Gibson Style O Arch Top Acoustic Guitar (1923)
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Item #6245
Gibson Style O Model Arch Top Acoustic Guitar (1923), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, red sunburst varnish finish, birch back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with ebony fingerboard, original black hard shell case.
This lovely old guitar represents the end of a Gibson tradition, as it is one of the very last Style O Artist model guitars ever made. This unique and fancy model was discontinued the year this one was made, probably under the influence of Lloyd Loar who had just helped design its replacement as Gibson's top-line 6 string, the F-hole L-5.
This guitar shows Lloyd's influence in another way as well-it is fitted with a Virzi Tone Producer, an internal device consisting of a thin spruce disc suspended under the top that was one of Loar's pet projects. He acted as agent to the makers, the Virzi bros. of New York, and sold the idea to Gibson who offered it as an option on high end instruments. It was intended to break up sound vibrations in the body and give then instrument a more complex sound-if this guitar is any indication it appears to help in this case! Besides the Virzi this Style O has all the latest Gibson features for 1923 that would move to the L-5 including the adjustable ebony bridge, all-metal "string over tailpiece" and adjustable truss rod. This is a superb and exceptionally cool Style O, more of a player than most and a very rare piece of Gibson history!
Overall length is 38 1/2 in. (97.8 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
This guitar has some general wear overall commesurate with age and some restoration but this is a very playable Style O-more so than many! There are finish dings and checking overall, but no major loss and no refinishing. There is a very cleanly repaired old heel crack that is barely noticeable, with none of the usual overspray or added finish. The pickguard is an exceptionally nice repro, using the proper style tortoise celluloid and all the original mounting hardware (the original is included with the guitar but has begun to show the effects of celluloid deterioration). The bridge is original (with the serial # penciled on the underside) with the saddle lowered from the top and re-sculped slightly.
The tuners are original, but the mounting position appears to have been reversed, which is not that unusual. The oddest feature is the fingrboard, which has no pearl dot inlay and is thus likely a very old replacement, although it is very much period in style and is made of the correct type of Macassar ebony. The fingerboard side binding covers about 3/4 of the depth of the ebony in the build style of the Larson Brothers, so we'd love to think they put this board on for the original owner in the 1920's but of course that is only conjecture. We can say for sure the guitar just got a perfect period style refret, as we just did it! We don't know if it's the Virzi, or the fact that Lloyd was in the house when it was made, but this is easily the best sounding Style O we have ever had our hands on, hands down! Includes a nice original Gibson hard case. Overall Excellent - Condition.
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This lovely old guitar represents the end of a Gibson tradition, as it is one of the very last Style O Artist model guitars ever made. This unique and fancy model was discontinued the year this one was made, probably under the influence of Lloyd Loar who had just helped design its replacement as Gibson's top-line 6 string, the F-hole L-5.
This guitar shows Lloyd's influence in another way as well-it is fitted with a Virzi Tone Producer, an internal device consisting of a thin spruce disc suspended under the top that was one of Loar's pet projects. He acted as agent to the makers, the Virzi bros. of New York, and sold the idea to Gibson who offered it as an option on high end instruments. It was intended to break up sound vibrations in the body and give then instrument a more complex sound-if this guitar is any indication it appears to help in this case! Besides the Virzi this Style O has all the latest Gibson features for 1923 that would move to the L-5 including the adjustable ebony bridge, all-metal "string over tailpiece" and adjustable truss rod. This is a superb and exceptionally cool Style O, more of a player than most and a very rare piece of Gibson history!
Overall length is 38 1/2 in. (97.8 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).
This guitar has some general wear overall commesurate with age and some restoration but this is a very playable Style O-more so than many! There are finish dings and checking overall, but no major loss and no refinishing. There is a very cleanly repaired old heel crack that is barely noticeable, with none of the usual overspray or added finish. The pickguard is an exceptionally nice repro, using the proper style tortoise celluloid and all the original mounting hardware (the original is included with the guitar but has begun to show the effects of celluloid deterioration). The bridge is original (with the serial # penciled on the underside) with the saddle lowered from the top and re-sculped slightly.
The tuners are original, but the mounting position appears to have been reversed, which is not that unusual. The oddest feature is the fingrboard, which has no pearl dot inlay and is thus likely a very old replacement, although it is very much period in style and is made of the correct type of Macassar ebony. The fingerboard side binding covers about 3/4 of the depth of the ebony in the build style of the Larson Brothers, so we'd love to think they put this board on for the original owner in the 1920's but of course that is only conjecture. We can say for sure the guitar just got a perfect period style refret, as we just did it! We don't know if it's the Virzi, or the fact that Lloyd was in the house when it was made, but this is easily the best sounding Style O we have ever had our hands on, hands down! Includes a nice original Gibson hard case. Overall Excellent - Condition.
