The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    After many posts about various models... L5, L7, L12, L10, ES300, ES350, etc. I finally found one of my bucket list guitars... A 1939 Gibson L5N several months ago. The stars and planets must have been aligned on the day I opened "the latest arrival" email from Gruhn's with the '39 listed. I stopped by the next day to check it out. You know when you know, if that makes sense. I had planned for the possibility of wanting the leave with the guitar so I brought with me several nice guitars from the closet that I have not really played in years. I am by no means rich with a vast collection... just been around a while and lucky to have bought some items many years ago when they were "affordable" that I was able to trade in toward the L5. The neck felt great from the first time I picked the guitar up. The neck is narrower than the standard 1 11/16" with a more round full shoulder feel.

    I may contact Gibson to try and obtain an image of the shipping ledger with the guitar if the ledger exists.

    Anyway, here it is... (images are large straight from my phone)

    1939 Gibson L5 (EA-5418)
    • Original finish (per Gruhn's)
    • new pick guitar and refret by Gruhn's Guitars
    • Bubble (Blister) back and sides (That Rhythm Man for the info)
    • Nut width 1 5/8" ... (perhaps the tiniest bit larger, though smaller than 1 11/16")
      • 42.14mm for my metric friends

    • Neck Profile: full round feeling. I'll measure the depth at 1st and 12th whenever I change strings next.
    • Binding is complete with no breaks
    • Weight: 6.6 lb. (3.3.kg)
    • Original tweed black stripe case (its a darker brownish color reminiscent of older tweed amps that have been lacquered years ago... perhaps this has had a overcoat added at some point... unsure as I haven't seen many of these cases)




    1939 Gibson L5N-img_5841-jpg1939 Gibson L5N-img_5831-jpg1939 Gibson L5N-img_5834-jpg1939 Gibson L5N-img_5833-jpg1939 Gibson L5N-img_5832-jpg1939 Gibson L5N-img_5839-jpg1939 Gibson L5N-img_5835-jpg1939 Gibson L5N-guitarz-jpg
    Last edited by Steve Z; 04-18-2023 at 08:00 PM.

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    The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
     
  3. #2

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    Looks great! That back is gorgeous.

  4. #3

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    Has the rare metal button Kluson option, spiffy example, I must've missed that listing.
    The colors of those Geib tweed cases can vary due to exposure, I have a couple that are downright brown.
    Enjoy that one!

  5. #4

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    Nice. I’ve been playing nothing but my 47 L5N the last few days. Hell of a guitar. Congrats!

  6. #5

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    She is a classic beauty. May she inspire your playing for many years to come.

  7. #6

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    My first teacher had the blonde 39 L5. Best sounding guitar I've ever played, and I've played a bunch of D'Angelicos. Of course, I didn't play them at the same time, so this may be colored by memory.

  8. #7

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    That's really something to behold!
    Congratulations. Top of the heap!

  9. #8

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    Back in the mid 1960’s, I paid attention to the color or finish of a guitar. When I ordered my ’67 L-5C, I chose sunburst because natural just “didn’t look good”. That perspective has changed today. Two things caused the change….the many examples of natural Gibsons and a stronger interest in the older Gibson archtops, both in the growing collection of photos on these forums.

    This ’39 L-5N is a very attractive instrument. As has been stated in other posts, “Gibson uses the best looking grained wood for those destined to be natural” seems like a reasonable conclusion.

    On another subject, a feature or detail when describing a recent or potential purchase, that seems to be at the top of a lot of lists, is nut width.

    I’m one of the newest visitors to these forums, having started almost a year ago. So I’m not sure….is the nut width the very outside of the nut or is it the distance between the two E strings?

    My 1952 L-5C measurers 1.713” (outside) and 1 11/16” is 1.6875, so only 0.0255” (2 ½ hundreths) wider than the often mentioned 1 11/16”. Since this is my only guitar, I have no reference to compare mine to a narrower nut. (I do have a 1973 Martin D-35, that I’m trying to sell, that has a nut width of 1.730”) but would I care? Hard to say. You get used to what you have and as you try to learn new tunes, chords, etc. that width number doesn’t rise to the surface, you just work to learn to play better. However, I can appreciate how an undesirable nut width might be blamed by someone for their inability to play the way they want to. Like I said…not enough data.

    FWIW

    Tom

    1939 Gibson L5N-eb2bca2f-fd32-4f7e-8b7b-7d8f385f84c2-jpg

  10. #9
    Steve Z: Magnificent guitar!

  11. #10
    Thanks guys... definitely a fun guitar to play. My favorites now are the '39 L5 and a Danocaster tele-style... Les Paul, L5CT, etc. are not seeing much action, if you can call just playing at home "action"

  12. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by TMA
    On another subject, a feature or detail when describing a recent or potential purchase, that seems to be at the top of a lot of lists, is nut width.

    I’m one of the newest visitors to these forums, having started almost a year ago. So I’m not sure….is the nut width the very outside of the nut or is it the distance between the two E strings?

    My 1952 L-5C measurers 1.713” (outside) and 1 11/16” is 1.6875, so only 0.0255” (2 ½ hundreths) wider than the often mentioned 1 11/16”. Since this is my only guitar, I have no reference to compare mine to a narrower nut. (I do have a 1973 Martin D-35, that I’m trying to sell, that has a nut width of 1.730”) but would I care? Hard to say. You get used to what you have and as you try to learn new tunes, chords, etc. that width number doesn’t rise to the surface, you just work to learn to play better. However, I can appreciate how an undesirable nut width might be blamed by someone for their inability to play the way they want to. Like I said…not enough data.

    FWIW

    Tom
    Tom,

    The nut width is the measurement of the nut or the width of the fretboard at the nut as you showed in your photo. The nut width is a personal preference things... some only enjoy the feel of 1 3/4" (which I find a bit wide) while others have no problem going as low as 1 1/2" such as the 1965- very early 70s Gibsons and some folks really have no preference and can easily switch between any nut width. I tend to favor the good ole telecaster nut width of 1 5/8". The actual difference between these nut widths in descending increments is very small; however, definitely noticeable when playing.

  13. #12

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    What a awesome score. A huge Congrats! Beautiful L-5.

  14. #13

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    That is a magnificent L5 with all the glory. Note that the birdseye back is so nice. Birdseye is the hardest maple of all the different grains. Many builders I know will not use it because it is hard to tools and hards to carve and saw. My later friend Bill Hollenbeck said he did not allow the maple to dictate what he used on the guitar and he used a lot of birdseye. Gibson never had and problems with it for sure.

    Yes nut with is critical at least to me. I prefer 1 3/4 but can use 1 11/16 with no problem. Going anything less that 1 5/8 is a complete deal breaker. I would rather stay away of the 1 5/8 but more to it than just the width at nut. The shape of the back of the neck can effect the feeling at the nut.

    Play the frets of this beauty and gives a sound posting if you can.

  15. #14

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    Wonderful instrument.

    Congrats.

  16. #15

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    Please explain the elephant in the room.

  17. #16

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hammertone
    Please explain the elephant in the room.
    Thanks. I was beginning to think I was hallucinating.

  18. #17
    Quote Originally Posted by Hammertone
    Please explain the elephant in the room.
    Are you referring to the huge mandolin? Yeah, its pretty cool. It at one time was a prop that was hanging on a stage that was associated with Gibson. The back and sides are finished. Even the neck has a nice profile and is finished.

    It's pretty heavy and has a rather thick cable running through it that was used to hang it. When I received it the neck was cracked where the it meets the body. A tube of liquid nails later it was back to being a great music room display piece. It's missing 4 tuning pegs but everything else is in tact. I could have also gotten a huge acoustic guitar and a banjo... let's just say there was no way the guitar or the banjo would fit in my house... the mandolin barely fit in the bed of my truck.

    1939 Gibson L5N-img_5843-jpg
    1939 Gibson L5N-big-mando-truck-jpg
    1939 Gibson L5N-big-mando-floor-jpg
    Last edited by Steve Z; 04-03-2023 at 05:55 PM.

  19. #18
    Reminds me of my '42 Gretsch New Yorker
    Attached Images Attached Images 1939 Gibson L5N-image-jpg 1939 Gibson L5N-image-jpg 

  20. #19

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    That’s a fantastic looking guitar, and I’m sure it’s a great player too. I think Gibson was really knocking some of them out of the park at that time.

    Now I’m aware I’m going to sound pedantic in this next part. The back wood is bubble (blister) maple, not birdseye. These two types of figuring result from very different processes and really don’t look the same. Birdseye mainly occurs in sugar (hard) maple (Acer saccharum). Bubble figuring is considered a form of quilted maple. Quilted maple is most common in bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum). This species specificity isn’t absolute, but is generally true, and birdseye can occur in combination with other types of figuring.

    Next, this is something I just recently learned. The covering of the painted, lacquered cases used in this period is made of airplane cloth, not tweed. My understanding is that it is the same cloth as that which was used for outer covering of early airplanes. Most people call it tweed and it looks a bit like tweed though, so it works.

    The pic below shows bubble maple on the left and birdseye on the right.




    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  21. #20

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    "Next, this is something I just recently learned. The covering of the painted, lacquered cases used in this period is made of airplane cloth, not tweed"

    correct, you'll see it on many old suitcases as well



  22. #21

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    Quote Originally Posted by wintermoon
    "Next, this is something I just recently learned. The covering of the painted, lacquered cases used in this period is made of airplane cloth, not tweed"

    correct, you'll see it on many old suitcases as well


    I'm with him on the maple, but that cloth, whether or not it's airplane cloth, has universally come to be known as tweed. Rightly or not.

  23. #22
    All great info… Thanks!
    I love learning more about vintage guitars.

  24. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by ArchieHollow
    Steve Z: Magnificent guitar!
    Steve Z: In this earlier post I said that your guitar is "magnificent." As I muse your pics I've got to exclaim: Your '39 L-5 is one of the most beautiful vintage guitars I've ever seen!!!