with a particular emphasis on Japanese wood and bamboo craft. We love a well-made piece of craft with a truly interesting take on a subject.
The guitar is not the one I had expected would be my first. Indeed I expect it is not most people's cup of tea - someone took a regular Gibson body shape, carved dodgy f-holes, painted it white on the front and gray on the back, and called it an L5.
The someone happens to be a master luthier from Gibson's own Custom Shop, Bruce Kunkel, who has a long history of making the more "artsy" of the Gibson L5 series, some of which were commissioned by collectors, many of which are in the Gibson museum.
The guitar is one which showed up on threads a little while ago on JGF. One was called "weirdest L5 ever" and the intro post was "What the...?"
The guitar is the Gibson L5 Non-Cutaway Carved Shark #2 (#2 out of a series of four guitars that Bruce Kunkel did for a pair of Japanese guitar stores in 2013).
It is totally hand-carved (spruce top, maple back and sides), tap-tuned, with custom ebony appointments all hand-made by Bruce Kunkel. It has a nitrocellulose finish (white pearl base with metallic blue and violet and what looks like gray to create a shark skin effect). Most noticeable in the construction is that the f-holes are carved out a bit like gills on a fish. It is bindingless. It has a single brace down the middle where the glue line is not carved out, leaving a brace (rather than adding it in after carving). Pics of these two features are below in the next post. It has a Johnny Smith pickup. From looking at it and feeling under the top where I can, it feels a bit thinner than most Gibson L5s and the guidance from Bruce Kunkel would indicate the top plate is on the thin side.
Of course the important thing is how does it sound? Day one and an hour in, with flat wounds of an unknown brand, and my first single-word reaction to its acoustic-only sound is "lush." I am not sure what other word to use. As a comparison, I find newer L5s to be a little 'thin' or perhaps 'dry', and the 'lushness' of the acoustic tone comes out decades later. This guitar seems to have a head start. To compare, acoustically-speaking, I find a Gibson Johnny Smith or LeGrand to be a bit more 'lush' than an L5C, and I find this to be slightly more so than a GJS. Plugged in, it is very much in the Johnny Smith vein (the pickup is apparently the GJS pickup with a different cover) with a warm, fat sound.
I am not sure if the lushness is a factor of the soundhole construction, the tap-tuning (done in Bruce Kunzel's words with a "very intuitive, seat of the pants approach.... a very old world, low-tech way but I get great results") or even the ports on the bass side but it is a wonderful-sounding guitar. My wife is very pleased (she had just decided that pure acoustic archtops and archtops with floaters are the way that I should continue my guitar journey, because that is what she wanted to hear, and I am more than happy to oblige).
I am going to try some roundwounds, and fiddle with the action a little bit as it is still set very low. My first test to raise the action a little met with success and no change in the 'lushness'. [Edit: I expect the roundwounds will change the sound a bit, but not for the worse].
More pics in the next post.
[Edit] *Note: I actually came into possession of another Gibson prior to this, but it needs some TLC and is in the process of getting it. I have plunked around on a number of Gibson archtops but hadn't owned one.Last edited by travisty; 12-07-2015 at 02:18 PM.
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12-06-2015 05:34 AM
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More pics.
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I'll take your teak-covered yacht...Repulse Bay in the background?
Yeah, the guitar is not bad either. Love that nacreous finish. Congrats! That is a true Custom Shop.
(Wow. $11 000.00! That is an impressive stack of long greens.)Last edited by Jabberwocky; 12-06-2015 at 06:43 AM.
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Beautifully made but I hate it.
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Jabber,
Thanks. I am in Discovery Bay.
It's not 'teak-covered'. It's actually all teak (and yakal (like teak, but a stronger SE Asian wood with similar properties) up to just above the waterline).
Para,
I think you are not the only one.
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It is a work of art, and it is in the nature of art to often produce what we in the UK call a 'marmite' reaction - love it or hate it - no in-between!
I'm a traditionalist mostly, but I am drawn to the flow of the design and the different curves, and I'd love to play this guitar. Enjoy your unique guitar.
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Grand Banks? Sorry, I'm a regular nosey parker.
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Grand Banks as a yacht builder? Nope.
Sun Hing Shing was the builder - same guys who built the Michelangelo (owned by a friend) which plies the waters of Victoria Harbour, mostly as a corporate charter (google "Michelangelo junk Hong Kong").
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The sound holes in the sides look like shark eyes!
The work on the fret ends are sublime and the design of the headstock reminds me of early Manson guitars from the UK.
Very nice. But would old timey American songbook tunes sound right coming from such a modern hybrid?
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What's kind of ironic and amusing is that if this is your first Gibson, you have almost no idea what a Gibson is like for everyone else.
It's wacky but beautiful in its own unique way. Hope it is a joy to play as well. Does it float?
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I think it is absolutely gorgeous!
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Thats one of the most beautiful Archtops I have ever seen!
When I was reading the words "Shark" I thought it was goon be a right train wreck but thats gorgeous!
If I had the money I wouldn't have let that one swim past either. Well done Travis
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Sleek, unique, and def on fleek, methinks. Congratulations, and enjoy it in good health!
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Whatever floats your boat!
Be curious to hear what it sounds like. Beautiful workmanship, without a doubt.
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I think it's awesome!
Blaze the trail!!
It's the most unique L5 I've ever seen.
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Btw...where's the volume control? I assume the jack socket is at the strap button.
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Roger,
You are right. You have a point in more than one way.
'Gibson' to a lot of people is something more than just a nice archtop. It represents the history of American jazz and great jazz artists, what shows up on hundreds if not thousands of records in my vinyl library, and what is left of American factory artisanship (of which I am unashamedly a fan for socio-economic/cultural purposes). A lot of people want a piece of that dream because of what it represents. Epiphone has a part of that dream for some but for most Gibson is iconic.
I certainly didn't grow up and spend my formative guitar years lusting after a Gibson or L5. I wanted a Bosendorfer piano. After I started playing guitar quite late in life, the Gibsons I went and played (at some stores with nice archtops in Japan) were the L5s, L4s, GJS, Super400s, etc from the 1940s onward (played Guilds, and others as well). I hadn't found "the one" and a Heritage Super Eagle happened by at far less money so that has tided me over (and it is a very nice guitar, but I have been leaning away from top-mounted pups). As to the Gibson I "wanted" and "expected" to get first, it was/is an earlier L5 but I haven't pulled the trigger yet because I haven't found the one I want. I admit to lusting after a couple of yours
but admit to lusting even more after acquiring skills like yours and making do with what I have.
I actually misspoke in my original post. Before that I had purchased a Gibson Johnny Smith which needed a little TLC (and a refret) and it is now getting its TLC but it hasn't 'come home' in full nick yet.
Alain, Rich, Jazzbow and others,
Thanks. And Jazzbow yes the fret ends are pretty darn good. I was surprised when I saw them.
citizenk74,
That's the first I have heard 'on fleek' outside of Vine I think. Are you really from North Coast PA?
Nickyboy,
No volume control - just straight out. The jack is a mini-jack under the pickguard.Last edited by travisty; 12-07-2015 at 02:21 PM.
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I'm with AlainJazz--I think the Gibson you bought (made by Kunkel) is great looking. I'm in with everyone else, too, vis-a-vis the yacht envy. That's some gorgeous teak.
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I agree AlainJazz,though the shark eyes scare me a bit. Maybe a couple less?? Quite the catch Travisty!
Originally Posted by AlainJazz
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Thanks GT.
To be clear, the 'yacht' is a teak houseboat - rather more teak and rather less glamor and speed (top speed now is ~8 knots or so) than a 'yacht' but it is what my family calls home. It looks nice now because the back rail on the deck just got a couple of coats of varnish and on a nice day the light makes it look good. And as noted before, we like wood so it is fun for us. I have 'area lights' inside which make hot spot reflections reflecting off the finish of guitars if I take pics of guitars inside so I moved the chair outside to get natural light.
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I'm really pleased that it went to someone here. I think it's a wonderful effort in pretty much every way. I'm glad to hear that it sounds as good as it looks (and for this one I will gladly suspend my anti-Gibson bias).
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Travesty,
I like different. That fits the bill. I love it.
Your photographs are some of the nicest I've ever seen (sorry Archie welcome back by the way). The pic of the Gibson headstock should be used in their advertisements. Absolutely, fantasy-like beautiful.
I am still trying to figure out what is "L5" about the guitar, but like I said, I like different.
Once again, absolute work of art. Both substance and style.
thanks for sharing, I don't think I would ever see anything like that, anywhere else.
You need to do a video of a chord melody, "Mack the Knife" with the guitar.
Joe D
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Travisty,
That is one cool guitar. It sure doesn't look like wood at all, very Mack-the-Knife look, though. It would make me feel cool and I'd want to wear sunglasses when I did. Love to here some sound clips.
BTW, is that Discovery Bay that is on the Olympic Peninsula, in Washington State?
Thanks,
Steve
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Joe,
Thanks. One could indeed wonder what is "L5" about it. The fish gills pretty much rule out it looking like any model extant.
What one can say is that it is the right size. And it came with two COAs - the red one calling it "L-5 Non-Cutaway" "Shark #2", both Japanese stores which sold the four guitars in the series called them "L-5 Shark", and Bruce Kunkel is one of Gibson Custom Shop's luthiers making the most 'interesting' L5s (most of which look like L5s in some way though I guess).
But it among L5s, it is at the weird end of the scale (or off it).
Skykomishone,
"My" DB is in Hong Kong. The OP DB is a nice area. I wouldn't mind living in that part of the world. I have family about 5-10 miles from there.
I'll agree on the idea that it doesn't look like real wood at first glance. But that's Bruce there working on a top plate. And you can see the grain in the nitro if you look closely. If you look really closely at the photo of the gray back, you can see what appears to be the grain of the maple). And of course, you can see in the ports to confirm the woodiness.
To both Joe and Skykomishone, I will see what I can do for a vid/clip at some point.Last edited by travisty; 12-07-2015 at 02:19 PM.
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Wow! Love the unique design. It would look great next to my Washburn Galactica, D'Aquisto Solo, and Eastman El Rey! Actually, it'd look great next to my Loar LH700... I love the contrast of modern and traditional design!
Stunning guitar, enjoy!Last edited by gspirro1; 12-06-2015 at 01:34 PM.
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