W. Bledsoe Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 I am trying to find out some information about a guitar I was recently given. It was my grandfather's guitar - he passed away in 1981. There is no serial number on the guitar that I can find. The heart on the neck appears to be a sticker but I have not tried to remove it as I didn't want to risk damage while doing so. Thank you for any information you can provide! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted December 18, 2016 Share Posted December 18, 2016 Hi.. I think this would be a L48 Mohagany top .. Unbound board... L50s were bound and small F holes.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Hi.. I think this would be a L48 Mohagany top .. Unbound board... L50s were bound and small F holes.. Agreed. Top wood is pretty clearly mahogany. Trapezoid inlays, hog top, and logo style suggest about 1947. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Bledsoe Posted December 19, 2016 Author Share Posted December 19, 2016 Thank you j45nick and slimt for the information! I am new to this and didn't know where to begin! What would be my best course of action to see if it is in "playing" condition? Thanks again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Hi my guess would be to take it into a qualified luthier get it checked out for any braces that may be loose and as well as fret wear get it addressed providing the cost is in limits of the guitars worth. They can set it up set it up to last for long time fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usernameinvalid Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 I does appear to be a L48 but not a 1947. I have a 1947 and it has dots not Trapezoid inlays. Send an email to Customer.Relations@gibson.com They were very helpful in dating mine. There may or may not be a FON number stamped with 2 numbers written in red pencil inside right below the top F hole. Here's mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 I does appear to be a L48 but not a 1947. I have a 1947 and it has dots not Trapezoid inlays. Send an email to Customer.Relations@gibson.com They were very helpful in dating mine. There may or may not be a FON number stamped with 2 numbers written in red pencil inside right below the top F hole. Here's mine. According to guitarhq.com (which succeeded the old "antique and vintage guitar collectors" website), some early L-48 models had the trapezoid fingerboard inlays, which were also seen on the L-50 from 1946 to the end of the production run. This could make sense at the introduction of the L-48, when they might have been using L-50 board blanks (but without the binding)for the new, cheaper L-48. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usernameinvalid Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 According to guitarhq.com (which succeeded the old "antique and vintage guitar collectors" website), some early L-48 models had the trapezoid fingerboard inlays, which were also seen on the L-50 from 1946 to the end of the production run. This could make sense at the introduction of the L-48, when they might have been using L-50 board blanks (but without the binding)for the new, cheaper L-48. That would make W. Bledsoe a '46 or very early '47. When investigating mine Gibson told me the L50 and L48 both came out in 1946 and according to the FON number in mine it dated to '47. But you can never be 100% positive with Gibson. They have done some strange things over the years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 That would make W. Bledsoe a '46 or very early '47. When investigating mine Gibson told me the L50 and L48 both came out in 1946 and according to the FON number in mine it dated to '47. But you can never be 100% positive with Gibson. They have done some strange things over the years. You are right there. I guessed 1947 because of the block logo, but that's not definitive. I had an L-7 archtop with a script logo that had a serial number (white label, A 235) dating it to April-May of 1947. I looked at another with serial number about A 350 that had a block logo, so at least for that model, the script/block logo changeover appears to have happened in about June or July of 1947. That also apparently happened to some flat top models about the same time, although without access to the shipping ledgers, we are only guessing here. It may be that the L-48 was one of the earliest Gibson models to have the block logo, if it was never even made with the script logo. Interesting stuff, but it's hard to be definitive when you talk about timelines for Gibson identifying features. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 Interesting stuff, but it's hard to be definitive when you talk about timelines for Gibson identifying features. Isn't that the truth. I had a solid-mahogany topped 1948 L-48, with a fully-braced solid-mahogany flat back. Sides were also solid-mahogany with felt strips. Dot fretboard markers. That was my first Gibson, picked up in the early '70s at a flea market for about twenty-five bucks! Seems like the post-war years saw a bit of mixing & matching of parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usernameinvalid Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 I was just doing some reading an the web site you posted and Gibson did some strange thing to the L50 over the years. the script/block logo changeover appears to have happened in about June or July of 1947 Would be nice to know when or how long it took Gibson to change from the Script logo the the bock lettering. Like I said before Gibson told me the L50 and L48 came out in '46 but the L50 came out in late 1932. So I wonder if they meant they both came out with the Block lettering Logo in 1946. Any one have a 46 L50 or L48 with the Script logo? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobouz Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 If accurate, there is an L-48 listed on Reverb as a 1946 first-year model. Script logo, spruce top, dot markers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 If accurate, there is an L-48 listed on Reverb as a 1946 first-year model. Script logo, spruce top, dot markers. That guitar certainly looks completely legit. It may be that some of the timeline for this model on guitarhq.com is off. This is Gibson we're talking about, after all. The script logo makes senses for 1946. It raises the obvious issue of the trapezoid board inlays on the OP's guitar, but it's just another one of those "charming" Gibson quirks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted December 19, 2016 Share Posted December 19, 2016 This is the second trapazoid l48 ive seen in the past week myself . if it was only one i would have thoughts of the inlays being added. Btw the other had a grained spruce top Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cunningham26 Posted December 20, 2016 Share Posted December 20, 2016 These models in particular, being student model acoustic archtops, seemed to have the least QC, and are a little all over the place. my guess is it's an unbound L50 neck with the rest being L48 attributes. I have a '46 L48, carved spruce top, round back, just like that '46 on reverb. Seems to have a burst more consistent with banner-era than '47-on. tuners replaced, p90 added. Ask me anything! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W. Bledsoe Posted December 21, 2016 Author Share Posted December 21, 2016 Thank you all for your posts and information you have provided. It certainly seems like I have an interesting piece on my hands. I am hoping to have someone look at it tomorrow. Thanks again for the info! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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