CJB

Thanks. I have to say the more I play this guitar the more I learn about it - it's a whole lot of fun getting these thick fat tones out of it. I think I'll try to try some Martin Monel Light or custom light strings on it next. I like those on my 0017. This guitar has made me curious about those older 12 fret L's and especially mahogany topped 12 fretters. Hmmm, those are rare and expensive though so I will be content with what I have for now.

Wow, that's a beauty ZW! I bet it's sweet too. What strings do you like on it? Speaking of headstock logo stuff - my briefly owned 53 LG1 looked identical to BK's. That guitar was a tank and the top thickness was nearly 2x thicker than my L-00.

Yep, that’s why I got this one from an expert at fixing them. by the way, I played a HG00 that was converted to Spanish style today. I expected the neck to be too huge but it was really nice. The strings were about as old as I am which got me to thinking about how to artificially age string to get that dull resonant thud.

You might be able to tint some white to match? Those guys at the paint store can work wonders with a little pint of paint when trying to match something specific like that. It’s like voodoo or something

I do believe that’s the first time I’ve been asked that. I’m thoroughly color blind so I’m afraid I’m not a whole lot of help in true color perception. However, my opinion is that I think the logo has just yellowed over time. Matches the bindings and other whitish stuff.

Hello everyone, it's been a little while and I thought I'd check in with a recent discovery. I finally found a great old L-00 that has really blown me away. As far as I know it's all original and dates to 1938ish. Any info ya'll can point out would also be appreciated. I was sort of looking for one but not really. I was talking with my luthier friend about my guitar acquisition goals and mentioned an old '37ish L-00 was on that list. He then said in his own way, 'I might have one of those' and went to his safe. He had it for quite a while and did a neck set, bridge plate work, and new frets on it a while back. He and his band recorded on it and then left it alone. Apparently it's all original as far as he knows (which seems to be a lot). After I played it for 30+ minutes lost in a trance (like the Guy Clark song, The Guitar, only slow and messy playing and my name wasn't on the case), he said he 'might could' let go of it . So I sold a few kidneys to make it happen. On the bass side rim, it looks to have been stabbed with a Philips head screw driver that caused two cracks (fixed a long time ago) and one hole at the armpit that was left alone. The strings it came with wouldn't stay in tune so I put on a set of lightly used EJ16's yesterday afternoon. I typically use those as my reference point and go from there. The neck is a beefy V and it feels like home and seems to relax my fretting hand more than most guitar necks. And 3 pounds 2 ounces. WOW. Can't seem to be able to upload any photos at the moment but will keep trying. For now, I have pics here: https://photos.app.goo.gl/yHsuWKZ3f89VmH1r9

Yes, exactly!

Wonderful, thanks Jeff! (love the guitar too!)

Fantastic, Roger. Thanks for sharing!

WOW!!

Yep, definitely a keeper. 😄 Can't see the pics? I'll see if I can figure it out.

Sorry bout going dark for a little bit there. I had to take care of a little paint stripper accident in my shop/office. I'll go into those details below but it's not pretty. That's a great idea. I have no idea how to record myself and load it but maybe that'd be a good thing to figure out. As far as comparisons go, it's very easy to go back and forth between the LG2 and the 'Loo. They have different neck profiles but are friendly to each other. I really like the slightly wider spacing on the 'Loo which comes in handy for being a 'picking guitar. The LG2 I mainly do strumming stuff on and while a bit narrower at the nut as well as bridge it is still so very comfortable. There really is something special about that guitar. I still have the WL-14Mh and pick it up every so often and really enjoy it but I'm thinking that it needs to go. It's such a nice guitar and has more of a general overlap with both the Ladder 'Loo and the LG2. The paint stripper story, a cautionary tale of woe: I had the Ladder 'Loo out on a stand across my office from my workbench a couple days after I received it (purchased used from Steve Kovacik in New York - great guy to buy from by the way!). I was working on something and needed to use a little bit of CitrusStrip paint stripper that I brought up from the cold basement. When I opened the container I suddenly discovered that it was under pressure of some kind and it then launched some of it's contents in various directions. I went to work cleaning up the mess and trying to make sure it didn't not get on any important pieces I was working on or on the dog. A little while later I noticed a few spots on the nice clean black guitar on the stand that weren't there before. It turns out that the paint stripper reached all the way over to the guitar stand and was doing what it was intended to do in a few spots on the guitar top and sides. In a mad rush to clean it up I accidentally spread it around more and proceeded to damage some areas on the the finish and melting part of the pickguard. I carefully removed the pickguard using some naphtha and clean rags. The whole thing looked terrible. I had to get back to work but couldn't help thinking about what I'd do about the damage. That night I looked around the internets and found some pictures of old well played ebony colored L-00's and decided that I'd continue the accidental relic of my sweet little Ladder 'Loo. So over the next few days I continued to work on the finish - using all kinds of nightmarish methods like cans of compressed air to 'weather check' the finish, sanding and wet sanding the finish in strategic places to 'hide' the paint stripper spots, and wood stain and I decided while I was at it that I'd do a 'speed neck' as the back of the neck had a gummy finish from 'the accident'. Overall I think I'm done with the relic'ing process. It looks ratty and is hard to look at but she still plays well and sounds even better than before (I think). Hopefully nothing structural happened during all this, seems ok to me but I might take it to a guy who knows what he's doing to make sure. So I guess the 5 year old new to me guitar is now a solid keeper. The 'speed neck' feels amazing too (I used a method mentioned by John Arnold). 10/10 highly recommended to not do this on so many levels. But that's ok. Lessons learned.

Ha, yep! I'm really enjoying this one. So much so that the Mahogany WL-14 is on the block! Great article, thanks!

It's really good actually! I haven't felt the need to tweak anything at all. I usually feel the need to fiddle with something about the playability after a few days but I don't want to change anything about it.

@BluesKing777 that was fantastic! Love it.

OOH man! Wouldn't that be cool?

@jt I've heard the same from multiple sources. Hopefully one of these days I'll get to check one out. But honestly, I'm happy just looking at those pictures. Nice to see a well preserved example of fine early Gibson artistry.

Just saw this one for sale. Just wanted to make sure y'all saw this beauty while it surfaced. https://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=6619940#post6619940

Quick update on the Ladder pursuit: I got my hands on a well used Waterloo WL-14L with non adjustable truss rod several days ago. From the first note I could tell it was 'somethin mighty differnt' as my dear old grandma used to say. It's immediate, round warm tone was exactly what I wanted to compliment my LG2. And it feels so alive too. Haven't been able to put it down since and I'm quite content now. It weighs only 3lb 2oz and feels like a toy when you pick it up. It's all black which I don't really like but I can overlook the look and love the tone. Oh yeah, the neck is also a prominent V that is incredibly comfy. I'd still like to get my hands on a good LG1 and will have an opportunity in a few weeks when my local shop resurrects an old 60's model in need of major surgery.

That's an interesting one. I am under a 2 hour drive from that guitar and would love to sample it. But don't have the time this weekend. I might next week though and it'd be really interesting to get hands on that one.

Wow this is really cool! I look forward to hearing and seeing these works fo art.

yep.

Sales pitch or not, that was cool. Yeti is doing a lot of good with these short videos they’re doing highlighting and supporting real folks who’ve worked very hard to be where they are. JT is a really really good dude - a good friend of several of my good friends. A fantastic guitar player, possibly the best and most knowledgeable, and kindest of the Texas coastal fishing guides. There's a nice writeup here for a more complete story: https://stories.yeti.com/story/anchor-point

🤩 WOW!