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Need help with Vintage acoustic


okuley

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Newbie here and a drummer so two strikes against me...I'm trying to get some idea on what exactly I have, vintage Gibson acoustic, I believe from the '48-'51 era. I've had it for 30 years, it's just hung on the wall. I posted a photo in the acoustic forum, and can't seem to post any more photos because of the 500K limit. I would appreciate any help you experts can provide me with. Someone suggested I try this topic for help. Thanks.

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L50... Not worth much like that.. 450 tops. as a player.

Why so low? My same vintage J-50 doesn't look much different cosmetically. And I'm told it's worth a minimum of $3K. Beyond the missing pick guard. Are you seeing something I don't see? Or is the L-50 just not as valuable generally?

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Newbie here and a drummer so two strikes against me...I'm trying to get some idea on what exactly I have, vintage Gibson acoustic, I believe from the '48-'51 era. I've had it for 30 years, it's just hung on the wall. I posted a photo in the acoustic forum, and can't seem to post any more photos because of the 500K limit. I would appreciate any help you experts can provide me with. Someone suggested I try this topic for help. Thanks.

You need to bring the pic over here too.

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Why so low? My same vintage J-50 doesn't look much different cosmetically. And I'm told it's worth a minimum of $3K. Beyond the missing pick guard. Are you seeing something I don't see? Or is the L-50 just not as valuable generally?

 

Generally on these.. to command a healthy price , condition is everything.. but you own it.. and if you like it.. play it.. they sound not to bad..

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Generally on these.. to command a healthy price , condition is everything.. but you own it.. and if you like it.. play it.. they sound not to bad..

I don't own it. Just asking for GP. I thought those old Gibson & Epiphone F-Hole guitars were valuable. I do understand that condition is very important.

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Going to buy a L50... get a good one.. this one can be had.. hes stuck on 1550 plus shipping.. but this is I think well worth the price.. if your wanting one bad..

http://www.ebay.com/itm/151559045675?_trksid=p2060778.m2763.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

I think you're misunderstanding me. I'm not interested in L-50's beyond this forum thread. I don't want one. Just curious as to the values. I had thought that all such vintage Gibson's would be more valuable than that. But apparently not.

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I thought those old Gibson & Epiphone F-Hole guitars were valuable.

 

As with any musical instrument type, there are professional models and student models. An L-50 is a "student model", and as such, there were tens of thousands manufactured. The sheer number of units built of an economy model instrument keep the value down.

 

The guitar pictured has had the top stripped (there were no natural finished L-50's from the factory), the pickguard is obviously missing, possibly the tuners have been changed, and I assume there is no case, much less an "original" case. These are all strikes against the value of this particular instrument.

 

Also, the age of this instrument can not be determined from the info and photos furnished. The L-50 went from dot inlays to trapezoid sometime in the early 50's, and the block letter logo came in around the same time. As for the logo, silk-screened and decal logos used on Gibson's low-end models do not follow the same date patterns as inlayed logos. The L-50 model was discontinued around 1968, so this guitar could be from anywhere from the early 50's to the late 60's. Not that this really matters much on value, just trying to state facts here.

 

The prices on fine examples of original condition L-50's seem to have drifted up a bit, and look to be selling for $1000-$1200. This is up from 700-1000 a few years ago. For the guitar under discussion, you can subtract a minimum of 50%.

 

A nice L-50 is a great guitar for those who want an entry level Gibson archtop.

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