2005 Gibson L-5CES

[garybaldy]

I've already let the cat out of the bag on this one in another thread!
I'd bought from this seller before (a 175). He is not far from where I live.
A youtube clip came up of him demo-ing it so I guessed he had it for sale on ebay.
I was slightly bothered and unsure of the asking price.
Anyway, whether it was a ploy or not he seemed unsure if he really wanted to sell it, and I really wanted to walk away with it!! So I thought it would be a tough negotiation.
There was a little haggling and the deal was struck.
As an added bonus I ended up, to my joy, playing a few really nice guitars whilst there, none of which I'd actually held before:
40s L5
40s (?) Super400
Later Super 400
Golden Eagle
60s Hofner (with straight) neck that apparently had 2 pat no. pickups
Hofner Jazzica
Interesting and very nice sounding Martin parlour with a stauffer type headstock
to name but a few!!
A great day!

[floatingpickup]

Very nice!

[losaltosjoe]

Congrats! Do you have an amp pairing picked out?

[garybaldy]

Congrats! Do you have an amp pairing picked out?

Thanks.
It'll mostly be going through either a Teeny brute or a Minibrute III.

[skykomishone]

Wow! That's awesome. It looks as shiny and spotless as Vinny's or JoeD's guitars. Congratulations! Such Beautiful wood. I can imagine the thrill it must be to play!

[Gitfiddler]

@garybaldy~ Congratulations on scoring a gorgeous L5 CES!!

May you play it in good health for many years.

[garybaldy]

Thanks

[garybaldy]

Wow! That's awesome. It looks as shiny and spotless as Vinny's or JoeD's guitars. Congratulations! Such Beautiful wood. I can imagine the thrill it must be to play!

Thanks

[vinnyv1k]

Gorgeous specimen ! A huge Congrats. The price tag will be forgotten very quickly. You can’t put a price on joy.

[garybaldy]

Gorgeous specimen ! A huge Congrats. The price tag will be forgotten very quickly. You can’t put a price on joy.

Thanks

[Glin66]

The guitar looks drop dead gorgeous. Congrats and happy NGD.

[garybaldy]

The guitar looks drop dead gorgeous. Congrats and happy NGD.

Thanks

[wintermoon]

Nice guitar!
But dump the crocs....

[garybaldy]

Nice guitar!
But dump the crocs....

It's the seller's feet I think - I stole his nice photos!
I've never had a pair of crocs in my life!

[wintermoon]

It's the seller's feet I think - I stole his nice photos!I've never had a pair of crocs in my life!

Good, then he didn't deserve to own it, clearly a case of if the shoe fits, don't wear it. the right guy has it now.

[guildx500]

Beautiful guitar. Congrats!

[garybaldy]

Beautiful guitar. Congrats!

Thank you

[Zigracer]

Beautiful. Looks just like the 2003 I just picked up. The only problem with mine that I haven't sorted, is that the pickup selector switch is loose, so it flops and rattles. The knurled nut won't spin either way without the whole switch spinning. I haven't yet put in the time to figure out the right way to hold the underside of the switch to keep it from spinning. Just a little too far from the neck pup hole to reach. There have been some good suggestions here through. How is yours?

[garybaldy]

Beautiful. Looks just like the 2003 I just picked up. The only problem with mine that I haven't sorted, is that the pickup selector switch is loose, so it flops and rattles. The knurled nut won't spin either way without the whole switch spinning. I haven't yet put in the time to figure out the right way to hold the underside of the switch to keep it from spinning. Just a little too far from the neck pup hole to reach. There have been some good suggestions here through. How is yours?

I just looked up your thread. Our L5s are very similar. Shame you have an issue with the switch. Hope you get it resolved. Are you saying the knurled nut is stuck mid
threaded staff? Sounds tricky.
Early days with mine yet. It's so easy to play. I recently tried a 2016 Wes mo and was surprised that when fretting both 2 e strings they slipped off the neck. I thought it was me but my L5 definitely doesn't suffer that problem.
I need to change the strings. It came with a custom set with the same gauges as the Rich Severson set but using roundwounds. I like the guages but would prefer flats. I'll probably try TI Swings first.

[Zigracer]

I just looked up your thread. Our L5s are very similar. Shame you have an issue with the switch. Hope you get it resolved. Are you saying the knurled nut is stuck mid
threaded staff? Sounds tricky.
Early days with mine yet. It's so easy to play. I recently tried a 2016 Wes mo and was surprised that when fretting both 2 e strings they slipped off the neck. I thought it was me but my L5 definitely doesn't suffer that problem.
I need to change the strings. It came with a custom set with the same gauges as the Rich Severson set but using roundwounds. I like the guages but would prefer flats. I'll probably try TI Swings first.

Yes, the knurled nut is stuck midway or so on the threads. It may be cross threaded. Anyway, mine plays like a dream as well and the sound is to die for. For standards/jazz, I mostly play 7 now, but some songs just ask for the L5. I wish there was a 7 string L5. Yours is beautiful. Enjoy it!

[garybaldy]

Yes, the knurled nut is stuck midway or so on the threads. It may be cross threaded. Anyway, mine plays like a dream as well and the sound is to die for. For standards/jazz, I mostly play 7 now, but some songs just ask for the L5. I wish there was a 7 string L5. Yours is beautiful. Enjoy it!

Thank you

[bluejaybill]

Gorgeous specimen ! A huge Congrats. The price tag will be forgotten very quickly. You can’t put a price on joy.

Yes, few of us would have walked out of there empty handed!

[Jabberwocky]

Noice!

PS The neck strap button is in an unfortunate location...imho. If you decide to move it plug up the old hole with an inlay dot-abalone, MoP, ebony-so that it looks neat.

[garybaldy]

Noice!

PS The neck strap button is in an unfortunate location...imho. If you decide to move it plug up the old hole with an inlay dot-abalone, MoP, ebony-so that it looks neat.

Thanks and well observed. I thought it weird myself. Not one of the suggested positions on the diagram on the Stewmac (?) website. I'll not pass judgement until I've tried it.

[garybaldy]

Yes, few of us would have walked out of there empty handed!

I know I would have regretted it terribly had I done that. The seller was in no hurry to sell and someone else would have bought it. It was just right for me as it was local and I could try it and no shipping traumas plus an enjoyable couple of hours playing some really lovely old gutars.