1940 Gibson L-00 Restoration
We’ve had a number of requests for more photos of the black 1940 L-00, so here is a little photo-essay for you.
All told, this was a “normal” old Gibson restoration… but with a twist. There’s been no finish repair, no cleaning of the original finish, and the neck set was done with the original fretboard and saddle untouched. Our customer requested that the guitar look exactly as found, but made functional. It was a fun job.
The guitar had the following work done:
– neck reset
– first 8 frets replaced with reclaimed fretwire from a 1941 J-35 (unworn upper frets from the J-35 become the lower frets on the recipient – we keep all of our old fretwire!). The fingerboard patina was untouched, no grime removed, no sanding etc.
– pickguard was partially reglued
– bridge was removed, top reshaped (with custom made Gibson top shapers from TJ Thompson’s Pro Luthier Tools)
– bridge bottom was reshaped /unwarped and reglued
– numerous back cracks were glued
– major side cracks were aligned and glued
– side puncture was repaired
– nut and saddle slots were rebuilt
– treble side tuner buttons were replaced with buttons salvaged from other 40’s Klusons
– tuning machines were restored
This is a client’s guitar and is not available for sale.
Good job to preserve all that patina!
Wow! This is so intriguing. It reminds me of the days following Prohibition in the USA, right into the forties, and how moonshiners took an old, sedate car and “suped” it up to go faster than the cops while leaving it still looking like a worn out old family sedan. I’m sure this old Gibson could outrun the cops now, too.
What a beautiful Gibson
awesome, the guitar looks fantastic and I bet it plays great too!