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1935 Gibson L-5 "Advanced Model"
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Serial #: 92605, white oval label.
Body size at lower bout: 17". Scale length: 24 3/4" Nut Width: 1 3/4"
Materials: Highly figured solid bookmatched quilted maple back; solid flame maple sides; handcarved bookmatched solid Adirondack spruce top; five piece flame maple neck with walnut centerstripes; quintuple bound solid ebony fingerboard with block mother of pearl inlay and pointed finial; quintuple bound peghead and body with bound f-holes; solid bone nut.
Hardware: 100% original hardware includes gold art deco trapeze tailpiece, gold Grover Sta-Tite butterbean tuners, five ply bound tortoise pickguard, compensated adjustable Brazilian rosewood bridge. Additional set of Waverly 16x1 butterbean tuners is installed, originals in case.
Notes: Making it's debut in 1922, the Gibson L-5 was created by the legendary Lloyd Loar, father of the renowned F-5 mandolin. The L-5 is perhaps his most influential creation, and is widely regarded as the first successful commercially produced archtop guitar. Now in its eighth decade, it remains the most famous jazz guitar of all time.
Introduced as a 16" guitar with 'parallel' bracing, the L-5 was upsized late in 1934 to a 17" body with an X-braced soundboard. This stunning guitar is an very early example of this 'Advanced Model' L-5, with the small unbound f-holes, first fret block inlay, and 24 3/4" scale. The distinctive gold trapeze with the stamped logo is the rarest of all L-5 tailpieces, found only in examples built from '35 through '37 .
This remarkable instrument is a simply exquisite example, with a stunningly opulent quilted bubble maple body, tiger flame sides and neck and lustrous dark Cremona sunburst. Superbly maintained, the instrument is almost entirely free of pick, buckle or fingerboard wear, and shows only light normal thumbwear and a bit of scuffing near the tailpiece. The original bound tortoise pickguard and multi-ply body binding are in wonderful condition, the original compensated adjustable Brazilian rosewood bridge is installed, and the binding is all original, tight and in excellent shape. Neck profile is gently rounded, in a comfortable 'C' profile, and recent pro fretwork is immaculately leveled and crowned for smooth low action. A special bonus, this very early 17" model is the only one we've seen that retains the generous 1 3/4" nut width of the 16" guitars.
With its flat-carved top and back and X-braced top, the Advanced Model L-5 is renowned for its bass response and sustain, and many years of careful play have given this soundboard an unusually warm, open voice, with a deep throaty resonance and abundant natural reverb. Finally the instrument is nestled in its original Gibson deluxe striped tweed 'aircraft cloth' plush lined hardshell case. An outstanding example in every respect, this remarkable guitar stands at the very dawn of the modern jazz guitar.
Setup: The frets have been precision leveled, recrowned and polished; 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 Gibson deluxe striped tweed 'aircraft cloth' plush lined hardshell case.
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