1942 Gibson L-00
With its bold multi-ply bindings, angled-wing bridge, and reddish tinge to the top sunburst’s darker areas, this 1942 Gibson L-00 looks more like a first year Banner LG-2, but with L-00 body and headstock! It’s a particularly gorgeous L-00 by our measure, and it’s just come through our repairshop with a fresh reset and new frets – so playability is as good as it gets.
With scalloped and particularly light top bracing, red spruce top, and chunky neck carve, this L-00 has a full, dry, and open voice. The bass is nicely developed, the trebles are clear, bold, and sweet; and the midrange is present, supportive and nicely punchy. The guitar is great flatpicked, and sweetens up beautifully under a lighter touch with overtone development that’s proportional to the player’s right hand input. Added up, this guitar is a perfect marriage of an L-00’s punch and an LG-2’s sweetness, with a bit of the raw Banner voice tossed in.
In lovely condition with original finish throughout that shows little wear, this L-00 presents beautifully. The top has a cleanly reglued center seam below the bridge, tight, short top cracks south of the bridge, and a properly repaired crack along the treble side of the fretboard extension. The bridge and bridge plate are original and unmodified, and the braces are all well glued. The back has 4 cleanly repaired cracks, and a few brace ends have been cleanly reglued. We were the first repair people to work on this guitar, so there are no older amateur repairs to get disappointed by.
Clean neck reset and refret, new aged bone saddle, original ebony nut, and 5 of the 6 bridge pins are original (note the unique head shape of the 1942/3 Gibson pins). The tuners are approximately period correct replacements, and the bushings are modern go-backs. There is a well disguised filled-in strap-button screw hole in the heel of the neck. Almost just missed it!
The neck has a deep, chunky, and round carve with a nut width of half way between 1-3/4” and 1-11/16”. First fret neck depth is .960”, 9th fret depth is 1.064. This is much more of a Banner-period neck than earlier or later versions. Bridge pin spacing is 2-3/16, scale is 24.75”, and the guitar weighs 3.7 lbs. We have it set up with 12-54 strings and an action of 5-6 64ths.
With non-original hardshell case.
With scalloped and particularly light top bracing, red spruce top, and chunky neck carve, this L-00 has a full, dry, and open voice. The bass is nicely developed, the trebles are clear, bold, and sweet; and the midrange is present, supportive and nicely punchy. The guitar is great flatpicked, and sweetens up beautifully under a lighter touch with overtone development that’s proportional to the player’s right hand input. Added up, this guitar is a perfect marriage of an L-00’s punch and an LG-2’s sweetness, with a bit of the raw Banner voice tossed in.
In lovely condition with original finish throughout that shows little wear, this L-00 presents beautifully. The top has a cleanly reglued center seam below the bridge, tight, short top cracks south of the bridge, and a properly repaired crack along the treble side of the fretboard extension. The bridge and bridge plate are original and unmodified, and the braces are all well glued. The back has 4 cleanly repaired cracks, and a few brace ends have been cleanly reglued. We were the first repair people to work on this guitar, so there are no older amateur repairs to get disappointed by.
Clean neck reset and refret, new aged bone saddle, original ebony nut, and 5 of the 6 bridge pins are original (note the unique head shape of the 1942/3 Gibson pins). The tuners are approximately period correct replacements, and the bushings are modern go-backs. There is a well disguised filled-in strap-button screw hole in the heel of the neck. Almost just missed it!
The neck has a deep, chunky, and round carve with a nut width of half way between 1-3/4” and 1-11/16”. First fret neck depth is .960”, 9th fret depth is 1.064. This is much more of a Banner-period neck than earlier or later versions. Bridge pin spacing is 2-3/16, scale is 24.75”, and the guitar weighs 3.7 lbs. We have it set up with 12-54 strings and an action of 5-6 64ths.
With non-original hardshell case.