double0blues Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 In the latest newsletter from Music Villa they list a new "Gibson 5 Star Dealer L-1 reissue" - the pix and video look very interesting (link below) - has anyone been able to try one out yet? http://www.acousticletter.com/gibson-l1-reissue/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKahune Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 . Oooh! Very tasty, and tempting. . B) . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnnyReb Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Havent tried one but would LOVE to have one to acompany my AJ. Super cool six string! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 A beautiful guitar! This about a guitar made in the 1920s, though, is funny: "An uncommon reissue of a very popular 1930′s guitar made famous by Robert Johnson, pictured below." I've an original, a year older than RJ's, which is fantastic: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slimt Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 A beautiful guitar! This about a guitar made in the 1920s, though, is funny: "An uncommon reissue of a very popular 1930′s guitar made famous by Robert Johnson, pictured below." I've an original, a year older than RJ's, which is fantastic: Nice L1... as for the New ones... Ive owned quite a few.. from the Not for resales to the RJ L1.. . Not my thing.. 5 star or no star.. its just another L1. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisA83 Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 I wanted one until he started playing; I don't know if it was just his playing style, but it sounded too "nice" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfox14 Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Definitely one of my favorite Gibson designs of all time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayyj Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Looks a lot closer to the original than previous reissues - thumbs up to Gibson for finally getting it right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 Definitely one of my favorite Gibson designs of all time. Nice to see Robert bought one of the Road Worn pre-scratched Gibson models in the 30's! He didn't have to worry about the 'first scratch' then! BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 What is the "street price" on one of these? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdd707 Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Nice to see Robert bought one of the Road Worn pre-scratched Gibson models in the 30's! He didn't have to worry about the 'first scratch' then! BluesKing777. And then there is a question: Did RJ actually play an L-1? That would have been an expensive instrument at the time. The evidence is the above picture. Some say that could have been a photo studio prop. The only other known picture (the one with the cigarette in his mouth) shows a 14 fret. Those who knew him say he played the cheaper Harmony or Kalamazoo. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeegeKRquX4&feature=colike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 This is the one I'd like to see them reissue: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 Nice to see Robert bought one of the Road Worn pre-scratched Gibson models in the 30's! He didn't have to worry about the 'first scratch' then! BluesKing777. Is that the "VOS" finish??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
onewilyfool Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 And then there is a question: Did RJ actually play an L-1? That would have been an expensive instrument at the time. The evidence is the above picture. Some say that could have been a photo studio prop. The only other known picture (the one with the cigarette in his mouth) shows a 14 fret. Those who knew him say he played the cheaper Harmony or Kalamazoo. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeegeKRquX4&feature=colike His Travelling buddy Robert Shines ( I think) claimed he played a Kalamazoo archtop and NOT the L-1....but I think RJ could make ANY guitar sound good... http://www.vintagevibesf.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Kalamazoo.jpg ...the one thing I like better with the L-1's archtops vrs. the L-1 flat tops is you get more "shimmer" out of the trebles on the archtops.....more of a resonator sound, especially if you 'vibrato' the strings. Also has a plunky percussive type sound that I just love. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modoc_333 Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 This is one from that Ren series done last year.... like the J35 that Goto bought I guess Music Villa just has one left still..... its not a just released 5 star model though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pfox14 Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 And then there is a question: Did RJ actually play an L-1? That would have been an expensive instrument at the time. The evidence is the above picture. Some say that could have been a photo studio prop. The only other known picture (the one with the cigarette in his mouth) shows a 14 fret. Those who knew him say he played the cheaper Harmony or Kalamazoo. www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeegeKRquX4&feature=colike Yes, I believe that RJ actually did play the guitar in the photo, which is a 1920s L-1 (not 1930s as the reissue is stated as being). I am sure he could afford a $50.00 guitar and highly unlikely that a photo studio would have such a guitar laying around as a prop. The guitar in the photo booth picture was probably a Kalamazoo KG-14, which dates from the 1930s. Which guitar did he play in his famous recordings. That's anyone's guess, since they were recorded in 1936 or 37. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BluesKing777 Posted April 5, 2012 Share Posted April 5, 2012 Yes, I believe that RJ actually did play the guitar in the photo, which is a 1920s L-1 (not 1930s as the reissue is stated as being). I am sure he could afford a $50.00 guitar and highly unlikely that a photo studio would have such a guitar laying around as a prop. The guitar in the photo booth picture was probably a Kalamazoo KG-14, which dates from the 1930s. Which guitar did he play in his famous recordings. That's anyone's guess, since they were recorded in 1936 or 37. I'm with Paul! For different reasons... I have read a lot of the guff over the years, but still my question would be: 'Why would they give him an old busted Gibson that appears to have been lying in a barn or even outside the barn?" The photo to me looks like he has possession physically and mentally of that Gibson! It would be really interesting to hear from people who were there, like Johhny Shines, but I can't believe that guitar would have been looked at as anything but an Old Guitar.... It looks like HIS GUITAR. The valuable vintage guitar thing did not start until the late 60's, early 70's. Somebody would have thrown it out in the trash. If they wanted a photo shoot guitar, they would have given him the shiniest one they could find, even if it was a lousy guitar. No, I think someone with his musical abilities and ears would have come across that OLD Guitar that nobody wanted because it was not shiny anymore, and instantly would have recognised the musical potential. There were some stories that Robert was very good with setting guitars up..... BluesKing777. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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