N(v)GD - 1941(?) Gibson L-50

[ironchefchris]

I just acquired (on a whim) a (pretty sure) 1941 Gibson L-50 in fantastic shape. I have always been interested in old ES-125/150 guitars and this L-50 popped up at my local GC so I had to try it out and unfortunately, haha, it was in great shape and plays really well...had to grab it. I was floored by the sound; very loud and mid-range forward. I'm not typically a jazz guy as far as my playing, I play jam rock lead in bands and am a fairly methodical player...nothing too fancy, nothing too fast, melody over flare, on the blusier-side of things. I do love, and have covered, Scofield and Bobby Lee Rodgers in the past and have recently gotten into Grant Green stuff so I may start learning more of that style (I'm self-taught, played as a gigging musician for 20 yrs now, usually lead guitar). Figured I'd check this forum out so I can start going down that road a bit more and expand my playing some.

As far as the Gibson goes, I traded in a D'Angelico EXL-1 (Excel model) and a Charvel DK22 SuperStrat for it and am very happy. The D'Angelico is a phenomenal guitar, but the feedback was so bad in that massive thing that I couldn't possibly gig it with my current projects, but I did record some with it so it will be missed. I never bonded with the SD Custom Johnny Smith in it either. I do, however, recommend it for a really nice jazz box under 2k. Unreal build quality and playability. I have a Krivo PAF on order now for the L-50 bc if I can tame the feedback, I intend to gig it. I know its no p90 or ES-125, but I'm hoping with some minor tweaks I can get in the realm of bluesy drive territory with it through my Fuchs or Quilter amp and an EQ pedal to shape the sound.

Does anyone here have any tips on these guitars, things to watch for, mods worth doing that can make this thing more gig-worthy? I'm not "precious" about my stuff; I mod everything I own to my liking, but in this case and being a '41 Gibson, I don't want to go crazy or cut into her and definitely save all parts. This one is going to be babied more than the others in the herds for sure.
-I think the floating Krivo should be a good choice for it and requires no routing.
-I may look for some direct drop-in replacement tuners (preferably locking bc it just makes gig-life so much easier) and possibly a bridge with more adjustability and sustain. The tuners, I think, are already replacements and need some work anyway (loose pivot points and stripped out gear screws on 2 of them, but they do function ok) and the bridge also might be a replacement (any help on that would be great...heavy indentions for strings in it, still has some room for action adjustments despite a bit of belly dip).

Thanks in advance for any tips/help!

[wintermoon]

Nice example
Enjoy that one....

[omphalopsychos]

Nice ax! Maybe get a pickguard for it?

If you want to gig with it, you can put a piezo pickup on it. I believe they make some that replace the bridge saddle. This would make it possible to plug in without needing a mic.

Floating pickups don't usually work with these because the fretboard is not elevated so you don't have room for a pickup.

If you don't mind being blasphemous you can add a pickup to these but I don't advise it if you care about originality. Here's a modded one that I bought. The pickup makes it a completely different (but great sound) guitar.

[ironchefchris]

Yeah The Krivo PAF I have coming is very thin and should fit ok even with this having the neck flush on the body. Its a simple pickguard or putty mount (will try putty first since I don't have a pickguard on this one). My worry with a piezo is that I won't get that electric blues driven sound I like.

[Sam Sherry]

Glad to see you made it over here, Chris!

I may look for some direct drop-in replacement tuners (preferably locking bc it just makes gig-life so much easier

The originals for your guitar would probably be like these:


IME tuning stability without locks is not an issue if I have three wraps around the post and stretch the strings in when they're new.


Enjoy it, maestro! Here's hoping it opens a ton of musical doors for you!

[pawlowski6132]

I think if you wanted an pickup amplified guitar, you should have bought something else.

This is an acoustic archtop. Anything else you try to do with it will be a compromise.

You should enjoy it for what it is and keep looking.

[pawlowski6132]

something like this:

Gibson ES-125 1946-1949 Rare Mahogany top!

[Woody Sound]

Is is stamped L50? Looks kinda like an L48 to me. ICBW of course.

[Hammertone]

Congrats on getting a cool old guitar. The bridge is a replacement, so changing it for something else is no big deal.

I have a Krivo that I occasionally use on similar guitars, and it sounds great for the kind of music you mentioned. I use putty to keep it in place.

Regarding tuners, if you want to change what's there and really want locking tuners, I recommend tuners that:
- do not require enlarging the existing shaft holes in the headstock;
- are lightweight and in keeping with the age/style of the guitar;
in order to maintain value and prevent the guitar from getting neck heavier.
I don't think that locking tuners are necessary, in which case non-locking versions of the same thing are widely available.

Gotoh SD90 Magnum locking tuners in either of these button styles will certainly do the trick, as shown below. Do NOT get the ones with thumbwheels on the back, as shown.

For this purpose, I recommend Gotoh over any other brand - they are superior parts, made in Japan, compared to perfectly fine but way less worthy tuners from Kluson/Grover/Wilkinson/etceteras, all made in Korea or China.

[rpjazzguitar]

My first guitar was a 64 L50. I had a D'Armond pickup on it which slid on a metal rod. It would have been nice if it could have slid up to the node (equivalent to 24th fret), but there wasn't enough room for that. So, it sat about halfway between neck and bridge. Not ideal for a warm tone.

Seems to me that a carved top guitar is going to sound great acoustically and, for the same reasons, feedback electrically. Then, you have to dampen the top which helps control the feedback and hurts your acoustic sound. I have had the experience of seriously muffling a guitar acoustically and still finding the electric sound to be good (Godin Multiac Nylon).

But, it's always seemed to me that it's two different applications pointing to two different guitars. And, I'd be firm about that if I hadn't heard some great players get great electric sounds out of carved tops.

So, it's pretzel logic.

[ironchefchris]

I think if you wanted an pickup amplified guitar, you should have bought something else.

This is an acoustic archtop. Anything else you try to do with it will be a compromise.

You should enjoy it for what it is and keep looking.

Yeah...hard to try before ya buy on old archtops at local shops. I've been looking for an es125 or 150 for awhile but wouldn't take a chance until I could play one. This popped up, I played it, and it sang. I dont play acoustic as much so i wanna get the most out of her. A floating pickup won't change much, just gives me more options with it. I have plenty of nice electrics and acoustics.

[ironchefchris]

Is is stamped L50? Looks kinda like an L48 to me. ICBW of course.

No stamps that I can find but it does have a have a serial on the back and seems to be spec'd and documented as an L50. Original owner's name was on a small piece of paper in the truss rod cover and dates 39-40, however the serial according to reverb says '41. Elderly instruments had it listed as a '36 at one point back in 2008 as well. I attached more pics...

[rpjazzguitar]

The L50 has binding where the L48 does not, side of the neck for example.

[omphalopsychos]

The L50 has binding where the L48 does not, side of the neck for example.

The early batches of L-50 had no binding on the neck. The bound fretboard on the L-50 was introduced in 1949. Judging by the logo I think this one is mid 30s to mid 40s, which would not have had fretboard binding.


What's the serial number? If it's from 1941 like you say that should answer it definitively since the L-48 wasn't introduced until 1946.

[omphalopsychos]

Nothing wrong with adding a floating pickup to an acoustic archtop. Thats how it was done back in the day and whether you prefer that over a built in pickup is totally subjective. Ignore the negativity on this thread. In general I don't understand how people can be harsh like that to complete strangers.

[omphalopsychos]

Looking at your pic I can barely make it out but it looks like EG-5362 is the FON. The EG prefix was used in 1939.

So there you go. It's an L-50 because L-48's didn't exist. Early L-48's also mostly had mahogany tops instead of spruce.

[ironchefchris]

the early batches of l-50 had no binding on the neck. The bound fretboard on the l-50 was introduced in 1949. Judging by the logo i think this one is mid 30s to mid 40s, which would not have had fretboard binding.


What's the serial number? If it's from 1941 like you say that should answer it definitively since the l-48 wasn't introduced until 1946.

eg 5362

[ironchefchris]

Looking at your pic I can barely make it out but it looks like EG-5362 is the FON. The EG prefix was used in 1939.

So there you go. It's an L-50 because L-48's didn't exist. Early L-48's also mostly had mahogany tops instead of spruce.

Gotcha, thanks for the info!

[ironchefchris]

Got the Krivo PAF today and slapped it on the guitar. I had to mount it roughly 2in from the neck to accomodate the string to body height. It seems super well-made with Mogami cable attached and a nice secure input jack and putty to mount the pickup. It sounds fantastic...much preferred to the the SD Johnny Smith on the Dangelico; less boomy and more focused. The highly adjustable pole pieces help as well. I had a good amount of feedback in the Fuchs but not like the woof I got from the Dangelico. I can probably dial it down with an eq pedal. Straight into my mixer and through the powered speakers it sounded beautiful and captured the acoustic sound of the guitar surprisingly well. I typically run a 2 amp setup controlled via volume pedals to bring the levels of each up and down as needed (one dirty, one clean w/ a faux organ/Leslie synthetic pedal).
Very happy with the results so far. Can't wait for next band rehearsal to hear it in the live mix.

[Jx30510]

Congratulations on your new guitar, it's beautiful. I followed your thread with great attention because you went thru a project I many times planned to do..electrifying an old Gibson archtop with a floating pickup, well some kind of "floating".
I was aware of the difficulty because of the very little space to put one, but was sure it could be done somehow, and you have proved it with success!!
Reading your musical background was also interesting, and it's very similar to mine.
Have great playing time with your Gibson !

[ironchefchris]

Congratulations on your new guitar, it's beautiful. I followed your thread with great attention because you went thru a project I many times planned to do..electrifying an old Gibson archtop with a floating pickup, well some kind of "floating".
I was aware of the difficulty because of the very little space to put one, but was sure it could be done somehow, and you have proved it with success!!
Reading your musical background was also interesting, and it's very similar to mine.
Have great playing time with your Gibson !

Yeah the Krivo is nice bc it requires no modification to the guitar's body. Here are a few pictures of it on the guitar. I need to hide the cable and just synch everything neat and out of the way. It came connected to the Mogami cable and input jack held on by a strap end. Works great! Sounds great; very sensitive and articulate pickup for sure.

[Jx30510]

The pickup placement in that place reminds me of the Ibanez Joe Pass signature.
Does it sound more like an acoustic amplified, or does it have some of that smoky Grant Green flavor (since you mentionned him in a previous post)?

[ironchefchris]

The pickup placement in that place reminds me of the Ibanez Joe Pass signature.
Does it sound more like an acoustic amplified, or does it have some of that smoky Grant Green flavor (since you mentionned him in a previous post)?

It's a mix. Through the mixer it has more of that mid focused Green sound but you definitely hear some of the acoustic character of the guitar. I'm sure by adjusting pole pieces you can tailor the sound much more to give you that traditional jazz warmth. I'm not as into that sound as others just bc of my musical background and style. I'm using Elixir .12 electric strings right now (still amazingly loud acoustically) but will definitely try others and keep dialing things in.

[ironchefchris]

This guitar is an absolute player. Been recording a bit with it and am definitely looking forward to gigging it out this spring/summer. The Krivo sounds really good and plays well with my amps, more-so with the Quilter. Feedback is not an issue either. I may swap in some more reliable tuners...the ones on it have some slip and some play in them, one has a stripped screw. I'll look at the Gotoh above but I might be able to find some Grover or Waverly on the cheap as well. I did add a strap button to the heel today...I just don't gel with the headstock strap. I may also bump up to .12 gauge as well...this thing sings with electric strings on it, pretty amazed at the focus the guitar has in its tone.

[Oscar67]

Congrats on scoring that beauty! I’ve got a thing for no-frills workhorse guitars and yours ticks a lot of boxes. Wish you many happy hours playing her!