1936??? Gibson L-7

[1charlie]

Seeking help in dating this L-7 I just acquired.

It is an advanced 17” model, X-braced, with windowpane fret markers, dating it between 1935 and 1939. It has no label, nor does it appear to have ever had one. The FON is not legible.

Here are some clues.

1. It has the smaller, thinner inlaid Gibson headstock logo.
2. The nut is a full 1 3/4”.
3. It has a French heel.
4. The sunburst is relatively tight.
5. The tailpiece is a simple nickel trapeze.
6. It came in its original redline case.

Now for some photos.

[Woody Sound]

No clue, but that is AWESOME.

[1charlie]

No clue, but that is AWESOME.

Thanks, Woody. I had been wanting one of these for probably a decade, when this one came on the market.

I play short-scale guitars almost exclusively, so this one fits beautifully in my hands. Having bought it online, sight unseen, I was prepared to put some work into it, but it plays well all the way up the neck and needs nothing other than a tailpiece.

When I look through the treble sound hole, this is what I see. 899A would have been a 1935 FON.

[Dennis D]

I owned an L-7 from that same era and without a label or fon, you may be as close to dating it as you're going to get. Mine had a label, so I never really looked too hard for a FON. But maybe it needs a ( dental ? ) camera poking around inside, then you could also confirm the bracing design. The tr, tp & tuners look original, and the bridge may be as well. The script logo and inlays are correct, and of course are just too cool !
The bridge may have had some work - a 'shim' ( ? ) added - because guitar tops from that age were known to settle like mine did. You can check that from a side view. And fyi, mine had settled sometime before I bought it - 2000, but never sank any further.
Then, if you want to replace the pg, Archtop.com should have a pretty accurate one.
Also watch for hydration issues.....If you have a basement, maybe put it down there every once in a while... ....And if you don't already have one, this may be - * is * the time to find that go-to luthier the local pro's use for the set-up. You sure don't want some gorilla cranking on the truss rod. And mho, while 'the tops like to be driven', and heavy strings do that, maybe at least initially set it up with 12's . You might like it like that, and you'd be doing that 75+ year old top a favor.

Anyway, enjoy it ! Those are magic, and congrats !!

Dennis

[1charlie]

I owned an L-7 from that same era and without a label or fon, you may be as close to dating it as you're going to get. Mine had a label, so I never really looked too hard for a FON. But maybe it needs a ( dental ? ) camera poking around inside, then you could also confirm the bracing design. The tr, tp & tuners look original, and the bridge may be as well. The script logo and inlays are correct, and of course are just too cool !
The bridge may have had some work - a 'shim' ( ? ) added - because that area in guitars from of that age was known to settle like mine did. You can check that from the side.
Then, if you want to replace the pg, Archtop.com will have a pretty accurate one.
Also watch for hydration issues.....If you have a basement, maybe put it down there every once in a while... ....And if you don't already have one, this may be - * is * the time to find that go-to luthier the local pro's use for the set-up. You sure don't want some gorilla cranking on the truss rod. And mho, while 'the tops like to be driven', and heavy strings do that, maybe at least initially set it up with 12's . You might like it like that, and you'd be doing that 75+ year old top a favor.

Anyway, enjoy it ! Those are magic, and congrats !!

Dennis

Thanks, Dennis!

I did get a look inside with a dental mirror, and the braces are an unkerfed solid X. No shim under the bridge. The wheel is bottomed out on the bass side, and elevated about 1/16” on the treble side. There is 7/8” between the spruce top and the saddle. I really like the action just as it is right now.

it came from a shop in Arizona, so I have been keeping it uncased in my guitar room in 45% RH. I also treated the rosewood bridge and fretboard to a tiny bit of bore oil, and man, did that make a difference.

[Dennis D]

Thanks, Dennis!

I did get a look inside with a dental mirror, and the braces are an unkerfed solid X. No shim under the bridge. The wheel is bottomed out on the bass side, and elevated about 1/16” on the treble side. There is 7/8” between the spruce top and the saddle. I really like the action just as it is right now.

it came from a shop in Arizona, so I have been keeping it uncased in my guitar room in 45% RH. I also treated the rosewood bridge and fretboard to a tiny bit of bore oil, and man, did that make a difference.

My nephew has mine now which is fine, but yes I miss it !

[skykomishone]

Congratulations on the L7!
Good advice from Dennis too.
I love these old L7's. Well, I guess they're all old these days, except for those Bozeman models, but this one is really old, and very cool. Also, the tailpiece on my '44 was like that and I did get one from archtop dot com that fit perfectly. Same tuners and case, the neck was like a baseball bat, I hated the frets, banjo frets I think I remember someone call them, which were thin and needed replacing, the wood is incredible adirondack red spruce and figured hard maple, aged to perfection with 3/4's of a century or more playing that loaded it up with good vibrations and soul. I had a good luthier at the time that helped me with it, to my luck.
Enjoy it and the inspiration that it will bring!

[Hammertone]

These Advanced Gibsons are wonderful guitars. They have remarkably modern-feeling, non-baseball bat necks. Always nice to see the really early ones. Here's one, built in 1935, that I helped get into the hands of a good friend. Replaced saddle and Allparts L-5 pickguard.

[Dennis D]

These Advanced Gibsons are wonderful guitars. They have remarkably modern-feeling, non-baseball bat necks. Always nice to see the really early ones. Here's one I helped get into the hands of a good friend. Replaced saddle and Allparts L-5 pickguard.

They sure are wonderful guitars ! And I'd never seen an L-7 like this with a baseball bat neck. I've seen L-4's of that era with them, and a 16 in L-7 with those Nick Lucas inlays and that had a big neck too. But never one like this .

[Dennis D]

Thanks, Woody. I had been wanting one of these for probably a decade, when this one came on the market.

I play short-scale guitars almost exclusively, so this one fits beautifully in my hands. Having bought it online, sight unseen, I was prepared to put some work into it, but it plays well all the way up the neck and needs nothing other than a tailpiece.

When I look through the treble sound hole, this is what I see. 899A would have been a 1935 FON.

Just curious Charlie -- in that ten years you said you were looking, how many had you seen and / or been able to play ?

And again, good for you !!

[1charlie]

Just curious Charlie -- in that ten years you said you were looking, how many had you seen and / or been able to play ?

And again, good for you !!

Well, I saw quite a few online, but only got to play two, and only one was for sale (too rich for my blood).

Most of the ones I saw online were basket cases; refinished, holes cut for a hum-bucker and pots, husks stripped of their tuners, pickguard, tailpiece and bridge. Those that were in one piece were usually overpriced.

This one came along at a fair price and in decent original shape.

I just checked on Reverb, and there are 5 x-braced windowpane L-7’s listed. One had an unfortunate cutaway added. Another was a complete refin. The three unmolested examples were $4700, $6600 and $8900.

[1charlie]

They sure are wonderful guitars ! And I'd never seen an L-7 like this with a baseball bat neck. I've seen L-4's of that era with them, and a 16 in L-7 with those Nick Lucas inlays and that had a big neck too. But never one like this .

I also own a ‘34 L-00, which has the biggest neck I have ever encountered. It is not only huge, it also has a pronounced V shape. The L-7, by comparison, while having the same nut width (1 3/4”) has a much less beefy C shape.

Here they are together.

[icr]

Very nice original L7!

I have an early L7, but a few years newer than yours. Mine is a 'player' with a crack, re-finish, re-fret and added pickup. I do play it a lot and don't worry about it cracking because it is already cracked.

[skykomishone]

My '44 L7's neck had the 'V' and large uncomfortable shape. I was told by someone (a luthier) that had repaired many vintage Gibson (and Epiphone) archtops from that period with WWII raging that there was large variation in models, which he attributed to the difficult supply constraints imposed on businesses, forcing the builder at times to dig deep into inventory of parts. He thought that the neck was more typical of earlier production years. Seemed plausible to me. The neck required resetting and finishing, and so I asked him to shape it consistent with the average of measurements from my Campellone, Trenier, and Heritage archtops which I gave him. No regrets. It's a fabulous guitar and plays and sounds better than most archtops that I've experienced. It looked like it went through the war, which it did. Haha! But no cracks.

[1charlie]

Update on the L-7. I really loved the look of the one Hammertone posted, so I installed a pickguard.

it has the bonus feature of covering up the sketchiest bit of the finish, presumably suffered when the old pickguard gassed off.

I used vinegar fumes to tarnish the new nickel bracket. Worked like a charm.

Not sure why the photo is sideways, or why there is a duplicate!