SOLD - Gibson L-C ‘Century of Progress’ - USA 1936

SOLD

The Gibson L-C or the Gibson ‘Century of Progress’ is Gibson’s flagship small bodied acoustic designed for the ‘Century of Progress’ World’s Fair of the 1930s.  

Its lavish display of full pearloid fretboard and headstock with Brazilian rosewood inlays and a vintage Gibson 2 tone sunburst give the guitar a striking and unique look. Combine this with an X braced spruce top, figured maple back, sides and Honduras mahogany neck, you have an attractive guitar that is rich and toneful with a well projecting mid-range punch.  

A Century of Progress International Exposition, also known as the Chicago World's Fair, was a world's fair held in the city of Chicago, Illinois, United States, from 1933 to 1934. It featured many exhibits, such as performances by Judy Garland, The Andrew Sisters, Cadillac introduced their V16 Limousine, and Gibson presented to the world their Gibson L-C ‘Century of Progress’ model. 

This guitar has been in the possession of one of Australia’s most highly regarded luthiers for some years, who carried out maintenance, including a very clean refret job and reglued X bracing. 1950s open back Grover tunes have been installed. The original bridge is quite flat, with plenty of height in the saddle. The guitar has been lovingly looked after and has minimal wear and tear for a guitar of this age. The frets are in very good condition, with plenty of life on them. The pearloid fretboard is in great shape, with no observable chips or nicks. The Brazilian rosewood inlays present well.  

This is a light, loud guitar with a mid-range punch that make it a joy for blues and fingerstyle playing. In a duo setting this guitar compliments the deep sound of a dreadnaught or jumbo style guitar beautifully. The comfortable v profile and wide fretboard make fingerstyle and lead playing easy.  

This is an eye catching small-bodied Gibson with fascinating history and a sound and look that will always invite curiosity and compliments.

Features:

Scale length: 630mm 

Fretboard Radius: 12” 

Action at 1st fret: 0.60mm  

Action at 12th fret: 25mm 

Neck depth at 1st fret: 24.6mm 

Neck depth at 12th fret: 32.5mm 

Nut Width: 44.8mm 

12 fret width: 55.7mm 

Neck material: Honduras Mahogany 

Fretboard inlays: Brazilian rosewood 

Body: Spruce top, maple back and sides 

Body size at lower bout: 374mm 

Tuners: Open back grovers with plastic buttons (original) 

Pickguard: Tigerstripe tortoise shell 

Bridge: Brazilian rosewood 

Case: Non original hard shell case