Brazilian Rosewood Gibson question ledgers?

[slimt]

Which Gibson Acoustics from the 1920s to the early 1960s had Brazilian Rosewood back and sides.  ?  Excluding fingerboards and bridges . 
 

also. Anyone have a 1932 to 1935 Gibson ledgers and catalog? For production numbers and body specs ? 
 

thank you. 

Edited September 19 by slimt

[zombywoof]

As to what Gibsons were built with Amazon rosewood and which were built using EIR or other species seems to be a subject of debate.  Part of the problem is apparently that the "experts" giving opinions may know vintage guitars but do not necessarily have an eye which can distinguish between the woods.  Anyway, it has been discussed by the Gibson gurus at UMGF so you might do a search there.  

As far as I know the Gibson ledgers, spec sheets and such have never been published. Although I do not recall exactly all of the information in it, Spann's Guide remains the best source at least for the pre-WWII Gibsons.  And J.T.'s "Kalamazoo Gals" is, of course, the place to go when it comes to Banners.  Both did have access to the Gibson Archives so contain a warehouse full of knowledge.  

Gibson Catalogs though are available.  Here Ya go.

Catalogs - Acoustic Music

Edited September 19 by zombywoof

[slimt]

47 minutes ago, zombywoof said:

As to what Gibsons were built with Amazon rosewood and which were built using EIR or other species seems to be a subject of debate.  Part of the problem is apparently that the "experts" giving opinions may know vintage guitars but do not necessarily have an eye which can distinguish between the woods.  Anyway, it has been discussed by the Gibson gurus at UMGF so you might do a search there.  

As far as I know the Gibson ledgers, spec sheets and such have never been published. Although I do not recall exactly all of the information in it, Spann's Guide remains the best source at least for the pre-WWII Gibsons.  And J.T.'s "Kalamazoo Gals" is, of course, the place to go when it comes to Banners.  Both did have access to the Gibson Archives so contain a warehouse full of knowledge.  

Gibson Catalogs though are available.  Here Ya go.

Catalogs - Acoustic Music

Thank you.
Ya maybe wood thing should be left alone. . 

the caralogs are pretty neat.     Im just to get more understanding of that era. 
 

thank you

[Larsongs]

Other than taking a piece of wood to a Science Laboratory isn’t there some sort of test to determine what type of wood it is? 

[Dave F]

Visibly the EIR will be riddled with spores where the BRW will be significantly less. If you can get some shavings, you can do the fluorescent and buoyancy test. You could lightly sand on the inside of the guitar. The BRW has a very distinct aroma.  They do have a visible color difference but that can be misleading.  I educated myself a few years ago by getting samples of each and a 10x magnifier when I started shopping around for an older Martin BRW.

Distinguishing Brazilian From East Indian Rosewood – The Luthier Bench

 

Edited September 20 by Dave F

[zombywoof]

On 9/19/2024 at 8:40 AM, slimt said:

Thank you.
Ya maybe wood thing should be left alone. . 

the caralogs are pretty neat.     Im just to get more understanding of that era. 
 

thank you

What is really cool is that the catalogs show that Gibson at one time offered pretty much every guitar in both tenor and plectrum versions the difference being the tuning. 

[slimt]

31 minutes ago, zombywoof said:

What is really cool is that the catalogs show that Gibson at one time offered pretty much every guitar in both tenor and plectrum versions the difference being the tuning. 

I do like those.  I agree.     I have a L2 from 1932.    Trying to find more info on it.    They had a few options on these over the couple of years.   Also trying to find exactly how many were made from 32 to 35 

 

[jt]

On 9/19/2024 at 12:31 AM, slimt said:

Which Gibson Acoustics from the 1920s to the early 1960s had Brazilian Rosewood back and sides.  ?  Excluding fingerboards and bridges . 
  also. Anyone have a 1932 to 1935 Gibson ledgers and catalog? For production numbers and body specs ? 

 

thank you. 

When researching what became Kalamazoo Gals, Gibson gave me access to the ledgers. I agreed, though, not to share my photos of the ledger pages.

As for the Brazilian rosewood question, my friend Willi Henkes, of Blazer and Henkes Guitars, has sent tiny bits of vintage Gibson rosewood to university chemistry departments (one in Germany and one in the US) for testing.  Gibson switched in the mid-1930s from using Brazilian to Indian rosewood for backs and sides. Of course, Gibson being Gibson, I'm certain there are exceptions to the agreed-upon timeline.

[slimt]

1 hour ago, jt said:

When researching what became Kalamazoo Gals, Gibson gave me access to the ledgers. I agreed, though, not to share my photos of the ledger pages.

As for the Brazilian rosewood question, my friend Willi Henkes, of Blazer and Henkes Guitars, has sent tiny bits of vintage Gibson rosewood to university chemistry departments (one in Germany and one in the US) for testing.  Gibson switched in the mid-1930s from using Brazilian to Indian rosewood for backs and sides. Of course, Gibson being Gibson, I'm certain there are exceptions to the agreed-upon timeline.

Hello JT.   Is there anyway to fine out how many L2 14 frets were made in 1932 ?  From what Im seeing 32 had a floating pick guard.  Pin bridge ,

33 had adhesive guard ( sound hole bound.   And 1934 Pretty much the same    
 
And the total amount of L2 Gibsons from 32 to 34?  
 
thank you. 

[slimt]

I respect the picture thing.   Thank you

I have read only (5) L2 14 frets were made.  Is that for one year? Or total?  
if so.  Why would Gibson go through all that effort to make so little?  

so little info on these.  
12 fret , 13 fret models  seem to be more discussed.  . 

[zombywoof]

On 9/20/2024 at 10:57 AM, slimt said:

I do like those.  I agree.     I have a L2 from 1932.    Trying to find more info on it.    They had a few options on these over the couple of years.   Also trying to find exactly how many were made from 32 to 35 

 

I still think your best bet is Spann's Guide. 

I play a 1932 L1.  Apparently, this was one of the last of the 12 fretters.

[slimt]

40 minutes ago, zombywoof said:

I still think your best bet is Spann's Guide. 

I play a 1932 L1.  Apparently, this was one of the last of the 12 fretters.

Ill give that a try.   Thank you.  
 

all Im looking for is number of how many in each of those years.    

[jt]

On 9/21/2024 at 10:06 AM, slimt said:

Hello JT.   Is there anyway to fine out how many L2 14 frets were made in 1932 ?  From what Im seeing 32 had a floating pick guard.  Pin bridge ,

33 had adhesive guard ( sound hole bound.   And 1934 Pretty much the same    
 
And the total amount of L2 Gibsons from 32 to 34?  
 
thank you. 

The ledgers before 1935 (but for a couple of random years) have disappeared. There is no way to know how many Gibson made.

[slimt]

48 minutes ago, jt said:

The ledgers before 1935 (but for a couple of random years) have disappeared. There is no way to know how many Gibson made.

Thank you.    It will remain a mystery.     

I guess it would be interesting  to do  a thread  of this model.  And who ever has one to post the guitar. To compare the   differences.      As well as Fon numbers. 
 

[Dave F]

Per Joe Spann’s book they only list the known FON numbers with no mention of how many frets  or how many guitars  

Years were 1923-25, 1927, 1929-33, 1935

not much help for you

 

 

 

 

[slimt]

18 hours ago, Dave F said:

Per Joe Spann’s book they only list the known FON numbers with no mention of how many frets  or how many guitars  

Years were 1923-25, 1927, 1929-33, 1935

not much help for you

 

 

 

 

Thank you.     That Joe Spann guy is pretty knowledgable.     
 

got my reply back.      Its a early 1933

And JT.  Thank you.    Same with you others on here.   No records for those early years.     

Edited Monday at 04:08 PM by slimt