huckster Posted February 13, 2017 Share Posted February 13, 2017 Hi, Anyone know the material of construction on the 1948 L4? I know some variations exist on the L48 and L50 but not familiar with the L4. thanks, huckster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 Welcome! The L-4 is not a common model, and I can't find anything definitive on its construction changes over the years it was in production. Maybe someone else here can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayoubengal1954 Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 Hi, Anyone know the material of construction on the 1948 L4? I know some variations exist on the L48 and L50 but not familiar with the L4. thanks, huckster You may want to go ask this question on the Archtop Sub-Forum of the AGF. Those folks know a lot of stuff about archtops. Of course you would have to set up a member account. The AGF is an easy target to make fun of here at times (many times for good reason :)) but the people on the archtop sub-forum were very helpful and gracious to me and I have no clue about archtops. http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=56 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted February 14, 2017 Share Posted February 14, 2017 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayoubengal1954 Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Wow, that was fast. Good job, Dave! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tpbiii Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 It does not appear in the 1950 catalog -- the closest year I have. This is from the 1942 catalog. The guitar was always carved spruce top and maple back and sides. The L-4 went from round hole to f-holes in the early 30s, but for a little while in about 1936 it went back to the round hole. Up until about 1936 they had dot inlays, but quite a few of the c.1936 round hole models used Nick Lucas fingerboard markers. Here is such a 1936 L-4. The one in the 1942 catalog seems like "back to the f-holes but keep the NL fingerboard." Gibson can be very strange. Best, -Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Nice Tom! The add I showed is from 1935. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave F Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 Here's an excerpt from http://www.guitarhq.com/gibson2.html#l4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 I have a 52 blonde non cut. Pressed solid top ive been told possibly a laminate side and back maple mohagany neck. L50s were laminate in that era of the 50s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted February 15, 2017 Share Posted February 15, 2017 From that original L-4 ad from 1935 or so, it looks to me like the L-4 came out when the L-7 switched to the new "advanced" 17" body that year. They already had the old 16" L-7 tooling so they just re-named the guitar to L-4 and perhaps changed a few specs. That's the type of thing Gibson might still do today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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