Value of an early '63 Gibson L-5CES

**CharlesC** · 08-25-2022, 04:41 PM

So pricing is all over the place these days on guitars. I thought I would reach out to the most knowledgeable archtop community around. JGF!

What do you think is a fair market price for an early 1963 Gibson L-5CES. It has moderate play wear and two small cracks between the pickup and bridge. It has been cleated and stable for years. You can barely notice it. Early pat. # pickups. My tech said they were basically PAF's. He said he could tell by the tooling markings (out of scope for me

. It has a 3 piece neck like the 50's L-5's and a one piece lam back. Everything is original except it has a new unbleached bone nut and a refret. It even has the non wire ABR (super cool). 1 11/16" nut and original case (that's seen better days).

Thoughts?

Thanks guys!

**2bornot2bop** · 08-25-2022, 04:59 PM

You said it. Pricing is all over the map, with mostly high prices. Good luck finding a vintage instrument for cheap.

**hotpepper01** · 08-25-2022, 05:32 PM

Hard to tell without pictures and a full desciption. Prices seem to go up by the day. I have seen prices between roughly 9- 15 for decent L5s with I think a peak at 33 k. Depends also about what part of the world you are looking and dealer or private. My wild guess would be 8-12 k. But my guess is just as poor as the next guess.

**wintermoon** · 08-25-2022, 05:38 PM

The last one I saw that sold was a '63 @ Larry Wexers about a year ago listed for 13.5K
Weren't you the one that bought it?

**icr** · 08-25-2022, 09:47 PM

Buying or selling? If buying try to get it for a little as you can. If selling try to get as much as you can.

**CharlesC** · 08-26-2022, 12:06 PM

No, I didn't buy the one from Larry although I remember that one as well.

I found a guitar that I would really like to get but don't have the funds to purchase. The person offered to take my L-5 in trade. I never thought I would part with this guitar but the thought crossed my mind yesterday. I felt his value on my guitar was on the low side so just trying to get an idea. I haven't seen one for sale in a while. The last early 60's L-5 I saw on Reverb had an absurd price. There is a '61 and '65 for $32K on there now...still absurd pricing.

I have noticed that the price on modern L-5's (90's to present) have gone up quite a bit over the past few years so I was wondering if the same is true for vintage models. Just curious...

Thanks!

**deacon Mark** · 08-26-2022, 12:47 PM

Originally Posted by CharlesC

No, I didn't buy the one from Larry although I remember that one as well.

I found a guitar that I would really like to get but don't have the funds to purchase. The person offered to take my L-5 in trade. I never thought I would part with this guitar but the thought crossed my mind yesterday. I felt his value on my guitar was on the low side so just trying to get an idea. I haven't seen one for sale in a while. The last early 60's L-5 I saw on Reverb had an absurd price. There is a '61 and '65 for $32K on there now...still absurd pricing.

I have noticed that the price on modern L-5's (90's to present) have gone up quite a bit over the past few years so I was wondering if the same is true for vintage models. Just curious...

Thanks!

Trading a guitar in for cash against another is usually not a good idea. It is pretty much like trading in your used car. Better to simply sell yours and offer your best cash price on the guitar you want. Granted that presents problems when time and the possibility of losing the guitar you want, but in that case I just make a metal note that is was not supposed to happen. Selling your guitar even at a greatly lowered price will always be more than what a dealer or someone would give you in trade.
cul
Curious as maybe what guitar you want because your L5 is up there with some of the finest jazz guitars in history. You got killer as it is now.

**D'Aquisto Fan** · 08-26-2022, 01:40 PM

I've heard of a clean sunburst 1962 with PAFs going in the low-mid 20K range recently.

**garybaldy** · 08-26-2022, 02:10 PM

Looks like I'll have to make-do with my Loar 700. It looks the part!

**CharlesC** · 08-26-2022, 09:22 PM

Originally Posted by deacon Mark

Trading a guitar in for cash against another is usually not a good idea. It is pretty much like trading in your used car. Better to simply sell yours and offer your best cash price on the guitar you want. Granted that presents problems when time and the possibility of losing the guitar you want, but in that case I just make a metal note that is was not supposed to happen. Selling your guitar even at a greatly lowered price will always be more than what a dealer or someone would give you in trade.
cul
Curious as maybe what guitar you want because your L5 is up there with some of the finest jazz guitars in history. You got killer as it is now.

Yeah, I have my bucket list guitar. I play it every day and gig with it as well. The other guitar is a sweet Zeidler archtop. Just not sure if I can part with my L-5. I have had several L-5CES's over the years and it doesn't get better than this '63.

**D'Aquisto Fan** · 08-26-2022, 10:09 PM

Originally Posted by CharlesC

Yeah, I have my bucket list guitar. I play it every day and gig with it as well. The other guitar is a sweet Zeidler archtop. Just not sure if I can part with my L-5. I have had several L-5CES's over the years and it doesn't get better than this '63.

Is the Zeidler in question the one being offered for sale by Larry Wexer?