Gibson L-5
 

Been a while since I posted but I have great respect for this group's opinions. I have a wall calendar that features a new guitar each month. So this month I've been looking at a photo of a 1924 Gibson L-5 every day under the title "The Masterpiece", with some text about Maybelle Carter. From what I can tell Gibson only makes the L-5 CES now, i.e. with on-board electronics. My questions are: (1) Is this guitar the be-all and end-all that it's cracked up to be?, (2) Is a new one worth $8700?, and (3) Even if I could find a less expensive used one without the electronics, does the guitar hold up as a purely acoustic instrument? Thanks in advance for your guidance.

I own an L-5 reissue which I bought new a couple of years ago.

Gibson's website says they discontinued -- but perhaps one can still custom order one.

It's a fully acoustic instrument -- although you may want to play one before you take the plunge.

Maybelle Carter may have been known to play an L-5, most of her peers opted for flat tops -- for obvious reasons.

Of course, in the hands of certain specialized players (not me), this guitar sounds wonderful. YMMV.

If it's gota be a Gibson - it's gota be.
Otherwise have a look here
http://guitarsnjazz.com/products/eastman/

I have an L5 CES...electronic version with 2 pickups (bought in 2010). It is light years ahead of an ES175 that I had before that (and the ES175 was good). The solid wood definitely makes a difference.

--this is, of course, plugged in. The guitar is worthless acoustically. The version with the single pup may be better, but it's not designed as an acoustic.

My brother owns one of the old (I dunno...30's, 40's, something like that) L5 or L7s. It's a fabulous instrument, and way, waaayyy ahead of my L5 unplugged.

But, it's a completely, and I mean completely different beast than a flattop. The archtops to my ears have a very nice balance with a lot more midrange than your typical flattop. But, that comes at the expense of bass response. The bass response is nowhere near a flattop. Another interesting characteristic of the old archtop is that it sounds far better (actually spectacularly better) across the room than it does from your lap. The projection is surprisingly good.

Of course, this is a response specifically regarding a vintage Gibson archtop. Other arches (Eastman, Palen, Peerless, Benedetto, Campelone, etc) would be different. But the basics are probably similar.

The guitar on your calendar page may well be a Lloyd Loar L-5, but even if it isn't it's the same instrument that Loar designed for Gibson. That body style was kept until 1935 when they went 17".

The L-5CES (I owned a '57 and a '64) have nothing to do with the Loar designed instrument. They've been X braced since 1935 and had a cutaway available since '39. Prior to '35 they were 'parallel' braced and much lighter in weight.

I own a 1927 Gibson L-5, very much like Maybelle Carter's. It is my main bottleneck instrument.

You need only try a newer L-5 CES to see that it has nothing at all in common with its acoustic ancestors.

If you fast forward to the 3:40 mark you can see me playing mine here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6GhoxlfU5U

HE
It Ain't Necessarily So: http://howardemerson.com/music2.html

The thing about the classic, historic L-5 -- the one designed by Lloyd Loar -- was that it was the first guitar to fully apply principles of violin making to the acoustic guitar. As such, it wasn't necessarily louder, per se, than any other acoustic guitar at the time (resophonic guitars hold that honor), but for a combination of volume, percussiveness and "cutting power," it could not be equaled, thus making it the perfect rhythm guitar in a jazz ensemble.
Fully acoustic L-5's are still available on a custom-order basis from Gibson's Custom Shop, but be prepared to spend big bucks for one. Even with machines which do most of the carving of the top and back, they are still very labor intensive. And, of course, archtops don't sound anything like flattops -- they're designed to have a more equal tonal and timbrel response. Say goodbye to nice, deep bass notes.

Sigh - well, done, sir. Just love your playing and how you sound on that guitar.

Howard...the piece you played bottleneck style was inspiring. J.D.

That is indeed a beautiful piece of playing, Howard. Thank you - all of you - for setting me straight.

Nicely done Howard, very soulful playing. Nice guitar as well.