Gibson L5

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Gibson L5The Gibson L5 has an honorable distinction in the history of Gibson: it is widely considered to be the classic archtop Jazz/Blues guitar, and the “gold standard” design that manymost archtop guitars are modeled after.

First produced in 1922, this guitar was the premiere rhythm guitar of the “Big Band” era. Since it predates guitar amplification, the L-5 began life as an acoustic.

The Gibson L5 CES is the electric version of the L5, and was unvieled in 1951. These originally used P-90 pickups, but since 1958 have used humbuckers.

These axes are lovingly crafted in the Gibson Custom Shop, under the watchfull eye of Jim Hutchins, a Gibson Builder since 1963.

The process for crafting these beauties is essentially the same as it has been since the 1950s, right down to the hand tuning of the top and back.

Prime Players of the Gibson L5

1. Wes Montgomery
2. Django Reinhardt
3. Scotty Moore

 

Download video here: http://cdn.cloudfiles.mosso.com/c18501/gibson-l5-video.flv

Christophe De Villa (playing above) talks about his L5:

“My Gibson is a rare “Super V” built in 1979. In fact, it’s an L5 with a Super 400 head. This guitar has been created by the best Luthiers of the Kalamazoo factory at the end of the seventies, just for their pleasure. They put on this guitar all the nicest things they could. Mine has a single BJB floating pickup, but the CES version has two pickups just as a normal L5. I play this guitar with a Fender Hotrod Deluxe. Both give me the Jazz sound I love.”

Playing the Gibson L5

(This review is based on a newer L-5 CES)

Whew-who easy there Tiger when you’re asking to play this one at the guitar store (if they have it). This baby may cost more than your car.

Of course, if you’re seriously considering buying this instrument, I venture to guess you’re in a socio-economic tier that is less concerned with money and more concerned with spine tingling tone. Fair enough…

For Jazz purists there may be no other. If the price of the L-5 feels steep, consider that many jazz players use “boutique” guitars from independent luthiers… and the price can be much higher than the $7-9k you’ll pay for this baby.

Enough about the cost, how does this Angel sound?

Magnificent. (note period)

The high-grade carved solid spruce top sounds gorgeous and resonant, and only gets better with age. Indeed, many an L-5 player have mentioned that this guitar must be broken in for a period of months before it truly sounds like it should.

This guitar has a big, beautiful body that does an immacculate job projecting the sound. Of course, plug the guitar in and the pair of ‘57 Classic Humbuckers do a flawless job conveying the spirit of this guitar across stage or studio.

Back off the volume on this axe for a warm, rounded tone that evokes the Jazz masters. The warmish-darkish Jazz sound is there, but this axe can bite when it needs to.

Are you getting sick of the mushy talk? Well, this guitar is a masterpiece and I have been repeatedly blown away by this thing… I make no apologies for a slobbering lovefest of a review.

If you’re serious about getting the L-5, I applaud your decision. This is clearly no beginners guitar, and making this kind of an investment is usually indicative of a previous (serious) investment in guitar playing ability.

This is also a solid long term investment, as this guitar can appreciate up to ten times its original value in a few decades.

The L-5 was the first guitar to ever have F holes,those cursive F-shaped holes on either side of the guitar. This stylistic trademark was “borrowed” from the violin, and can now be seen on countless makes and models of guitars, both acoustic and electric.

The Gibson L-5 CES Feature Set:

  • High-Grade Carved Spruce Top
  • High-Grade Maple Back & Sides
  • High-Grade Walnut & Maple Neck
  • Ebony Fretboard With 20 Frets
  • Pearl Dot Inlays
  • Schaller Tuning Machines
  • Dual ‘57 Classic Humbucker Pickups
  • Two Volume & Two Tone Controls
  • 3-Way Pickup Switching
  • ABR-1 Ebony-Base Bridge
  • L-5 Tailpiece
  • Gold Hardware

The L-5 CES comes with a Gibson hard case (d@mn well better), and you can get it in natural, wine, ebony, or natural sunburst finish.

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