Home / Instruments /Accessories / Ordering / Tips / Friends

archtop.com

2004 Slaman 1923 L-5

Price and Status: For pricing and hold status of this instrument, please check here. If this instrument does not appear on the Instruments page it has been sold. To be notified of examples of this or any other model in the future, please email your specific requests to [email protected].

Serial #: 19804, signed and dated by the maker

Body size at lower bout: 16". Scale length: 24.9" Nut Width: 1 11/16"

Materials: Handcarved bookmatched solid spruce top; solid bookmatched AAA birdseye maple back and sides; solid two piece maple neck; solid ebony fingerboard; mother of pearl dot fingerboard inlay and torch peghead inlay; abalone script logo; grained ivoroid bound fingerboard, body, peghead and pickguard.

Hardware: All original hardware including compensated ebony bridge; nickel trapeze tailpiece; triple bound tortoise pickguard; Waverly 16X1 Sta-Tite style open back tuners with butterbean keys.

Notes: Dutch luthier Daniel Slaman has been building guitars since the late 70's, and has focused his talents on custom archtop construction over the last several decades. Slaman has been passionately inspired by the seminal guitars of the Golden Age, and his New Vintage series offers an impressive range of models including a Stromberg tribute, ES-150 and 250 "Charlie Christian" style models, and no less than three prewar L-5 models.

The Slaman 1923 captures the spirit of the guitar that started it all: Lloyd Loar's breakthrough L-5, the very first commercially successful archtop guitar. Signature details include the snakehead headstock with flowerpot logo, the slim 20's style f-holes, the shorter triple bound tortoise guard and dot fingerboard, the simple trapeze tailpiece and pearl button tuners. Parallel braced like the original, the 16" body is constructed of handsome hand carved birdseye maple with a classic dark 'teacup' sunburst pattern in the vintage style nitrocellulose finish.

Bending traditional design to the demands of the contemporary guitarist, Slaman has not hesitated to use modern technology where it serves the player best. Smooth 16X1 Waverly tuners offer precision performance with true vintage looks. (The tuners were originally installed Loar style, upside down with the gear over the worm, and have been reinstalled so they now turn in the conventional direction.) A state of art truss rod permits a neck profile that Loar himself would have envied; still full and pleasing, but without the challenging hard V ridge of the original. Contemporary medium profile frets are easier to play and more durable than their 20's counterparts. For a photo series on the making of the 1923 L-5, visit here and click the link for Building.

With output a handful of instruments a year, Slaman's individually crafted guitars are rarely found on the vintage market, and his pricing now starts at over US$11,000 at current exchange rates. This lovingly maintained example is in exceptional condition, all original, without cracks, pick, buckle thumb or fingerboard wear. The voice is clear, powerful and balanced, with excellent reverb in the treble register. Action is smooth and low over fine high fretwork. An rare opportunity to acquire a Loar style guitar, at an an unheard-of price. One only, call now.

Setup: The frets have been precision leveled, recrowned and polished as necessary; trussrod tension and neck relief adjusted; bridge height adjusted; bridge compensation set; string slots at nut and bridge inspected and recut as necessary; bridge foot contour inspected and fit to top as necessary; bridge radius inspected and recurved as necessary; bridge wheels and tuners lubricated; fingerboard and bridge oiled; body and neck cleaned and hand polished.

Case: Original Hiscox plush hardshell case.

Home / Instruments /Accessories / Ordering / Tips / Friends