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Old 02-01-2019, 03:12 PM
THart THart is offline
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Default Level of workmanship in old Gibsons?

I was looking at a late '20's L-2 the other day. It's the first one I've ever looked at close up and one thing that struck me was the workmanship of the fingerboard having a somewhat rough appearance. It felt smooth and played very well but you could see the marks left from shaping it. Might have been file marks in places & such and the board itself seemed to have slight imperfections like a few small knots. Is that typical of the workmanship of that level guitar from the teens & '20's?
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Old 02-05-2019, 04:48 AM
Howard Emerson Howard Emerson is offline
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Originally Posted by THart View Post
I was looking at a late '20's L-2 the other day. It's the first one I've ever looked at close up and one thing that struck me was the workmanship of the fingerboard having a somewhat rough appearance. It felt smooth and played very well but you could see the marks left from shaping it. Might have been file marks in places & such and the board itself seemed to have slight imperfections like a few small knots. Is that typical of the workmanship of that level guitar from the teens & '20's?
The L-2 was never a high end model.

That said even my 1930 L-5 (TGL-5 tenor guitar 1933 factory conversion to 6 string) shows evidence of hand tool work.

HE
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Old 02-05-2019, 01:39 PM
THart THart is offline
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The L-2 was never a high end model.

That said even my 1930 L-5 (TGL-5 tenor guitar 1933 factory conversion to 6 string) shows evidence of hand tool work.

HE
Yes, I'm inclined to think that's the norm on an instrument that old especially as you say, not a high end model. Nowadays I think even moderate level instruments can show a pretty high degree of fit & finish due to the tools available. We forget what real hand work used to look like.
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