Gibson HG-00 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1937)
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Item # 13072
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Gibson HG-00 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1937), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 202C-10, sunburst top, dark back and sides finish, mahogany back, sides and neck, spruce top, rosewood fingerboard, black tolex hard shell case.
While originally designed for lap-style Hawaiian play, the fairly rare HG-00 makes a sure dandy Spanish-style guitar. This interesting variation on the normal Gibson 1930s "L" flat-top spec is a 12-fret guitar with slightly heavier bracing than the 14-fret standard L-00. And we do mean slightly; compared to most other guitars, it is still a featherweight instrument. The neck is quite wide, 1 7/8" at the nut with a noticeable V profile rather chunkier overall than the contemporary Spanish neck. The factory order number on the heel block of this guitar is 202C-10 dating it to fairly early 1937, one of 178 shipped that year.
Like most HG-00's, this guitar does not have an adjustable truss rod installed as it was deemed superfluous for a Hawaiian-style neck. The fingerboards were still fretted in the standard style though, so the conversion to Spanish play does not require a regret. The tuners are very early openback Kluson strips with plastic buttons. This one has the unusual appointment of dual matching "firestripe" celluloid pickguards; this would have been a custom ordered feature and we have never seen another HG set up like this. We think it looks cool as heck, and definitely makes for an eye-catching variation on the Gibson "00" theme.
This is a really fine guitar, even not considering the double pickguard look quite a bit rarer than a "normal" L-00 and with a slightly more aggressive tone that can be pushed harder. Marc Ribot in particular has made a lot of use of this model. If the player is not uncomfortable with the wider and chunkier neck the HG-00 makes a great choice for a number of acoustic styles and a connoisseur's delight in a 1930s Gibson flat-top.
Overall length is 38 1/2 in. (97.8 cm.), 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 5/16 in. (11 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 7/8 in. (48 mm.).
This is an excellent playing example, showing some general wear and repair. The finish has moderately heavy checking and an assortment of scratches, scuffs and dings and a few flaked spots overall but no large areas of finish wear. There is far less pick scratching to the top than many, just some loss down to the wood on the lower soundhole rim. Thank those double pickguards! The back of the neck has wear to the wood on the spine and lower sides. There is a deep spot worn into the wood on the lower side from scraping against the hinge of the original case.
There is a large and very visible grain crack to the top, running from the back edge to the bridge just behind the B string. An extension of this runs forward along the upper edge of the pickguard to the soundhole rim. This has been sealed and cleated solidly but was not closed up as tightly as it could have been so is prominently visible. There are no other cracks on the guitar.
The neck has likely been reset as is standard in a Hawaiian-Spanish conversion but if it was there is little visible cosmetic evidence and it was a super neat job. The rosewood bridge and maple bridgeplate are reproductions, the bridge is the correct style but slightly wider than Gibson spec and there is scarring to the top along its back edge. The bridgeplate is not oversize but a correct repro of the original. The bridge has a compensated bone saddle; the original would have been straight across.
The guitar has been neatly refretted with correct style wire, there are some divots in the fingerboard in the first position. What appears to be the original bone nut was cut down and reshaped from the original tall Hawaiian spec., small disturbed area of the headstock veneer above the nut shows where the larger nut footprint was. There is no pickup but the endpin hole has been restored from having had an endpin jack installed.
The original openback strip tuners have some corrosion on the plates but still work well. This is a fine playing and very big sounding guitar, not as sweet as some of the L-00 family but with plenty of punch, depth and volume. We think its double-guard look is fantastic, the perfect finishing touch for this rare Gibson making for a very unique guitar. Overall Very Good + Condition.
While originally designed for lap-style Hawaiian play, the fairly rare HG-00 makes a sure dandy Spanish-style guitar. This interesting variation on the normal Gibson 1930s "L" flat-top spec is a 12-fret guitar with slightly heavier bracing than the 14-fret standard L-00. And we do mean slightly; compared to most other guitars, it is still a featherweight instrument. The neck is quite wide, 1 7/8" at the nut with a noticeable V profile rather chunkier overall than the contemporary Spanish neck. The factory order number on the heel block of this guitar is 202C-10 dating it to fairly early 1937, one of 178 shipped that year.
Like most HG-00's, this guitar does not have an adjustable truss rod installed as it was deemed superfluous for a Hawaiian-style neck. The fingerboards were still fretted in the standard style though, so the conversion to Spanish play does not require a regret. The tuners are very early openback Kluson strips with plastic buttons. This one has the unusual appointment of dual matching "firestripe" celluloid pickguards; this would have been a custom ordered feature and we have never seen another HG set up like this. We think it looks cool as heck, and definitely makes for an eye-catching variation on the Gibson "00" theme.
This is a really fine guitar, even not considering the double pickguard look quite a bit rarer than a "normal" L-00 and with a slightly more aggressive tone that can be pushed harder. Marc Ribot in particular has made a lot of use of this model. If the player is not uncomfortable with the wider and chunkier neck the HG-00 makes a great choice for a number of acoustic styles and a connoisseur's delight in a 1930s Gibson flat-top.
Overall length is 38 1/2 in. (97.8 cm.), 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 5/16 in. (11 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 7/8 in. (48 mm.).
This is an excellent playing example, showing some general wear and repair. The finish has moderately heavy checking and an assortment of scratches, scuffs and dings and a few flaked spots overall but no large areas of finish wear. There is far less pick scratching to the top than many, just some loss down to the wood on the lower soundhole rim. Thank those double pickguards! The back of the neck has wear to the wood on the spine and lower sides. There is a deep spot worn into the wood on the lower side from scraping against the hinge of the original case.
There is a large and very visible grain crack to the top, running from the back edge to the bridge just behind the B string. An extension of this runs forward along the upper edge of the pickguard to the soundhole rim. This has been sealed and cleated solidly but was not closed up as tightly as it could have been so is prominently visible. There are no other cracks on the guitar.
The neck has likely been reset as is standard in a Hawaiian-Spanish conversion but if it was there is little visible cosmetic evidence and it was a super neat job. The rosewood bridge and maple bridgeplate are reproductions, the bridge is the correct style but slightly wider than Gibson spec and there is scarring to the top along its back edge. The bridgeplate is not oversize but a correct repro of the original. The bridge has a compensated bone saddle; the original would have been straight across.
The guitar has been neatly refretted with correct style wire, there are some divots in the fingerboard in the first position. What appears to be the original bone nut was cut down and reshaped from the original tall Hawaiian spec., small disturbed area of the headstock veneer above the nut shows where the larger nut footprint was. There is no pickup but the endpin hole has been restored from having had an endpin jack installed.
The original openback strip tuners have some corrosion on the plates but still work well. This is a fine playing and very big sounding guitar, not as sweet as some of the L-00 family but with plenty of punch, depth and volume. We think its double-guard look is fantastic, the perfect finishing touch for this rare Gibson making for a very unique guitar. Overall Very Good + Condition.