L-50? Year?

[Holmis]

hello,

I may have asked questions in the wrong place, in the introduction part, so i´ll try here instead?

I´m a newbie to Gibson Guitars, a long time player though, mostly electrics on the other big american brand since the 70s. nowadays i´m a collector to.

Now i have the chance to score a beautiful, what i think is a 40s Gibson L-50. The label is missing so i wonder if there are a serial# somewhere on/in the Guitar? And from the pics, i have searched the net and the logo looks 40s but it´s awful white and the guitar looks really unplayed and almost newish compared to what i find on the net, maybe it has spend most of it´s life in a case!

I haven´t found any pic with burst backside on a L-50, looks cool but make me suspicion at the same time. well i have loads of questions but....

 

I´ll appreciate any input, all knowledge is valuable when i´ll take decision to buy or not, after all i´m a novice to Gibson guitars and it´s hard to find facts regarding such old Guitars!

[j45nick]

At first glance, this looks like an extraordinarily nice pre-war L-50. The model number would typically be stamped somewhere inside one of the F-holes, where you could see it with a flashlight. If there is a Factory Order Number, it would also be ink-stamped inside an f-hole (on the insde of the back). I don't believe low-end archtops had a paper label, and during the years of WWII, these may not even have had an FON.

 

There are experts here who can pin this down much better than I can. Additional photos would help. If you have trouble posting them, go the the "Forum Feedback" section here and read the first thread on how to post photos using photobucket.

 

"Under the bed" finds are everyone's dream. They do exist, and perhaps this is one of them.

[pfox14]

Looks like a late 30s L-50 to me. The script logo was used in the 30s up to about WWII. Kluson style tailpiece was used in c1938-1942. Appears to be in nice condition. Sometimes Gibson would "hand write" the FON under the top near one of the f-holes. I would get an inspection mirror and a flash light and look around inside the body to see if you can find any FON anywhere. I would guess this is a 1939 L-50 and it will have a "E" coded FON.

[Holmis]

Wow, thanks guys, i´ve already asked the seller for the order number, hope it´s legit, looks really nice!

It´ll be my first acoustic Gibson, i once owned a 1976 firebird, some kind of celebration issue, did never learned how tho handle that guitar and sold it.

[j45nick]

Wow, thanks guys, i´ve already asked the seller for the order number, hope it´s legit, looks really nice!

It´ll be my first acoustic Gibson, i once owned a 1976 firebird, some kind of celebration issue, did never learned how tho handle that guitar and sold it.

Archtops are very different from flat tops. Most players here--but not all--have flat tops like the J-45 or the Hummingbird as their "primary" acoustics. A fair number of us here have both archtops and flat tops.

 

What kind of money are we talking? the L-50 is an entry-level archtop, and they are not particularly collectible. Obviously, if the condition is as it seems to be from the photo, the value is higher.

 

What kind of music do you want to play? If you are interested in American "roots" music, check out Gillian Welch and David Rawlings. David plays and old Epi archtop.

 

Good luck,

J-45 Nick

[drathbun]

My VG guide says the L50 had a pearl logo pre-war and a decal logo post-war.