Jackson Cunningham is among the most quickly up-and-coming guitar builders of this decade. Hailing from Southwest Virginia, Jackson draws obvious inspiration from the vintage Gibson guitars that are and were played by his musical heroes. His own creations are exquisitely crafted recreations of some of the most iconic designs of the 1930s.

His L-00 – played here by Jason Fowler – is a faithful reproduction of a 1933 L-00, complete with solid linings, thinner top construction, firestripe pickguard, and lightly built body; but unlike a ’33, this one was built with a rounded neck carve more similar to the 12-fret 1932 shape. Just like an original L-00, the guitar features an unbound back and one-ply top biding, a simple 3-ply rosette, and a light non-scalloped bracing.

The guitar captures the tone and quick response of a great L-00 – the characteristically warm and supportive midrange, the thick and meaty trebles and the flowering overtones. It doesn’t have 85 years under its belt, but as it was blueprinted quite accurately, it’s about as close in tone as a new guitar can get.

Sorry, this guitar has sold but you can still see our listing details here.

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Mark shows the process of gluing a hard-to-reach back crack in a ‘32 Gibson L-00 using a cleat system designed and marketed by TJ Thompson.

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Your guitar’s X brace is a crucial part of the top’s support system. An X that is loose in front of the lap-joint can promote a spectacular top failure, so it’s best to check on it every now and then, particularly on a 12 fret Gibson flat-top from the 1930s like this 1932 L-00.

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In this video Mark discusses some of the unique construction details of an early sunburst 14 fret L-00 from 1933.  An L-00 isn’t just an L-00… there’s always more than meets the eye!

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A clean brace reglue is all about taking the time to set things up precisely.  Gibson brace ends are notorious for popping loose, and getting them back down again can take some real coaxing.

In the case of this early ’50s J-45, the shrinking pickguard had cupped the top so badly that the upper soundhole brace, X brace, and a finger brace were all loose from the top and tightly sprung. The pickguard was removed, the top ‘ironed’ flat, and the braces are now getting reglued one-by-one.

It’s not uncommon to need to make custom brace-end gluing cauls that are specific to the guitar being worked on.  It’s a lot of extra work, but a well-fit caul is critical to a clean end-result and a repair that will hold in the long run.

Vintage Gibson guitar brace reglue details

Custom brace-end caul

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Mark offers some thoughts on cracks in the tops of vintage guitars. You’ll learn why they happen, which ones are more concerning than others, how to spot them, and what to do about them.

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This kind of bridgeplate positioning is a regular sight in a 50’s Gibson.

Someone didn’t like their job all too much, I figure.

A lifetime later, these sort of idiosyncrasies are partially responsible for the tonal variation between otherwise similar Gibson flat tops.

This is a 1951 J-45 that’s on the bench for a neck reset and some requisite brace regluing.

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The road to the modern Gibson flat-top acoustic began in 1926 when the L-1’s arched top was replaced with a flat, braced top. Those first flat-tops featured the familiar small and round L-body shape, a carved back, a long and narrow ebony pyramid bridge, and a unique early version of H-pattern top bracing. A year later the guitars had flat backs and the first sunbursts were being rubbed on flat tops.

By 1928, Gibson flat top designs had evolved into the L-0 shown here. The long and narrow ebony pyramid bridge was replaced with a stout, multi-layered rosewood one with interesting architecture and a 7th pin (more about these 7th pins to come). The H-bracing evolved as well, becoming slightly lighter and more flexible, with angles tweaked to improve mid-range presence, volume, and overall sweetness. The first adjustable truss-rods show up in flat tops in early 1928, and necks become a bit more comfortably rounded, narrower at the nut and more highly radiused at that same time.

It’s an interesting transition, and one that continued through 1933 when the first truly modern 14 fret steel string models are shipped from Kalamazoo.

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Mark discusses the unique 1932 Gibson L-00 with 13-fret neck joint, and the specific considerations that went into its repair.

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Some top crack repairs are more involved than others. This is the Sat-on-at-a-party-long-before-Covid 1947 LG-2. Still a long, long way off from completion, but a little bit closer now.

Nothing terribly fancy going on here, but I think it looks interesting enough to share. The top cracks are being glued while the simple wedge system is pushing everything together; the clamps and 25 lb sandbag are keeping things properly aligned. The treble-side crack was done yesterday. It follows the grain at the outside edge of the pickguard to within 2” of the top, and all the way to the bottom of the plate.

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