1976 Gibson L-5CESN price?

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What is a fair price for a 1976 L5CESN in good+ condition? Original case no repairs.

[wintermoon]

Pics would really help buy failing them I'd say 6500-7500 depending on several factors

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Thoughts please!!!

[wintermoon]

Your initial question is very vague, not sure what thoughts one can have from a one line description but here's some more questions.
What exactly does "good+" mean condition-wise?
Does it have a volute on the back of the headstock?
Is it 100% original?
Do you have any pics to evaluate, or a link to any?

[[email protected]]

I don’t have pictures sorry. I’m going to see it tomorrow. I know it’s vague but I don’t have much more info. The seller it is in great condition. I take that with a grain of salt. He says no repairs and 100%original but I’ll see it tomorrow and take some pictures.

[[email protected]]

I don’t have pictures sorry. I’m going to see it tomorrow. I know it’s vague but I don’t have much more info. The seller it is in great condition. I take that with a grain of salt. He says no repairs and 100%original but I’ll see it tomorrow and take some pictures.

[Jimmy Mack]

Why does the "Volute" make a diff? You are probably right in bringing it up but, are players seriously biased? I like mine, or more accurately, I appreciate knowing it's there. And many fine vintage instruments have had them.

So, to me, the volute adds strength to the neck/headstock union, but..... as I play my L5 with volute, I never ever even know that it's there! Why do players make such a big deal about a volute?

[Steve Z]

For reference… this 1977 L5CES was recently listed at Gruhn’s in Nashville.



Gruhn Guitars

VG+, vintage replica pickguard by Gruhn Guitars, back finish oversprayed, back of neck lightly sanded, modern HC
$6,500.00

[wintermoon]

Why does the "Volute" make a diff? You are probably right in bringing it up but, are players seriously biased? I like mine, or more accurately, I appreciate knowing it's there. And many fine vintage instruments have had them.

So, to me, the volute adds strength to the neck/headstock union, but..... as I play my L5 with volute, I never ever even know that it's there! Why do players make such a big deal about a volute?

Regardless of it's function some people don't mind it but the majority do.
Some feel it interferes w the feel of the neck playing in first position. Many for sale guitar ads of 70s/80s Gibson will include "no volute" as part of the description, considering their absence a plus.
I'm not crazy about them from an aesthetic standpoint but there was one on a Howard Roberts I had that didn't really bother me that much.
Early Epiphone Deluxe's had them as well as Gibson Citations, not to mention violins.
There's been a ton of discussion about their merits and detractions over the years, here and many other places.

[Jabberwocky]

The volute is associated with the Norlin Gibson Era. The original Gibson archtop guitars never had volutes. We tend to be a nostalgic bunch so yeah, the volute did not go down well for Norlin Gibsons and they still don't go down well today. The only exception is the Citation. The Citation was a creation of Norlin Gibson, had no antecedent, and always had the volute. So, the volute stayed.

Colour me crazy but the volute gets in the way of my thumb between Frets One and Five. The volute is so verboten that even Collings and PRS dare not incorporate it in their guitars even though a volute strengthens that transition between neck and headstock. I don't know any highend boutique luthier who dares incorporate the volute in his or her guitar either.

Norlin Gibsons are a relative bargain compared to the Henry J. Era Gibsons. I have nothing against them and will gladly own them. And play them. Talking about Henry J. I miss his stewardship. He kept the archtop department and Custom Shop open for business. Up right till 2018, there was always some Gibson guitar, archtop, steel string, semi-hollow to drool over. Now, only Les Pauls Std. and more Les Pauls at ever increasing prices. The adventure is gone.

[wintermoon]

Not certain if they all do but many Campellones have volutes.

[Jabberwocky]

Not certain if they all do but many Campellones have volutes.

I need to brush up on my Campellones...

[vinnyv1k]

[andrew]

The late 70s/early 80s seems to be the least desirable era for the L-5CES, at least in terms of their collectors value (with the possible exception of the skinny nut 1965-69 era). That doesn't mean they're bad guitars at all, just the least expensive. They tend to have plainer wood and the aforementioned volutes. Archtop production didn't suffer as much in the Norlin era as their other models did. Many high end jazz boxes were made by the same folks that stuck around Kalamazoo and formed Heritage.

The one at Gruhns for $6,500 has some small issues. A sanded neck and a body overspray don't qualify as "very good +" in my book, but it seems to be priced appropriately. I would think $7,000-8,000 for a clean, issue-free one would be in line with the current market.

[icr]

VG+ is pretty bad on their rating system. Looks to be rated correctly with those issues. I'd expect a guitar rated one lower to GOOD, to be in pieces.

[Bluedawg]

Now, only Les Pauls Std. and more Les Pauls at ever increasing prices. The adventure is gone.

This Anderton video tour of the Gibson custom shop shows that they are still building new archtops.

Check out around 18:50.

No information that I've seen on exactly what they are building that I have seen, though.