Gibson L-7C Arch Top Acoustic Guitar (1959)
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Gibson L-7C Model Arch Top Acoustic Guitar (1959), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # A-32197, sunburst top, dark back and sides finish, maple back and sides, spruce top; maple neck with rosewood fingerboard, period black hard shell case.
This very nicely preserved late '50s L-7C is a lovely example of a purely acoustic 17" cutaway arch-top guitar, which in 1959 was already a fading breed at Gibson. It has never been altered as many have for electrification, and remains in beautiful original condition.
The guitar shows features typical for the period. The top is finely carved spruce and the rim and back are solid maple, with a subtle but nice figure on the back. The neck and headstock are single bound, with triple binding on the body. The neck is maple with a center laminate ebony strip and rosewood fingerboard. The pearl fingerboard inlay is a double parallelogram pattern with Gibson's traditional pearl crown on the headstock. The solid-base adjustable rosewood bridge, hinged nickel-plated tailpiece and individual Kluson Deluxe tuning pegs with tulip buttons are standard 1950's fittings.
The orange Gibson "artist" label inside the body indicates a shipping date in December 1959, one of 89 L-7C's shipped that year, actually the biggest total since 1953. At the time Gibson's output had become increasingly dominated by electric instruments as the purely acoustic archtops the company had originally pioneered lost favor with "modern" players. Still they continued to be made in small numbers right up through the '60s.
Today these classic carved top instruments are better appreciated as fine sounding guitars applicable to a range of styles. The L-7C was not a top of the line instrument but is an all solid-wood arch-top perfectly at home in its original unplugged mode. This example is well on par sonically with many more expensive carved-top Gibsons, a superb player and fully professional instrument then and now. It can also be easily adapted to amplified use with a DeArmond or similar pickup with great results.
Overall length is 42 1/2 in. (108 cm.), 17 in. (43.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This is a super nice all original L-7C, showing only some very light wear. The finish shows very little checking and just a few small dings, dents and scrapes, mostly on the back. Overall the guitar is extremely well preserved with no really notable loss. The finish still carries the original '59 shine, looking much as it did in what many consider Gibson's single greatest year.
The neck appears to have been reset, with topical touchup around the heel line and more notably on the sides of the fingerboard extension. The job was well done and the angle is excellent with plenty of room to go up or down on the bridge. All hardware is original except the Kluson tuners, which are exact repros of the period-correct style fitting the original footprint perfectly. As the original 1959 buttons are well know to crumble, this was likely done to preserve playability.
Overall all the fittings are very well preserved; the original pickguard has some typical shrinkage and has cupped upwards at the ends. The original frets have been recrowned lightly and show minimal wear, and this is a great-playing guitar with a lovely full sound. A nice period quality hard shell case is included, possibly original to the guitar although not standard Gibson issue and somewhat more worn-in than the instrument. Overall Excellent - Condition.
This very nicely preserved late '50s L-7C is a lovely example of a purely acoustic 17" cutaway arch-top guitar, which in 1959 was already a fading breed at Gibson. It has never been altered as many have for electrification, and remains in beautiful original condition.
The guitar shows features typical for the period. The top is finely carved spruce and the rim and back are solid maple, with a subtle but nice figure on the back. The neck and headstock are single bound, with triple binding on the body. The neck is maple with a center laminate ebony strip and rosewood fingerboard. The pearl fingerboard inlay is a double parallelogram pattern with Gibson's traditional pearl crown on the headstock. The solid-base adjustable rosewood bridge, hinged nickel-plated tailpiece and individual Kluson Deluxe tuning pegs with tulip buttons are standard 1950's fittings.
The orange Gibson "artist" label inside the body indicates a shipping date in December 1959, one of 89 L-7C's shipped that year, actually the biggest total since 1953. At the time Gibson's output had become increasingly dominated by electric instruments as the purely acoustic archtops the company had originally pioneered lost favor with "modern" players. Still they continued to be made in small numbers right up through the '60s.
Today these classic carved top instruments are better appreciated as fine sounding guitars applicable to a range of styles. The L-7C was not a top of the line instrument but is an all solid-wood arch-top perfectly at home in its original unplugged mode. This example is well on par sonically with many more expensive carved-top Gibsons, a superb player and fully professional instrument then and now. It can also be easily adapted to amplified use with a DeArmond or similar pickup with great results.
Overall length is 42 1/2 in. (108 cm.), 17 in. (43.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This is a super nice all original L-7C, showing only some very light wear. The finish shows very little checking and just a few small dings, dents and scrapes, mostly on the back. Overall the guitar is extremely well preserved with no really notable loss. The finish still carries the original '59 shine, looking much as it did in what many consider Gibson's single greatest year.
The neck appears to have been reset, with topical touchup around the heel line and more notably on the sides of the fingerboard extension. The job was well done and the angle is excellent with plenty of room to go up or down on the bridge. All hardware is original except the Kluson tuners, which are exact repros of the period-correct style fitting the original footprint perfectly. As the original 1959 buttons are well know to crumble, this was likely done to preserve playability.
Overall all the fittings are very well preserved; the original pickguard has some typical shrinkage and has cupped upwards at the ends. The original frets have been recrowned lightly and show minimal wear, and this is a great-playing guitar with a lovely full sound. A nice period quality hard shell case is included, possibly original to the guitar although not standard Gibson issue and somewhat more worn-in than the instrument. Overall Excellent - Condition.