'56 LG 3/4 Woodpile Rescue

[Vermonter]

A local auctioneer found this little beauty on top of a woodpile in a garage attached to a house he'd bought the contents of. It was in rough shape when I bought it from him. Someone had stripped the back and sides but, thank goodness, left the top alone. No nut, saddle, or tuners and in dire need of a neck reset and bridge work. Plus... someone had pulled a fret - the wrong fret - presumably to reset the neck. It looked like someone had started trying to restore this guitar and gave up... a very long time ago. A local luthier restored it to its former glory. Check out the before and after picture. It's no longer all original, but it is most definitely rescued from that old woodpile. It plays like a dream and has a sweet little voice. It's a birth year guitar for me so it'll stay in my house as long as I do. 

[Dave F]

Looks like he did a good job. 

[slimt]

Very Nice.   Ive had a few of those there really nice

[Murph]

I love those stories.

Being a birthyear guitar makes it even better.

Very cool.

[zombywoof]

Admittedly I have never been enough of a fan of this model to bring any of those I have run into home.   But I also have a big old soft spot for salvage guitars.  I just cannot seem to turn my back on them and will without even thinking about it do what it takes to return them to a condition they can once again do what they were built to.  That has put me underwater in terms of what the guitar was actually worth more than a few times.  But I have never once regretted it.

[RBSinTo]

Vermonter,

 

I've had the opportunity to do some very simple repairs to a handful of used up student guitars that the school system considered not worth the time and money to fix.

However, they were all inexpensive even when new.

And although I'm always on the lookout for these "barn finds", I've never been fortunate enough to find and acquire one.

That's a very lovely instrument. Well done you.

RBSinTo

 

  

[Larsongs]

It is really cool when people come across these kinds of finds & have them brought back to life.. Very Cool Guitar! Congrats & enjoy.. 

Edited September 26, 2022 by Larsongs

[Jinder]

Oh man!! That is such a great story and such a beautiful restoration. Stuff like this really gladdens the heart for me. The LG2 3/4 of course has the Arlo connection but recently Ryan Adams has been using one on his livestream shows and some bits on his last few records and they have such a sweet voice as you said. Small but very sweet. Yours is good to go for another 70yrs or so at least now, what an honourable thing to do!
 

 

[jedzep]

The only ladder braced I'd ever consider.  Nice find, Vermonter.

[tpbiii]

Cool!

 

That body shape dates to the mid 30s with the L-00  3/4 which was x-braced.  A bit later, Gibson introduced the Kalamazoo SPORT MODEL,  which was ladder braced.  About 1947 (?) they introduced the the LG 3/4 with ladder bracing.  That is what Woody Guthrie famously bought Arlo, who threw it away, but later went back and got.  When Gibson release the ARLO GUTHRIE model, the prototype was x-braced, but Arlo made then change it to ladder braced.

 

Here is my 37 L-00 /34 and Kalamazoo SPORT MODEL

 

Here is a tiny guitar comparison.  I actually find the Martin terz 5-18 most useful --

Let's pick,

-Tom

[jedzep]

Hi Tom.

Are you saying Vermonter's find is X braced? 

Is Tom correct, Vermonter?

Thanks.  Dave

[tpbiii]

Quote

Hi Tom.

Are you saying Vermonter's find is X braced? 

Is Tom correct, Vermonter?

Thanks.  Dave

 

No.  It is not.  I am pretty sure that is not what I said.  The x-braced L-00 3/4 was only made in the late 30s, and is very rare -- about 30 has been estimated (not  by me).  AFAIK Everything  after c 1940 is ladder braced -- except that Arlo prototype,  and I have no idea what happened to that.

Best,

-Tom

Edited September 26, 2022 by tpbiii

[jedzep]

Thanks for the clarification. 

[Vermonter]

12 hours ago, tpbiii said:

 

No.  It is not.  I am pretty sure that is not what I said.  The x-braced L-00 3/4 was only made in the late 30s, and is very rare -- about 30 has been estimated (not  by me).  AFAIK Everything  after c 1940 is ladder braced -- except that Arlo prototype,  and I have no idea what happened to that.

Best,

-Tom

It's definitely ladder braced, and the bracing was all intact. He had to repair a few top cracks... and he put patches along the center seam in the back. It cost plenty to have all this done, but I know it was a labor of love for him and there's no way he charged me for all the time he put into this project. His specialty is vintage Epiphone archtops, but he's repaired lots of Gibson guitars too.

[fortyearspickn]

The find of a lifetime !   Congrats !    Your luthier did a fantastic job:   All in all  - much more satisfying than just going out and buying a 'new' guitar.  Which is all I've ever done.   Glad you're going to keep it -  your 'forever' guitar !