Built to emulate the early to mid 1930s 16-inch Gibson L-5, this guitar is from the first year of the production run for these, and is among the very first made (serial number 1995 006). The guitar is in all original condition and shows only light signs of wear. The frets show essentially no wear.
The guitar is made with a select spruce top and heavily flamed maple for the back, sides, and neck. The top and back are solid, carved wood, and the top is hand graduated. The original 1930s models of this era were actually made with kerfed braces to make fitting braces faster and easier, but this guitar is actually made more like the earlier, more preferred models, having solid, hand carved and fitted, spruce braces. The bracing is done in the parallel, "tone bar" pattern. The fingerboard is made of ebony, and the bridge is compensated and made of Indian rosewood.
The neck is a chunky C-shape carve which fills the hand. The frets are in superb condition and the guitar plays smoothly and without issue. The nut width being a little over 1 3/4" allows a bit more room than most modern Gibsons, a good compromise for both finger pickers and pick users. The guitar's voice was a little tight when it came to us, but with several days on a ToneRite unit, it has really started to come to life. In contrast to the 2002 version of this model we got in at almost the same time, this one seems to be a little more balanced with less of a mid focused sound, and have slightly less volume. It's still plenty loud though, that's not an issue at all. This guitar could certainly do double duty, comping in a band situation, or played as a solo instrument. It could do very well as a solo instrument backing a vocalist as well.
Weight - 5.5 pounds
Nut width - 1.78 inches
1st fret depth - 0.96 inches
10th fret depth - 1.08 inches
The guitar comes with its original hard shell case which shows a little out wear, but is in very solid condition, all latches and hinges working appropriately.
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