-
Some of you may recognize this L5 as one of the guitars in the last Heritage auction, alongside the George Benson guitars. This is one of the guitars that was owned by Al Valenti. I bid on the D'Angelico of his that they also had, but was decisively outbid.
It was up for auction before the D'A and even though I was interested in this one, I was hanging onto my money to try for the D'A. The guitar didn't sell during the auction period. After I lost out on the D'A, I went back and immediately made an offer on the L5. I ended up getting it for well below the initial auction offering.
Mr. Valenti obviously took excellent care of this guitar in his over 70 years with it. I don't know when it was last refretted, but they are in very good condition and the neck is dead level. The action can go ridiculously low if wanted. It's a smooth player for sure.
I love the acoustic tone and the DeArmond sounds amazing. It's a gorgeous guitar too. I'm really happy to have gotten it.
I love the tuners. Does anyone know what the buttons are made of? They seem like they might be glass.
Last edited by ThatRhythmMan; 06-14-2017 at 10:40 PM.
-
06-14-2017 08:42 PM
-
-
Wow. Wow. Wow. Oh yeah, congrats and may it inspire your playing for many years to come.
-
That's beautiful...geez. The back looks like a freshly poured rich amber style beer settling in...aahh....like a Harp beer.
-
Gorgeous guitar. According to Tom VanHose book on Super 400 and L5, the tuners for this year were Kluson seal backs with either amber colored plastic or gold plated option. Your tuners look to be period correct.
-
Definitely a much-loved instrument, always a good sign. congratulations, and play it in good health!
-
Beautiful guitar! Wonderful condition.
That could be a holy grail guitar with a story.
congratulations sir!
Joe D
-
Wow, that looks amazing. What a find. Congrats!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
-
Thanks guys!
Originally Posted by Guitarbean25
I love that description GB.
-
Thanks, Steve. I don't know much about plastics of that era, except that there weren't many available yet. Could they be polystyrene? They are actually appear to be clear with amber color swirled in. I'll try to get a closeup photo. Originally Posted by QAman
-
'Wow' again ! Get ready to be surprised each and every time you play it.
You own a piece of history no doubt about it.
Congrats and may you play it a long time in good health.
-
I believe those tuners are Catalin. And color me really jealous - outside of that pickguard, the guitar looks perfect.
-
Yes! That appears to be it. I found multiple references to these being catalin. That may explain why they look cut and ground, rather than molded. And, holy cow, one set of these tuners sold on eBay a couple of years ago for $1400! Originally Posted by campusfive
-
Stunning, just stunning. Enjoy it in good health!
-
Daammnnnnn
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
-
That's a heck of a guitar. Really somptuous. You must be a really happy owner. I do really like non-cutaway L5s.
Campusfive/Jon is right. The pegheads are made of Katalin, one of the very first polymers invented in the '20-'30. I take it from Daniel Slaman that these pegheads were white when they were initially mounted on such guitars. Then they became "amber" with age. You can find them on the more expensive Gibsons from this era, i.e. L5, ES 250 etc. I think they were stopped immediately after war, since new plastic-made materials became more and more available. Originally Posted by campusfive
By the way, Daniel is such incredibly bound to '30-'40 guitars that he currently proposes Katalin machine heads for his flagship models (DS 250 etc.). He has acquired old stocks of katalin that now have this period-correct amber color.
Cheers.
-
Very, very beautiful.
Enjoy her in good health!
-
Here is an article regarding the actual material " Catalin". Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan
Bakelite & Catalin: All you need to know + Testing | eBayLast edited by QAman; 06-15-2017 at 03:41 AM.
-
I have one from the same year though heavily played.
And yes, Catalin.
-
Thanks, Joe! If only this guitar could talk. You know it would have some stories. Originally Posted by Max405
-
We all rejoice with you Tman !!! Gorgeous. That bubble maple is so stunning. Congrats buddy !
-
Gorgeous piece and score. There is hardly one bit of Al Valenti on YouTube, what a shame...
These auctions have some real gems if your timing and luck are running right.
Big
-
How right you are, Big. I have looked hard for recordings of him online. There is so little. Most of what is on YouTube seem to be transfers of recordings made with a cassette recorder with a built in mic and are of horrible quality. Originally Posted by BigMikeinNJ
-
Valenti was a friend of John D and one of the first to endorse D'Angelico guitars, I believe he had several.
his name appears early in DA's ledger as having ordered a snakehead L-5 copy. he also bought one of the first NYer's made in '37.
he used to conduct clinics to demonstrate John's guitars as well.
that L-5 is so clean I wonder how much he really played it, but w/DA's laying around who could blame him...
oh, and kindly remove those flats and put some real strings on there asap
-
Here are backlit pics of two of the tuners.
Reply With Quote
Grant Green, What is This Thing
Today, 01:59 PM in Ear Training, Transcribing & Reading