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I recently acquired a '37 Gibson L-50. It has kerfed bracing. Can anyone tell me when Gibson began using kerfed bracing in acoustic archtops, and in which models it was used?
Dave
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05-06-2018 08:29 AM
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I believe they started using kerfed braces around 1929. Also, I’m pretty sure you can find examples with kerfed braces throughout the entire model line, but it wasn’t absolute. For example, my ‘34 L-7 has carved braces.
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Whaaaaat??? Do you have any photos? I know some L-5s had carved braces when Gibson was using mostly kerfed braces on their archtops, but I was convinced that all L-7s had kerfed braces until the Advanced model years.
Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan
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To answer the OP, I believe all* the 16" Gibson archtops from the 30s used kerfed braces. Kerfing was reintroduced again in the 50s on their laminate-construction models. My knowledge of Gibson doesn't extend past the 50s.
*Not all but most. There are always some exceptions. I mean to say that the standard for each model was to use kerfing, but not all builders chose to do so, and carved braces may have been offered as a premium feature on special orders. Gibson did a lot of out-of-spec custom work, too. For example, people were ordering long-scale archtops before it was the standard size. Gibson complied with their requests in order not to lose those customers to Epiphone!
Plenty of reading material regarding Gibson braces here: The venerable 16" L-5
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Hello all.....seems like everyone's on the same page with info, so just adding.....
I've had a few 16" f-hole Gibsons from the 30's and almost all had kerfed bracing.
My 1933 L-12, '34 L-12. '34 L-10, '34 L-7 AND '39 L-4 all were kerfed.
An exception was a '33 dot inlay L-10 that had carved braces.
I was specifically looking for that particular version as I'd heard that some of the earlier L-10s had those solid braces.
A nice discovery....
L-50s, L-30s and L-37's and early small body f-hole L-75s all were kerfed....the round soundhole L-4's and L-75s I knew were solid.
I've did take notice of a '34 L-5 with kerfed braces at a vintage shop as I'd expected the 16" L-5 models to have retained carved braces.
All that said I've heard some nice sound from some of the above even with kerfed braces!Last edited by zizala; 05-06-2018 at 02:30 PM.
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I bought one of those endoscopic cameras to use with my phone, but its light is not very good. I’m trying to come up with a good way to get more light inside the guitars. I’m not sure you can tell much with this pic. Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
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not sure whether that’s inside a guitar or someone’s stomach... Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan
I bought one of those endoscopic cameras to use with my phone, but its light is not very good. I’m trying to come up with a good way to get more light inside the guitars. I’m not sure you can tell much with this pic.
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LOL, my options weren’t great to get a photo showing a stretch of a brace. I could get a good look scanning along the brace inch by inch, but that doesn’t translate in to a photo that says anything. Originally Posted by grahambop
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Haha, well you can still tell from the photo that the braces are carved. That comes as quite a surprise. If for any reason you ever decide to part ways with your L7, please reach out to me!
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I'm a semi retired physician. I can truly say that if the inside of my stomach looked like that, I'd be scared. Originally Posted by grahambop
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I just shine a small LED flashlight into an f-hole. Doesn't need to be the same one you put the camera through, and it's not essential to point it directly at anything. A quality LED flashlight will put out enough lumens to show the insides very clearly.
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O, you're being characteristically kind. Originally Posted by omphalopsychos
My modest experience with 20s and 30s Gibson archtops -- I've owned some but not as many as many here -- supports the notion that The Gibson Motto was, "Ship it, Louie!" Right neck, wrong FB for the model? "Ship it." Right FB, wrong inlay on the peghead? "Ship it." Kalamazoo should be laminated back but somebody put the KZoo neck on a solid-back Gibson body? "Ship it." Or here, we're out of L7 kerf-braced tops, grab an L5 solid-braced top and "ship it."
Back in The Golden Age the name of the game was to make today's money today and worry about tomorrow's parts inventory tomorrow. But the guitars . . . the tone is there. Playing 30s Gibsons is a lesson in how getting the broad strokes right matters even more than obsessing over the perfect set of details. Good timber, sound carpentry and robust design made guitars that have lasted and inspired through the decades. Details of this or that spec fade in importance, at least to the player.
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I tried doing that, but I couldn’t get a usable angle out of it. The f-holes in a ‘34 L-7 are quite small. I think there are LED flashlights with small, flexible heads. I should maybe look into one of those. Originally Posted by sgosnell
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I also came across this in a corner. Anyone have any idea what this could be?
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'The Blob' from the Steve McQueen movie?
Probably just a dust bunny, I seem to find them in every guitar I work on.
Thanks for all your replies, I'm doing a neck reset on my L-50, can't wait to get it back together and start strumming.
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It’s non-moving and hard, whatever it is. Originally Posted by Dave Richard
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My L50 braces are kerfed as seen here:
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My 1961 L-7c has carved braces.
1952 ES-350n has kerfed braces.
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ICR, why did you need to take off the back, on your L-50?
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I can see that kerfed braces would save time during construction. Are they perceived to effect the sound of a guitar compared to carved braces? Are they as strong and stable?
Never heard of kerfed braces before this thread and just wondering why it matters.
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IMO they don't affect tone enough to be heard. It's just something else for quibblers to quibble about.
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I just strung up my '37 L-50, after a neck reset, and it sounds great. I have to think that carved vs kerfed braces would change the tone, and one would need the same model guitars(or similar, L-50/L-4, etc) to really compare.
So, does a carved top & back L-50 differ much in construction(apart from decoration) from a same or similar year L-4( or 16" L-7)? L-50s are famously 'all over the map' in terms of construction: flat back/carved back, raised fingerboard extension/ extension glued to the top, short scale/long scale, etc. I get the impression that Gibson was willing to use most anything at hand for L-50 production.
And, apart from decoration, how does a '30's 16" L-5 differ in construction from a similarly built L-50?...just curious.
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My '44 L7 Has solid braces.
Your guitar looks like it has mushrooms growing in the corner! Yikes!
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My first thought was that it may be some very old wasp nest. Originally Posted by skykomishone
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Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan
I also came across this in a corner. Anyone have any idea what this could be?
Looks like the ending of The Blair Witch Project.
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