tmsautoart Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 Posted in the "intro" forum as well, but thought it might get better response here: Hi all, Just wanted to introduce myself. My name is Terry and i've been an admirer of guitars and guitarists my whole life. I come from a very musical family. My grandfather played jazz guitar in the 30's through the 70's in NYC and CT as did my great grandfather. Anyhow, without being too long winded. my Grandfather had given me this Gibson guitar back in the early 80's when I was about 11 or 12. Only recently did I convince myself that I was GOING TO LEARN...after years of strumming and not knowing one chord I sat down one night and just said I was not going to give up this time. Well I now know all the basic chords and can play them with ease...well maybe that pesky F gives me some grief.. The fingers have calussed (sp?) up pretty well, no more blisters. I do have a question. The guitar that I was given is an old Gibson that was actually my greatgrandfathers. I'm not exactly sure what it is. I'm leaning towards an L-12, but was told some time ago that it was an l-5. I then read somewhere on here that all l-5s had a flowerpot on the top of the neck....so l-12 is what I think it might be.(EDIT: now i'm looking online and found one called an l-50 that looks just like it!!! What the heck!!!) If it were an l-5 it would fall into the 1925-1929 range with the dots on the frets. If a l-12 1930ish? I have no clue. Now I see maybe it's an l-50? The only number on the guitar was impossible to find, but its inside the right f hole and appears to be 14545/3 or 1454513 or1454F/3 or 145F13. Here are a couple of pics and any help identifying the guitar would be greatly appreciated. Also, this is just for my personal knowledge as I have no intentions on ever selling the guitar or concern about how much money its worth although it is interesting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HellboundGreaser Posted July 3, 2010 Share Posted July 3, 2010 I'd guess that this is a 1930-36 L-12. L-12's after that period have more inlay on the neck and headstock. That Script style logo which was also used on Gibson's Advanced Jumbos is also a clue that your guitar is probably from between the early to mid 30's. Nice lookin' axe by the way. Play the hell out of it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 The "F" in the serial number is Gibson's code for 1940. So the guitar was the third guitar made during "batch" #1454 in 1940. The L-5 and L-12 were "premium" quiality guitars and never had this type (silkscreened) or style of script logo. This logo was used specifically on the budget models and it's usage does not adhere to any published dates of Gibson logo changes. Without more and better photos, and spending a hour or so on research, I would say you have a 1940 L-50. Not a very valuable guitar, but it could be a very nice guitar as a player and memory. Enjoy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmsautoart Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 The "F" in the serial number is Gibson's code for 1940. So the guitar was the third guitar made during "batch" #1454 in 1940. The L-5 and L-12 were "premium" quiality guitars and never had this type (silkscreened) or style of script logo. This logo was used specifically on the budget models and it's usage does not adhere to any published dates of Gibson logo changes. Without more and better photos' date=' and spending a hour or so on research, I would say you have a 1940 L-50. Not a very valuable guitar, but it could be a very nice guitar as a player and memory. Enjoy.[/quote'] thats what i'm leaning towards as well, an L-50 although it's logo in inlaid pearl and not silkscreened. It's definitely peaked my interest. and thanks to all...I AM enjoying it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmsautoart Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 just looked at a few pics of an L-50 and two things stood out. The first were the "f" holes. On the 3 I looked at they appear much smaller than the holes on mine. They were 1939 and I think one was a 1940ish. The other thing was the size of the Gibson logo. They too were smaller fitting between the top two tuning posts where mine is larger starting and ending in the middle of the top two posts. Any relavance? I now see how people can get into collecting guitars! Very interesting stuff! L5Larry: I bwish mine looked like your avatar. That thing is gorgeous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted July 4, 2010 Share Posted July 4, 2010 L5Larry: I wish mine looked like your avatar. That thing is gorgeous! Thank you, that's the headstock of my 1990 "Historic" L-5CES.... back to your guitar... Since the logo is inlaid mother-of-pearl (scratch what I said about the silkscreened logo), it still fits the 1940 era. The large straight script logo was used from the late-30's to the mid-40's. The small straight script logo is generally thought of as mid-30's. I don't know of anything documented concerning the size of the f-holes as related to model or year. I'm still thinking L-50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmsautoart Posted July 4, 2010 Author Share Posted July 4, 2010 The 1940 l-50 sounds like it could be it for sure. I remembered there was a handwritten date in the other F hole that my great grandfather probably wrote in there. I don't think Gibson ever wrote a date inside. Looks like Dec. 17, 1940. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Nothing to add. Just wanted to say that's a really sweet looking guitar, and welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G McBride Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Nice family heirloom you have there. Keep it and pass it on with as much information as you can find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeVeeWee Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 That top is gorgeous! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riffster Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Very nice guitar. There is a 1938 and a 1939 on eBay right now. That can give you an idea what they go for, both items have buy it now prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmsautoart Posted July 5, 2010 Author Share Posted July 5, 2010 Thanks to all for the compliments. You know its one of those things that i'm sure everybody thinks about from time to time. I wish I could go back and ask the people who would know more about this and they are all gone now. I wish I had asked my grandfather, who gave it to me, more about the history. My mom might know more about it. I do know that my great grandfather was a Vaudvillian musician/ actor and I was told he played this guitar in MA./ New England (where my family is from). In fact in the guitar case were little songs scribbled on paper w/ chords and lyrics. Its been years since I looked at any of it. I'll have to see if anything has any dates. Only problem is the Vaudville circuit pretty much died in the early 1930's, so the age of the guitar, if a 1940 or late 30's, wouldn't fit. One more thing I have noticed about this guitar vs. some other L-50s: The neck is bound (I guess thats what you call it) It has the white stripe on both sides and the bottom where it meets the body. I can't seem to find another L-50 on line with this feature or the large Gibson logo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heymisterk Posted July 5, 2010 Share Posted July 5, 2010 Sweet guitar. I love those oldies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmsautoart Posted July 7, 2010 Author Share Posted July 7, 2010 Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Franzi Posted July 7, 2010 Share Posted July 7, 2010 The L-12 drops out I think because it always had a bound pickguard and peghead. If it is an L5, it should be a very early one. The L-5 was made with dot inlays in the very early days, but already from 1929 on this model came with the big block fretboard inlays. Take a look at the L-5 from 1936 they have at Gruhn’s http://www.gruhn.com/photo/AR4019.jpg It looks like the L-50 but then with added fingerboard binding. Take a look at the L-50 from 1939 http://www.gruhn.com/photo/AR4097.jpg When they went to the bound fingerboard on the L-50 they also switched to trapezoid inlays, so this guitar is somewhere in between and difficult to place. Nice guitar at any rate! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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