JRISS138 Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 I am a proud owner of a few Gibson guitars. I have one that I have been trying, unsuccessfully, to research. I have taken the guitar to numerous guitar shops which focus on vintage guitars and they have only been able to give me vague answers. I have also tried looking on the internet. I would greatly appreciate it if anyone would be able to tell me about this guitar. Approximate time it was made. What model it is? etc. basically everything you would know about it. It belonged to my Grandfather and according to my family he bought it when he was in his early 30's which would mean this guitar was prob built in the early or mid 30's as well. Unfortunately he passed away before I was born so I have never been able to have these questions answered. The only markings on the guitar are the logo on the headstock and the number 675 stamped, or burned, into the bottom of the neck. If you look up through the sound hole towards the start of the neck you can see this number. It is a smaller bodied guitar, possibly parlor sized, and has a tobacco burst finish it has a V shaped neck and looks to be mother of pearl dot inlays. I have attached some pictures of the guitar sorry they are not the clearest pics. I am hoping you guys can help me out with this as I have asked a lot of others and figured it was time to ask here. If you need to know anything else about the guitar ie) dimensions etc. or need additional photos please ask. Thank you, James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jchabalk Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 nice! that's awesome, i'm sure someone here will tell you exactly what it is. it looks like from that picture of the headstock that it's got a truss rod? do you have a picture of the back of the guitar body you can share? and also the back of the headstock? How's it play? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRISS138 Posted March 4, 2010 Author Share Posted March 4, 2010 Thanks. Yea I can add the pics soon but Im heading to work now so its gonna be tonight or tomorrow until I can do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Wow. That's nice! Looks like it's in good shape too. That really small burst looks like the 30s. L-00? Good shot of the neck block. As jchabalk said, pics of the back and rear of the headstock would be good to see. There's members that are well versed in the 30s models. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jefleppard Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 omg. where are you guys finding these beauties?!?!?! lol. it looks like a nick lucas but the heavyweights will weigh in soon. great find. wow. do you play? how does it sound? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DanvillRob Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 omg. where are you guys finding these beauties?!?!?! lol. it looks like a nick lucas but the heavyweights will weigh in soon. great find. wow. do you play? how does it sound? No kidding! When my grandfather died, he left me a handfull of bills! (no, not $50 bills... phone, gas, insurance, etc. ones!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jedzep Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 ..what a nice L0 or L00...look at that freakin' spruce grain rising up. That's old growth...hubba, hubba! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 This is a fairly easy vintage Gibson guitar to recognize. It is a L-00, L-1 I would date it to early to mid 1933. An L-1 would have binding on the back and probably white pins, nickle plated tuners instead of plain brass. The same guitar just different price. The top is striking with it's wide aggressive grain. The gold Logo is most interesting. It shows up from time to time. I also have a guitar with this color logo and have seen others. I have no idea why. It looks to be in a hard shell case? That would also be unusual. Great guitar. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rar Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 This is a fairly easy vintage Gibson guitar to recognize. It is a L-00' date=' L-1 I would date it to early to mid 1933.[/quote'] Terry, Is the finish the basis for this dating? (I would agree that the 'burst looks rubbed rather than sprayed.) -- Bob R P.S. Great guitar, James! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted March 4, 2010 Share Posted March 4, 2010 Is the finish the basis for this dating? (I would agree that the 'burst looks rubbed rather than sprayed.) In part yes, This is the earliest of the small burst, but I think this is a sprayed finish if I understand what others are saying about finishes. It is not the finish seen on the 12 fret or early 14 fret guitars. This is not well understood at least by me. What I think of as the hand done finishes, this is not an example of that. I will try and post a pic to show the difference as I see it. It may be that the earlier finishes were sprayed but using different products and techniques and some were hand done. Which is in debate. But there is a progression in the finish application that you can see if you have access to pictures of the guitars. Maybe we can get this done sometime soon,then other's will have access to the same information and resources and can come up with their own conclusions. If you have been reading the UMGF thread on FONs and serial numbers you can get a sense of the craziness surrounding dating these guitars. I think the "new" FON chronology has a lot of merit. There are some glitches, but I see it answering more questions than it raises, at least for me. It has put a lot of pieces toghether. I believe the fellow suggesting some of the new ideas will have things well documented before anything is written on paper or stone. It really is quite radical if you are into such details and history of Gibson guitars. The FON really works with the finish for c1933. The logo is a bit of different story,not sure what that says. Terry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRISS138 Posted March 5, 2010 Author Share Posted March 5, 2010 nice! that's awesome' date=' i'm sure someone here will tell you exactly what it is. it looks like from that picture of the headstock that it's got a truss rod? do you have a picture of the back of the guitar body you can share? and also the back of the headstock? How's it play?[/quote'] Is it common to have a truss rod in this model? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt Posted March 5, 2010 Share Posted March 5, 2010 As Terry has pointed out, this is the first of the sprayed finishes. And a beautiful finish it is. Terry, that Gold logo, done in 1930s script, is interesting, isn't it? Maybe the earliest of this variety I've seen. And, to Jriss: yes, these guitars, as all Gibson guitars post circa 1926 (and Mandolins circa 1922, I think) had adjustable truss rods. A cool guitar. Thanks for sharing it with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KL Posted March 6, 2010 Share Posted March 6, 2010 Yes . . . I think it is an L-00 as well. It is a very beautiful sunburst. I would love to hear it. I have a Collings C10 SB which I believe is based on the L-00. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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