Gibson L-00 Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1935)
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Item # 8669
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Gibson L-00 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1935), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 1944-66, sunburst top, dark back and sides finish, mahogany back, sides and neck, spruce top, rosewood fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
The L-00 has remained one of Gibson's most popular Depression era flat-top guitars, then and now. While this model was at the bottom of the flat-top line in the early/mid-1930s, it offered a great value in sound. This example was built in 1935 (when the list price was $27.50, without the case), and while it shows some play wear has survived in better condition than many.
The top finish is a deep sunburst with a medium-small center, typical of the mid 1930s guitars. There is single-ply white celluloid binding around the top edge, which is also ornamented with a "firestripe" tortoise celluloid pickguard and a three-ply sound hole ring. The back and sides are finished in dark mahogany, as is the fairly shallow "V" profile neck (softer on the spine than some examples) with an unbound rosewood fingerboard. The headstock carries a white stenciled "Gibson" logo and simple unplated openback tuner strips.
This model was a working-class standard of the day, a professional grade guitar at a price affordable to blues players, Hillbilly string bands, and many other itinerant musicians as well as Gibson's intended student customers. This one comes in its very well-preserved original red-lined #414 Faultless hardshell case, which is a rare find in itself. The case added $12.50 to the original price, and so many customers simply could not afford the additional expense! Each one of these guitars has its own character and this one is quite even-sounding both finger- and flat-picked with a chunky midrange and a substantial helping of high end.
Overall length is 39 3/4 in. (101 cm.), 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 3/8 in. (11.1 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
This guitar shows some typical light wear overall but is better preserved than many of these often hard-working guitars. The finish shows small dings, dents, and scratches but only a few spots on the sound hole rim are heavily through the lacquer. There is a long cleanly repaired spruce grain crack on the top from the back edge to the treble end of the bridge, which has been reglued. Other than this, the instrument is crack-free.
There is what looks like a deep scrape that was touched up coming off the back edge of the pickguard; the finish has otherwise not been altered. The guitar has had a recent neck set so playability is excellent; the frets have been lightly crowned and show virtually no wear. This is an excellent-playing and sounding L-00; one of the nicer ones we have had in a while, with a lovely original case. Excellent - Condition.
The L-00 has remained one of Gibson's most popular Depression era flat-top guitars, then and now. While this model was at the bottom of the flat-top line in the early/mid-1930s, it offered a great value in sound. This example was built in 1935 (when the list price was $27.50, without the case), and while it shows some play wear has survived in better condition than many.
The top finish is a deep sunburst with a medium-small center, typical of the mid 1930s guitars. There is single-ply white celluloid binding around the top edge, which is also ornamented with a "firestripe" tortoise celluloid pickguard and a three-ply sound hole ring. The back and sides are finished in dark mahogany, as is the fairly shallow "V" profile neck (softer on the spine than some examples) with an unbound rosewood fingerboard. The headstock carries a white stenciled "Gibson" logo and simple unplated openback tuner strips.
This model was a working-class standard of the day, a professional grade guitar at a price affordable to blues players, Hillbilly string bands, and many other itinerant musicians as well as Gibson's intended student customers. This one comes in its very well-preserved original red-lined #414 Faultless hardshell case, which is a rare find in itself. The case added $12.50 to the original price, and so many customers simply could not afford the additional expense! Each one of these guitars has its own character and this one is quite even-sounding both finger- and flat-picked with a chunky midrange and a substantial helping of high end.
Overall length is 39 3/4 in. (101 cm.), 14 3/4 in. (37.5 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 3/8 in. (11.1 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
This guitar shows some typical light wear overall but is better preserved than many of these often hard-working guitars. The finish shows small dings, dents, and scratches but only a few spots on the sound hole rim are heavily through the lacquer. There is a long cleanly repaired spruce grain crack on the top from the back edge to the treble end of the bridge, which has been reglued. Other than this, the instrument is crack-free.
There is what looks like a deep scrape that was touched up coming off the back edge of the pickguard; the finish has otherwise not been altered. The guitar has had a recent neck set so playability is excellent; the frets have been lightly crowned and show virtually no wear. This is an excellent-playing and sounding L-00; one of the nicer ones we have had in a while, with a lovely original case. Excellent - Condition.