Up for sale, a late 1970s Gibson L-5 CES vintage archtop electric guitar in excellent condition and in perfect working order, featuring its original Blonde gloss nitro lacquer finish and pair of patent number T-Top humbuckers. Upon its introduction in 1951 as the electrified version of Gibson’s L-5C, the “CES” L-5 has been the gold standard for Gibson archtops, with solid carved tone woods used throughout. Boasting a full 17 lower bout with a carved, tight-grain premium spruce top and maple back and sides, the size of this archtop yields rich textured tones with a distinct woody quality and complex midrange character. Naturally, the solid ebony bridge and fretboard impart a glassy note attack and superior articulation integral in round, present tonalities in every register and the kind of note separation essential to complex Jazz chord voicings. The five-ply neck features three broad pieces of highly figured flame maple and two slender strips of walnut, with a very slender C-shaped profile carve at the nut, and quite a bit of taper and increase in shoulder up the board, measuring. 770 deep at the 1st fret and graduating to. 915 at the 9th, where the profile begins to transition into the heel. The ebony fretboard features multi-ply binding and pearl block inlay, and the guitar has been partially refretted with medium jumbo wire from frets 1-13. The original frets are present from fret 14 on up, and the new fretwire is only fractionally wider than the original frets in the higher registers. The guitar plays effortlessly up the 25 1/2 scale with zero fretwear. The nut has been upgraded to a hand-carved piece of bone measuring 1 5/8 in width, and the guitar retains its original compliment of Kluson Sealfast gold-plated tuners. The torch headstock inlay and “Custom L-5″ truss rod cover is also present. The guitar does exhibit the usual U-shaped headstock repair, and a rosewood veneer has been added to the back of the headstock, along with two pieces of maple cleanly grafted in behind fret 1 on the outer thirds of the five-ply neck. The repair is perfectly smooth to the touch, with targeted gloss nitro lacquer overspray. All of the original electronics function as intended, with untouched solder on the gold covers and patent number baseplates on the T Top humbuckers. The ebony bridge is a modern replacement, and the hardware includes the original quartet of black witch hat knobs with gold caps as well as the original etched gold-plated tailpiece which only shows light surface patina at the hinge. The pickguard is completely intact, remarkable for the propensity for these guards to offgas and disintegrate over time. This guard is completely intact, with great transparency, multi-ply binding, and only a bit of spidering in the tort. Visible through the F hole, this L-5 retains the original Norlin-era Union Made label. The original high gloss Natural nitro lacquer finish exhibits some scattered minor nicks and scuffs on the body as a whole, yet nothing particularly notable. The neck profile features highly figured broad dimensional tiger flame, and the lacquer on the profile shows a few minor, shallow marks, not distracting to the palm while fretting. This Gibson L-5 CES is everything that an L-5 purports to be, with impressive nuanced tones both acoustically and plugged in. A 1990’s Gibson USA brown tolex hardshell case is included. Check out our shop “Mike & Mike’s Guitar Bar, ” and please let us know if we can answer any questions! International orders will be declared as merchandise, and the value of merchandise will be declared as the amount paid. We cannot declare anything as a gift or for a lesser value. We do our best to describe all items with honesty and accuracy, but to be sure, please. The item “1970s Gibson L-5 CES Vintage Archtop Electric Guitar Blonde with T Tops, Case” is in sale since Sunday, August 16, 2020. This item is in the category “Musical Instruments & Gear\Guitars & Basses\Electric Guitars”. The seller is “mmguitarbar” and is located in Seattle, Washington. This item can be shipped worldwide.
- Body Color: Blonde
- String Configuration: 6 String
- Model: L-5 CES
- Country/Region of Manufacture: United States
- Handedness: Right-Handed
- Product Line: L-5
- Model Year: 1970s
- MPN: Does Not Apply
- Body Material: Spruce, Maple
- Soundboard Style: Archtop
- Brand: Gibson
- Body Type: Hollow