Gibson L-5 CES James Hutchins Masterlabel - USA 2002

The L5 is the guitar that started it all. So much more than a great ‘jazz box’ - Gibson’s flagship archtop guitar, the L5, paved the way for the innovation of the guitar as we know it. From pioneering folk and country artists such as Maybelle Carter to Jazz icons like Wes Montgomery and Pop icons like John Mayer, the L5 has had a diverse appeal and made a huge impact on the innovation of guitar and on music as a whole.  

"I consider this to be the most important guitar in the course of country music history” George Gruhn on Maybelle Carter’s 1928 Gibson L5. Since 1924 Gibson’s L5 was an instrument that incorporated many ‘firsts’ in the guitar playing world. Lloyd Loar – virtuoso musician, engineer and builder at Gibson, used his experience with mandolin design to create the first guitar with F holes. It featured a 16” body, 24 ¾" scale length and carved spruce top. It was a hit with guitarists in jazz bands, folk musicians and soon it was a popular instrument in the emerging world of country music. Maybelle Carter, with her L5 in tow, used her L5 to carve out a template for one of the biggest genres in the history of music.  

The L5 received many changes over the years. From 16” to 17” inch body depth, longer scale length and more lavish appointments. It was an early candidate for electrification in the mid 30s, with artists such as Oscar Moore having an electrified version custom made for him to play in the Nat King Cole Trio.  

The quintessential L5 came to realisation in 1957, when Seth Lover’s newly designed humbucking pickups made their way onto Gibson’s flagship archtop. The new pickups were void of single coil hum but also mitigated feedback substantially. The humbucking pickups sat on a sprung mechanism, separating it from the top of the guitar which isolated them from the vibrating body.  

The L5 continued to be a hit. Many of Nashville’s session musicians owned some variant of the L5, but it was also gaining ever increasing popularity as a jazz guitar. Wes Montgomery soared to great heights with his signature single pickup L5 under his arm, helping to solidify the L5s legacy as the ultimate jazz guitar.  

The presentation of this guitar is A+. It is like new, with the benefit of a few years for the guitar to age nicely with the top settling in and the tonewoods opening up to provide a rich frequency response. This is as pristine as they come. The tone of this guitar is as expected: big, warm and rich. With a powerful deep resonance coming from the 17” body. This guitar has been made by the late master luthier James "Hutch" Hutchins, making it even more desirable.

Many of the earlier L5s have rather thin necks, which are not for everybody. From a rhythm perspective this may aid in ease of chord shapes, but can feel a little cramped on single note phrases. This has lead to many older examples having the neck replaced. This L5 has a decent width and depth to the neck, making the strings easier to navigate with ease and comfort. The flatwound strings provide a classic warmth combined with the classic Gibson PAF style humbuckers. This is THE sound, and this L5CES is a testament to its storied lineage of arguably the most important archtop guitar in history.  

Specs: 

Scale length: 25.5” 

Fretboard Radius: 12” 

Action at 1st fret: 0.3mm 

Action at 12th fret: 2.25mm 

Neck depth at 1st fret: 2.2mm 

Neck depth at 12th fret: 27mm (heal curve commencing) 

Nut Width: 43.4mm 

12 fret width: 53.7 

Neck material: Maple 

Fretboard inlays: Pearloid 

Body: Maple back/sides with carved spruce top 

Body size at lower bout: 17” 

Front Pickup: Humbucker  

Bridge Pickup: Humbucker 

Tuners: Gibson brand tulip 

Pickguard: Tortoiseshell with 5 ply binding 

Bridge: Tune-o-matic on ebony base 

Electronics: Stock 

Hardware: 24k Gold Plated 

Case: OHSC