Gibson L-1 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1932)
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Gibson L-1 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1932), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 361, sunburst top, dark back and sides finish, mahogany back, sides and neck, spruce top, rosewood fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
This lovely if well-worn early-'30s Gibson looks to the casual observer like one of the first 14-fret L-00s, Gibson's most common Depression era flat top. It actually is the *slightly* more deluxe 1932-3 model directly above it, the L-1. The difference? Mostly the binding on the back, along with (originally) white bridgepins and endpins, which Gibson collectively valued at a $10.00 upcharge! Technically L-1's usually have individual Grover tuners but this one has the same unplated strips as the L-00. In 1932-3 the depression was at its worst and pretty much anything was possible.
Unsurprisingly most 1933 customers did not see much advantage in a $35.00 L-1 when the L-00 could be had for $25.00; both were very well-designed and offered a great value in sound, but 10 bux was a LOT of money at the time. The L-1 had just been downgraded from a $50 guitar but even so is much rarer. It last appeared in Gibson's 1934-5 catalog W; By catalog X it was gone, leaving just the L-00 to carry the lower end. And to confuse the world further, a year or so later Gibson added back binding to the L-00 and reintroduced a "new" model with an unbound back, now designated the L-0. But that's another tangent!
Getting back to THIS guitar, the FON code on the heelblock appears to read 361. It is almost completely faded away, but can just be seen under UV light. This corresponds to a known batch of L-1's made right at the end of 1932. The top finish is a dark sunburst with a very small center, hardly a burst at all. There is single-ply white celluloid binding around the top and back. The spruce top is ornamented with a dark "firestripe" tortoise celluloid pickguard and three-ply sound hole ring. The back and sides are finished in dark mahogany as is the slim "V" profile neck with an unbound rosewood fingerboard. The headstock carries a white stenciled "Gibson" logo on the face and unplated brass strip tuners, as usually used on L-00s The original rosewood bridge predates any retaining bolts with pearl dot caps.
Like the far better remembered L-00 this model was primarily intended for student customers but saw most success as a professional grade guitar affordable to blues players, Hillbilly string bands and other itinerant musicians. Each one of these small body pre-war guitars has its own character and this one is just a honey; great-sounding both finger- and flat-picked, with a ringing tone sweeter and warmer than some that never gets harsh. Many of these very lightly built pre-war Gibson flat-tops have suffered amateurish repair while this one has sailed through eight decades showing a lot of play time but still intact and singing.
Overall length is 39 5/8 in. (100.6 cm.), 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This well-worn L-1 is a veteran player that certainly shows its age but has character to spare, a gem both to play and hear. The original finish has a decent amount of wear everywhere including the typical fine checking, edge wear, dings, dents and scrape. The top has some pick wear around the soundhole rim and below the fingerboard extension but less than many. The back is fairly heavily worn with dings, scrapes and dents and a decent size belt buckle wear spot into the wood. There is some heavy capo wear on the back of the neck up to the sixth fret area, old enough to have been worn somewhat smooth. The headstock has chips, dings band edge wear. The original strip tuners are still intact and functional.
The guitar is completely solid but there are some old repairs. The top is somewhat amazingly free of cracks except for a tiny sealed spruce grain split to the front soundhole rim under the B string. The back has a sealed grain crack off the front edge below the neck block and another off back edge, both sealed long ago with no overfinish. The top is in very solid shape, with the light arching it was built with but not the heavier bulge distortion these very lightly-built guitars often suffer.
There are a few internal repairs, likely related to someone re-gluing and clamping the bridge without a proper caul long ago. The main X-brace has been reglued on the bass side behind the bridge and the treble side in front of it. A spot on the back leg of that brace just by the bridge has a shallow crush mark along the top from a clamp, as does the adjacent finger brace. The small finger brace off the bass side of the X brace is a very neatly done reproduction, aged to match the rest. The original small maple bridgeplate is intact and unaltered.
The neck was reset some time ago, leaving some light overfinish work around the heel and spots of minor blushing to the top finish. The original bridge was re-attached with some light scarring in a couple of spots around the base on the forward edge; it has a new bone saddle. The bone nut is old but not original. The frets are more recent as well, a neat and period correct refret; The fingerboard was trued but shows some minor residual divoting. The action is very comfortable and this is a fine playing instrument, very responsive with an even but very punchy sound. Overall this is a worn in but still lovely example of this fairly rare and mostly forgotten Gibson, in the battered but very cool (and fairly rare) original green-lined HSC. Overall Very Good + Condition.
This lovely if well-worn early-'30s Gibson looks to the casual observer like one of the first 14-fret L-00s, Gibson's most common Depression era flat top. It actually is the *slightly* more deluxe 1932-3 model directly above it, the L-1. The difference? Mostly the binding on the back, along with (originally) white bridgepins and endpins, which Gibson collectively valued at a $10.00 upcharge! Technically L-1's usually have individual Grover tuners but this one has the same unplated strips as the L-00. In 1932-3 the depression was at its worst and pretty much anything was possible.
Unsurprisingly most 1933 customers did not see much advantage in a $35.00 L-1 when the L-00 could be had for $25.00; both were very well-designed and offered a great value in sound, but 10 bux was a LOT of money at the time. The L-1 had just been downgraded from a $50 guitar but even so is much rarer. It last appeared in Gibson's 1934-5 catalog W; By catalog X it was gone, leaving just the L-00 to carry the lower end. And to confuse the world further, a year or so later Gibson added back binding to the L-00 and reintroduced a "new" model with an unbound back, now designated the L-0. But that's another tangent!
Getting back to THIS guitar, the FON code on the heelblock appears to read 361. It is almost completely faded away, but can just be seen under UV light. This corresponds to a known batch of L-1's made right at the end of 1932. The top finish is a dark sunburst with a very small center, hardly a burst at all. There is single-ply white celluloid binding around the top and back. The spruce top is ornamented with a dark "firestripe" tortoise celluloid pickguard and three-ply sound hole ring. The back and sides are finished in dark mahogany as is the slim "V" profile neck with an unbound rosewood fingerboard. The headstock carries a white stenciled "Gibson" logo on the face and unplated brass strip tuners, as usually used on L-00s The original rosewood bridge predates any retaining bolts with pearl dot caps.
Like the far better remembered L-00 this model was primarily intended for student customers but saw most success as a professional grade guitar affordable to blues players, Hillbilly string bands and other itinerant musicians. Each one of these small body pre-war guitars has its own character and this one is just a honey; great-sounding both finger- and flat-picked, with a ringing tone sweeter and warmer than some that never gets harsh. Many of these very lightly built pre-war Gibson flat-tops have suffered amateurish repair while this one has sailed through eight decades showing a lot of play time but still intact and singing.
Overall length is 39 5/8 in. (100.6 cm.), 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 1/4 in. (10.8 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This well-worn L-1 is a veteran player that certainly shows its age but has character to spare, a gem both to play and hear. The original finish has a decent amount of wear everywhere including the typical fine checking, edge wear, dings, dents and scrape. The top has some pick wear around the soundhole rim and below the fingerboard extension but less than many. The back is fairly heavily worn with dings, scrapes and dents and a decent size belt buckle wear spot into the wood. There is some heavy capo wear on the back of the neck up to the sixth fret area, old enough to have been worn somewhat smooth. The headstock has chips, dings band edge wear. The original strip tuners are still intact and functional.
The guitar is completely solid but there are some old repairs. The top is somewhat amazingly free of cracks except for a tiny sealed spruce grain split to the front soundhole rim under the B string. The back has a sealed grain crack off the front edge below the neck block and another off back edge, both sealed long ago with no overfinish. The top is in very solid shape, with the light arching it was built with but not the heavier bulge distortion these very lightly-built guitars often suffer.
There are a few internal repairs, likely related to someone re-gluing and clamping the bridge without a proper caul long ago. The main X-brace has been reglued on the bass side behind the bridge and the treble side in front of it. A spot on the back leg of that brace just by the bridge has a shallow crush mark along the top from a clamp, as does the adjacent finger brace. The small finger brace off the bass side of the X brace is a very neatly done reproduction, aged to match the rest. The original small maple bridgeplate is intact and unaltered.
The neck was reset some time ago, leaving some light overfinish work around the heel and spots of minor blushing to the top finish. The original bridge was re-attached with some light scarring in a couple of spots around the base on the forward edge; it has a new bone saddle. The bone nut is old but not original. The frets are more recent as well, a neat and period correct refret; The fingerboard was trued but shows some minor residual divoting. The action is very comfortable and this is a fine playing instrument, very responsive with an even but very punchy sound. Overall this is a worn in but still lovely example of this fairly rare and mostly forgotten Gibson, in the battered but very cool (and fairly rare) original green-lined HSC. Overall Very Good + Condition.