chas716 Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 Hey everyone. I'm new here and was wondering if anyone can help me identify a guitar. I had a very old neighbor pass away and was given his old Gibson electric. It is a little rough around the edges. I have had a heck of time identifying this thing. The FON/serial number is pressed into the wood and it reads EA-5179. Gibson logo on the pegboard is in the cursive and looks like it has a gold effect on the letters. My research tells me it is a 1939 artist model (based on the EA designation in the FON). I may be wrong. The brass trapeze tail piece is stamped with L-5. So basically I believe I have a 1939 L-5 electric. Here is the kicker. It has grover tuners, which I thought were not available until 1959. The face of the guitar looks like it may have been replaced at some point. Instead of it being glued on it has slotted screws evenly spaced around that hold it on. And it has no F-holes which is another reason i believe the face was replaced. And it is heavy as hell. I couldn't imagine trying to play this thing for long periods of time without sitting down. Take a look at the pics here. Anyone have any insight to what I have here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR56 Posted April 29, 2010 Share Posted April 29, 2010 This appears to have been someone's home project (a pieced-together instrument). Perhaps it began as a '39 L5 (which would have been an acoustic instrument if produced as a standard, stock L5 of the period), but was severely damaged at some point. It's a far cry from an L5 now. The most obvious oddity (not the only one, mind you) is the body of the instrument. I'm not sure if it's home-made or what, but the back and sides being one piece (and not of maple at that) is not consistent with an L5. It's almost reminiscent of the old solid (walnut?) bodies made by Orville Gibson over 100 years ago. I don't know what type of wood that is, but it's clearly not what you expect to see when you flip over an L5. In any case, there would be no need to flip this one over to know that it's not a stock L5. The top of your guitar appears to be a (maple) back. Maybe the original back from this guitar? Who knows. The positioning of the pickup (which looks like it could be an authentic Charlie Christian type bar pickup) and the control knobs (which are not of the type Gibson would have used) are not standard placements for a Gibson. Grover Imperial tuners date back to the 1930's (they scream Art Deco, with their stair-stepped design). They were even used by John D'Angelico on his Deco-inspired works of art. I think I'll stop here and let someone else analyze the inlays and whatever else they might notice as being non-standard for an L5. Basically, it appears to be a project, created from available parts, some of them not Gibson. Kind of fun (and I'm wondering how it plays and sounds), but not exactly a valuable collector's item. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted April 30, 2010 Share Posted April 30, 2010 It almost looks like the back was re-used as the top. Like Jim said, it probably suffered a horrible fate and they decided to make what they could out of it. Looks like an original L-5 tailpiece and a Charlie Christian pickup out of an ES-150 of the same era. I'm just going to offer a massive shrug of the shoulders as it's value. It's one of those deals where some eclectic person (weirdo with money) would buy it just because of it's overall weirdness, but you could probably get just as much out it selling the pickup and tailpiece. I would say the same for the neck but it's hard to tell how much reshaping has been done to the heel, thus possibly chopping the value in half or less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR56 Posted May 18, 2014 Share Posted May 18, 2014 I just happened to stumble onto this old thread again today, after seeing the above images in a google search. I had forgotten all about it, and the fact that the OP never posted again. This was such an odd (and unfortunate) scenario, and I find it no less odd now. Talk about a shop project! :unsure: Wonder whatever happened to this thing. I probably should have pointed out that the pickup, the tailpiece, and possibly the neck might still be worth a fair amount of money. And I never stop wondering what it sounded like... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 People do the "damdest things"..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted May 22, 2014 Share Posted May 22, 2014 There are always "drive bys" on forums. I've inquired about a few and never heard boo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyK Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 ... It's one of those deals where some eclectic person (weirdo with money) would buy it just because of it's overall weirdness, ... Sounds like it's right up your alley Scott. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Moi??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR56 Posted June 5, 2014 Share Posted June 5, 2014 Ouch! Please don't do that. ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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