I started with a L50 in poor shape. I looked for quite some time to find a real beater that had all the original hardware and original bridge. I needed a guitar from the correct time period to have reasonably been fitted with a CC pickup when these pickups were available new.
I found this 1937 L50. The top is in 5 pieces. The back is in two but has 5 cracks that I counted.
The wood on the back was in such poor condition, from prior repairs, I would have been smarter to just replace it and make new braces. In fact this guitar was actually MISSING brace #2. No evidence of any glue, the back had never been removed and it could not have been removed through the f hole as it would have been too big.
Back reconstructed with new #2 brace. This L50, like the original ES-150/CC, has a hybrid construction. The top is carved, but the back on both is a flat piece of wood bent over slightly curved braces. The later Non-CC ES-150s have carved front and back pieces.
The CC pickup reproduction was special order and took 3 weeks to arrive. In the mean time, I cleaned up the rest of the guitar and made the bound ES-150 style pickguard. Attachment 27395
Since this will be a 'player' instrument, the neck angle had to be 'playable.' It was just marginal with the original bridge. I wanted to keep the original bridge. I improved the neck angle when I re-fitted the back. I got an extra degree or two. This was actually a big deal and a little stressful... not knowing if the guitar would be playable until the back was glued on.
That's freaking awesome, man! Great job and a real labour of love. You made something useful and desirable out of a forgotten guitar. And I approve of the groove in your video.
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Guitar Amps built into case?
Yesterday, 05:03 PM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos