ARCHIVED • SOLD
c.1945 Gibson Banner L-50
From 1942 to 1945 Gibson did continue to build guitars, but many of their models had been temporarily or permanently discontinued at the end of ’41. Their workforce demographics were quite different during those years as well, with women comprising a large percentage of the guitar-building staff. Most of Gibson’s wartime production was in flat-top acoustics: The J-45, Southerner Jumbo, and LG-2 comprised the bulk of instruments shipped during those years. Although we don’t have production records for instrument shipments during the War years, we can clearly deduce that the majority of other flat-top models and most archtop guitar production ceased during those years. It’s estimated by Banner historian John Thomas that some 9000 Gibson instruments were built during the WWII period, and an infinitesimally small number of these were archtops.
Naturally, we are quite excited to have this Banner L-50 in the shop. In 22 years of buying, selling, and fixing vintage guitars we had never before seen a Banner L-50 in person; and we’ve had our hands on hundreds of Banners. This guitar is a local find and is stamped ‘Made in USA’ on the back of the headstock, suggesting that it was exported to Canada when new. It is in remarkable condition, without cracks, damage, or much playwear.
In contrast to post-war L-50 models, this Banner version features a carved spruce top and carved maple back. The neck is one-piece maple as well, equipped with a truss rod (that has never been turned), and features an attractive rosewood fingerboard. The guitar arrived at our shop with a late 40’s or early 50’s McCarty pickguard installed that didn’t actually fit under the strings, so we’ve replaced it with a new aged-celluloid pickguard of the right shape. There remain two small screwholes in the top that hide nicely beneath the pickguard and one small screwhole at the side binding from the McCarty mounting. Beyond this, the only other modification is a set of replaced tuner buttons. The top is in perfect shape, the neck angle is good, the original bridge is unmodified, and the original tailpiece is intact. The original nut has never been removed or modified, all finish is completely original, and the original frets are full height with little wear. There is a minor binding separation at the back, treble-side waist.
The neck has a comfortably large carve that’s perfectly manageable, a nut width of 1-3/4” and 24.75” scale. We’ve dated this guitar to 1945 by the variety of Kluson tuning machines, the presence of a truss-rod, and the use of Sitka spruce as top-wood.
It’s a warm and forward sounding 16” archtop with a nicely open bass and rounded trebles. We’ve set it up with Monel Mediums, which have a loose feel with the shorter scale of the guitar. The original frets play well, but a slight rise at the fingerboard extension gets in the way of otherwise great playability in the higher fret positions. We’ve left the guitar as-found for originality’s sake, but would recommend some amount of fretwork for perfect playability. Playability is excellent in the first seven frets.
With period chipboard case
