CJB

I see what you're doing, @BluesKing777, and I'm not falling for it! 🤣 I have never actually played one of the CEO7's but it's one of those guitars that I always hear people recommending. I'd love to try one some day and there's no doubt that I'd like it, and that's an interesting note about the '14-15 models and the mahogany. But if I add another, I hope it's one of the Vintage L-00's otherwise I think I need to be done with the acquisitions and even scale back the little Martin custom 017 I have. Except for a strange little guitar that arrived yesterday. It's a Stella neck with a Barclay body. As far as I know Barclay is an inexpensive Australian brand? It's also my last name. And Stella is my Australian Cattle Dog's name, she's a good girl. And yesterday was my birthday. So the purchase seemed fitting. It sounds ok, plays ok and has an interesting story and connection to my family.

same here. good one.

@BluesKing777 I'm not surprised your Cargill has great playability. How would you describe the neck on it? Both the Waterloo and the LG2 were set up about the same. The WL being used and the LG2 being new however. There are a few good luthiers around here but setting up my guitar is something I enjoy doing so I fiddle with it over several days after I get to know it. The LG2 needed some nut slot reduction and saddle tinkering . I also slotted the bridge and put some of Bob Colosi's unslotted bone pins in it. The saddle wasn't compensated so I worked on that and now the intonation is as good as I can appreciate. I also eased the edges of the fretboard a little. It didn't need much but it feels so nice now. The frets were level as they should have been right away. 3.5/64" at the 12th E. The 'Loo is getting close to where I want it for setup. It doesn't look like it was messed with much if any from new, at least as far as I can tell. Again, nut slot reduction (very slight as not much needed) but after playing it tonight I feel that the G needs a wee bit more taken down. Intonation was just right off the bat - saddle compensated already. Saddle height lowered to 4/64" at the 12th E at the moment. I will probably take that down just a little bit on the treble side. The deep vintage V neck is much more pronounced and thicker than the LG2 but switching back and forth is seamless though I do notice it. I'll probably ease the fretboard edges a little bit as well.

@BluesKing777 EXCELLENT! Glad you took the bait. 😄 That's a real beauty. Thanks for the pics!

Yep, very true to the vintage vibe I guess! I've had these tuners on other guitars (Waterloos, Martins and have installed them on others). They seem to work pretty well for the most part. A few were finicky but most of them have worked well overall. We'll see... Speaking of seeing, got any pics of that Cargill?

Thanks BK. The Lunatic Soup was awful tasty! It's the original neck shape, not the smaller one. I was told that this guitar had the firestripe guard and the black button tuners were added at the factory as an option. The tuners are a little stiff so I might take them apart and see if I can improve them but I honestly like the cream knobs like on the vintage L-0 above so I might change them out.

@sub If your budget allows, I strongly suggest the 50's LG2. I got one last month and it has risen to the top of the heap as my favorite guitar I've played/owned. At first I was looking for the AE version but they were scarce. So I took a chance on a lightly scratched demo LG2 from an online store - shipped just under $2200 and with the option to send it back if I didn't like it.

Those old ads got me looking around a few days ago. I was curious about any all mahogany Gibson L-00's out there as I had seem them but not sure what they were called or what year they were made. Well, that search brought me to an old listing at Gryphon of a 1930 L-0 12 fret: That got me thinking about the Waterloo WL-14Mh that I've seen and played in the past that has been subtly nagging in the back of my mind as a viable option. It seemed interesting to me that the Waterloo was a direct copy of a Gibson, not Kalamazoo like the others in their series (roughly speaking). Then I started to think about one of these Mh Waterloo's I saw on Reverb. So I contacted the seller and it turns out he is only 80 miles from me in the hometown of one of my favorite old blues players, Etta Baker. So while the family was doing their own stuff I took a little drive and met the seller at a nice little open air brewery. I'm not a very good salesman but it then turned out that the seller also had a remote interest in my L-00 Studio but also had one of the L-00 Vintage models I was looking for. After playing some really nice guitars for a while on a beautiful sunny but chilly Saturday afternoon while enjoying a dark stout we struck a deal. I fell in love with the Waterloo and could tell it was what I was looking for. Some cash and my L-00 Studio and the Mh was mine. I played her for a long while last night and today and I am very pleased with the outcome. This brown topped beauty is a nice compliment to my LG2 with it's resonant but yet fast decaying individual note tones - it sounds very smooth and also very immediate. The vintage style somewhat large V neck, fretboard and overall play ability rivals the LG2 which is top of the heap for me and my old hand pain issues don't seem to come up, like they do on skinnier necked guitars. All that to say, thanks to all of you for the conversation and wisdom. It's all very helpful.

I was thinking the same thing, then you said it. This is the best part of my weekend. 🤣😄

Great advice, thanks BK! I’m sorry forgot your loss, @jedzep

Thanks so much for the input and conversation everyone. One of my goals, as @BluesKing777 mentioned, is to compliment my recent LG2. I'm looking for that resonant but tight and spanky sound. The LG2 is bigger and rounder. That is one of the reasons I'm considering the Waterloo guitars (I've had a WL-12 and WL-K and while nice, not quite 'it'). My L-00 Studio is nice but I like mahogany better and the neck isn't quite how I like it - needs to be thicker and 12" radius. I do have a price limit but right now that's a moving target while I try to figure out what is reasonable to expect to find. I realize that trading my one or two for the right 'one' is unrealistic but figured I'd start there to get the ball rolling toward the right L-00. Mistake? Probably, I'm an experiential learner. 🙂 One of the hard parts regarding that aspect is that the Gibson model names can be so similar and looking around on Reverb and other sites they mention the word 'Vintage' and it actually means vintage and not that it's the 'Vintage' Model and the sellers don't delineate what exactly they have. The ad that @Dave F mentions is pretty much perfect, but I bet they're out of stock. 😉 I've been offered a few small shop luthier built guitars but those are unknowns to me and I'm a little tired of buying and trying and selling so I'm gun shy. Maybe one of those would work? I'd really like to find a companion to my LG2 to settle down with. Maybe that's not realistic either? It's worth the journey though.

Yep, I'm fully aware that it may be optimistic but I thought I'd start asking around to see what's out there looking for a home.

@zombywoof sounds like you're losing it. 🙂 My wife (teacher) and son (6th grade) went back to school yesterday and, while I love them dearly, after all this time being with them at nearly every moment it's really nice to have a little breathing room during the say. RE: the 1932 Vintage model, I have no idea why they're labeled differently they certainly look very similar - I'd be happy with that one as well.

@DaveF and @j45nick, with the way y'all talk about your L-00's I'd be very surprised if you'd ever let them go. That's part of the reason I'm looking now! 😄

Hey everyone, I'm starting my hunt for a L-00 'Vintage' model made in recent years. Specifically this one: http://legacy.gibson.com/Products/Acoustic-Instruments/2017/L-00-Vintage.aspx I realize that there are several flavors of 'Vintage' out there so the key features I'm looking for are the vintage style V neck, 12" radius, 24.75" scale, mahogany back and side, sitka or adirondack top (baked or not). Less important features that I'd like are no back binding, black nut, long saddle, no pickup. If any of you know of one available or are willing to sell or trade yours I'd appreciate hearing from you. For trade, I have a L-00 Studio and a Martin 017 custom from 2017. Failing a specific guitar from Gibson, I'd consider a Waterloo WL-14X or L or mahogany top with the bigger neck. Bonus points for something within 2 hours of Winston-Salem, NC. Thanks!

Hey again everyone. Got another question for y'all. After a good bit of time with this L-00 Studio (which I really am enjoying but I'd like to find something that suits me a little better) I've decided I'd like to dive in a little further and find a L-00 that really suits me. I am curious if it's okay to put out a WTB/Want to Trade listing here? I appreciate that this forum doesn't seem to be overly commercialized which makes it welcoming and gives it a good feel. Some other forums feel a little too commercial so I don't want to ask around if it's not welcome. Thanks!

Well, quick update. I now have a L-00 Studio in the house for a little while to try it out. So far I'm quite impressed. It seems to punch way above it's weight as far as build quality and tone - these are a great bargain. I'm not crazy about the look of the walnut back and sides (only because I love looking at mahogany) but that's not significant and the quality of the walnut is very nice I'd say. It has a similar neck feel to my LG2 and a slightly flatter fretboard but overall its very comfortable to play. More focused tone and seems to be a great compliment to the LG2. Strong voice too. I'll enjoy it for a few days and see where I want to go from here. Happy new year everyone!

🤣 So true! I think this coming week I'll go fiddle around with a WL-14mh I know of and see if I can find a ladder braced one to sample.

Very interesting- I’m aware of New Era but not Crooked Star. They look nice!

@zombywoof Thanks - makes sense! @robroy Very interesting to hear and not surprising. I imagine if Mr. Collings felt it was worthwhile to make a guitar with 'obsolete' bracing methods then I bet it really is something special. Out of curiousity, have you played your ladder braced WL-14 alongside a mahogany topped WL-14?

Speaking of the L-1, it was my assumption that the WM-00 was about the same but I don't know about the specific dimensions matching up. Is this the case? Question for those of you who've owned/tried the Waterloo WL-14 in both the X and Ladder bracing. What do y'all prefer and why? I'm getting dangerously close to thinking about one of these.

That’s a great video! The Gibson definitely wins that one but like you say, the Waterloo is not too shabby for being brand new.

@BluesKing777 - that's pretty funny. I just found those videos about an hour ago. Very educational too! I'm with you on the WL-14Mh - that was the first Waterloo I tried and loved it. Why I didn't go back for it, I don't know. It's still for sale though. I might have to take a socially distanced drive to check it out again to see if it's what I remember it being.

@zombywoof I owned one for a few weeks earlier this year and loved it. Such a responsive guitar with a fantastic tone - was sad to let it go. Mine was just under 3 pounds and had that dry bark of a guitar much older. I'm wondering if there are any tonal similarities between the WL-14L and the WL-14Mh - as in if the ladder braced tone somehow resembles a mahogany top tone? Or if that's just crazy thinking. I've played a WL-14MH and really enjoyed it and is what got me to be interested in Waterloo's to begin with. @BluesKing777 have you compared a WL-14Mh with yours?

That was wonderful! Thank you!