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1944 Gibson Banner LG-2
This LG-2 was built with a 4-piece Red spruce top and a mahogany neck with a maple insert in lieu of a truss rod. The bridge is gumwood and the board is rosewood. Beyond all of that, it’s been played A LOT and has the tone that only develops in a well-played guitar. It’s dark and expressive and offers a strong fundamental presence with a tinge of overtone flower when played with the right attack. Bass response is warm and well developed, mids are (of course) forward and powerful, and the trebles are sweet, rich, and full. It’s got all the goods.
The guitar’s neck is deep, round, and comfortable. The nut width of 1-11/16” works really well with the 1.003” first-fret neck depth and very round carve. It’s not as baseball bat-like as you might imagine – we reserve that term for those Banner Gibsons with the wider 1-3/4” nut extra-deep necks. This one is remarkably lovely, and it’s easy to wrap your thumb overtop to fret the low E string. The finish on the neck is worn off in the first position and shows plenty of playwear higher up the barrel. It feels great; nice and smooth. There’s no significant capo damage, which is a plus.
The top is crack-free, the back shows a few repaired cracks. The treble side has a few repaired cracks and a filled-in output jack hole. The original bridge and bridge plate are in good shape and there are no unsightly repairs hiding inside. A few braces have been cleanly reglued, the neck has been cleanly reset, the frets are recent, and the nut, saddle, and pins were replaced in our shop. The tuning machines are StewMac Golden Age replacements. There is a filled-in strap button screw hole on the bass side of the neck heel.
Most obviously, the guitar’s finish is very well worn and the name Wanda Jean Robertson was scratched into the top finish countless decades back, by the look of it. There’s not much to be found online of Wanda, but she possibly lived in California and played her LG-2 for small audiences there in the early post-war years.
The history of this guitar remains largely unknown, but its future will surely be more certain and can be yours to write. It’s a wonderful LG-2 in all the most important ways.
With newer hardhshell case.
