1948 Gibson lg1

[Hugo kildare]

Hi I recently bought a 1948 Gibson lg1. I love it it plays great and sound great. As I am new to vintage guitars I just have a few questions.

is it normal for the top of an old Gibson to be a bit uneven. For example there is some bulge behind the bridge aswell as a very slight dip near the sound hole. In other words it’s just slightly topsy turvy.

it also seems like the pickguard has shrunk and sun in a bit causing some minor cracks.

i I just want to know if this is normal. And if so or not. Does it affect the tone of the guitar. I don’t care about cosmetics or value.

Thank you.

[Martin_F]

I’m surprised more people haven’t answered you!

Without pictures, it’s hard to say if these things are normal. They all don’t seem to be out of the ordinary for such an older guitar. But, you may want to have the guitar inspected by a good luthier who specializes in repair and restoration. Some of the things may need addressing before they get any worse, or they may just be signs of age.

Better to be safe than sorry later! Once damage gets worse, it’s harder to fix without more overt signs of repairs.

Good luck!

Martin

[Wade Hampton]

Hi, Hugo, welcome to the forum.

As Martin indicated, these things can simply be an indication of the guitar’s age, (the shrunken pickguard, especially,) or they might be the signs of greater problems.

Let’s start with the pickguard - in the more than 70 years since that pickguard got affixed to the top, it’s quite normal that the celluloid of the pickguard will have shrunk a bit. Like many plastics, celluloid releases gases as it ages, most often of the plasticizer chemicals that make it flexible. This results in the pickguard shrinking as it gradually loses mass.

The problems begin with it being glued in place, particularly if the guitar’s finish then got sprayed over it. As it retracts over the years, it can cause cracks in the top it’s glued to. The severity of those cracks and any danger they might present to the structural stability of the top will vary on a case by case basis: it might be nothing to worry about, but it might also require repair.

In other words, it might be just some damage to the lacquer, or the cracks might extend into the wood itself. Shallow cracks in the wood might be nothing to worry about, especially if it’s clear that they happened long ago but haven’t traveled any farther, but if they’re deep cracks, that’s a different story.

As for the top bulging in front of the bridge and dipping behind it, again, whether this is a problem or nothing to worry about is going to vary.

A little bit of “bellying,” as it’s called, is quite normal and nothing to be worried about; it’s the result of the top getting used to the string tension, with “loading” being a common term used to describe this process. But if the bellying is bad enough to affect the action and - worse - the intonation, that’s an indication that there might be a structural problem, which will often prove to be a loose or broken brace.

The dipping between the bridge and the soundhole can often be the tip off that there might be more of a problem than just the top loading and adapting to the string tension. A little bit of top bellying isn’t too much to worry about; in fact, I’ve met players both in person and online who feel that a guitar won’t start to approach its best tone until there’s a bit of a belly to the top.

But again, as Martin indicated, these two things together, the cracks around the pickguard and the bellying and dipping of the top, warrant taking the guitar to a repair tech to look at.

He or she might tell you: “Looks fine for a guitar as old as this one,” but there might also be riskier structural problems that should be addressed right away.

The dipping between the bridge and the soundhole is what would worry me most of all. But even if that’s fine, there might be some other hidden problems that should be corrected, so taking the guitar to a pro to look at is a win-win proposition for you, whether there are some problems that get caught and corrected, or if there are no real problems with the guitar at all.

Hope this helps.


Wade Hampton Miller

[Parlorman]

As usual, Wade has it pretty much spot on.

When I see a guitar with some of the issues you describe, the first thing that comes to mind is that the instrument wasn’t properly humidified and has dried out at some point in its life. Older instruments can be more stable in this regard than newer ones but are by no means immune. Have the guitar checked out and any problems addressed and then make sure you keep it humidified. There are hundreds of AGF threads on that subject.

[hermithollow]

As a little bit of P.M. I would be inclined to remove the old pickguard (before it causes cracks). Either replace it with a new plastic guard or reinstall it with double stick material from StewMac. I would string it with light gauge (or extra light) strings to reduce the stress on the top. Lg1 guitars are generally ladder braced, and if the dip just below the sound hole is significant replacing the harmonic bar just below the soundhole with a stronger one can bring the top back up without hurting the sound any (might improve it)
I bought a mid 50's lg1 that had been really abused for $25 some years ago. I replaced the back (it was shattered and missing pieces) glued and cleated cracks in the top and rebraced it with X bracing (as often done back then). It sounded really nice. I sold it for $150 a few years later.

[Goat Mick]

These old guitars can get really dry even in a controlled environment. My '59 J-45 needs some case time with a humidifier a couple of times a year even though my guitar room stays around 50% humidity. I guess it's just something with old wood. I was experiencing similar issues with it a few years ago and my luthier (yes he is an actual luthier, he builds guitars) solved almost every issue with a couple of weeks of humidifying. It also needed the bridgeplate replaced, but that was done because the old bridgeplate was pretty chewed up.

[zombywoof]

I think it was Norman Blake who once said never trust a guitar without a belly.

But there is really nothing to add to what has already been recommended. But the need to have the guitar looked at by somebody who knows their way around them cannot be overemphasized not only because of the issues you mention but a deformed top could also result in something like loose braces.

Other than that, while I cannot speak from personal experience, the JDL Bridge Doctor might be something to consider as a way to go with your guitar.