Three 1930s Gibson Ls with Michael Watts

[BluesKing777]

As the heading says:

 

 

BluesKing777.

 

 

[slimt]

I just got me a 1931 L00 12 fret.   They are different.  But pretty cool. 

[zombywoof]

I have owned a 1932 12 fret L1 for many years.  So yeah, I get it.  First year they dropped "The" from the moniker and the first the guitars were adorned with a pickguard.  Oddly, it sports a bound soundhole which according to the Pros from Dover disappeared in 1929.  I guess somebody did not get the memo.

If you think about it, during the second half of the -1920s into the 1930s Gibson was just figuring out how to build a flattop.  The lower bout got wider while the "A' and "H" bracing was abandoned. The guitars could be 12, 13 and 14 frets, have a solid or kerfed lining, elevated fingerboards, and such. The real key though was the scary light builds.  Particularly the late-1920s and early-1930s these guitars were so light you barely had to breathe on them to get a tone. 

But what is best for tone is not always the best recipe for survival.  If you do not want to have to deal with bellying, a bridge plate no thicker than a couple of business cards is not the best way to go.  My' 32 though remains the only guitar I have owned which has been able to pull it off strung with 10s although I prefer to go with low tension 11s.  

Edited June 26 by zombywoof

[slimt]

1 hour ago, zombywoof said:

I have owned a 1932 12 fret L1 for many years.  So yeah, I get it.  First year they dropped "The" from the moniker and the first the guitars were adorned with a pickguard.  Oddly, it sports a bound soundhole which according to the Pros from Dover disappeared in 1929.  I guess somebody did not get the memo.

If you think about it, during the second half of the -1920s into the 1930s Gibson was just figuring out how to build a flattop.  The lower bout got wider while the "A' and "H" bracing was abandoned. The guitars could be 12, 13 and 14 frets, have a solid or kerfed lining, elevated fingerboards, and such. The real key though was the scary light builds.  Particularly the late-1920s and early-1930s these guitars were so light you barely had to breathe on them to get a tone. 

But what is best for tone is not always the best recipe for survival.  If you do not want to have to deal with bellying, a bridge plate no thicker than a couple of business cards is not the best way to go.  My' 32 though remains the only guitar I have owned which has been able to pull it off strung with 10s although I prefer to go with low tension 11s.  

I get the light part.  My 31 weighs like 2 lbs  I cant put light gauge strings on it.  It is very fragile.   Extra lights are fine to use 
mine is a fon 67 , L00 1931 12 fret. according to the spann archives. 
it has a mahogany top as well.  And x braced.
 

they are pretty neat little guitars 

Edited June 26 by slimt

[slimt]

On the right 

[zombywoof]

6 hours ago, slimt said:

I get the light part.  My 31 weighs like 2 lbs  I cant put light gauge strings on it.  It is very fragile.   Extra lights are fine to use 
mine is a fon 67 , L00 1931 12 fret. according to the spann archives. 
it has a mahogany top as well.  And x braced.
 

they are pretty neat little guitars 

My L1 clocks in at a hair under three pounds.  According to Spann's Guide it was one of the last of the 12 fretters.  If I recall, he also noted the FON on the first L-00 to be built with 14 frets which was in 1931.  

I have only run across maybe two mahogany top L series flattops.  At least one though was what I would have classed as an L-0 which if I recall correctly also dated to 1931 but had a bound back. The other sported a pickguard (so a later build although I do not recall the year) and unbound back so it definitely was an L-00.  But very, very cool guitars. 

I believe L Series guitars with non-scalloped X bracing started to appear sometime in 1929.  Although the builds got a bit heaver as the decade progressed, that bracing carve remained a staple until 1940 or 1941 when Gibson adopted a scalloped X bracing across the board.

[slimt]

Here is a ledger on these.  I was shown this to help my identification  on the 31.