2017 Gibson Wes Montgomery L5 CES Custom Archtop Jazz Guitar

Product Description

Initially produced as an acoustic in 1922 under the direction of famed Gibson luthier Lloyd Loar, the L-5 was Gibson’s first guitar with f-holes. In the 1940s the model became the rhythm box of choice for big band players and later the standard guitar for Wes Montgomery, who would eventually receive a custom model. And it was already one of the world’s most popular guitars when Gibson first electrified the model in 1951.

Gibson put a pair of P-90 single-coil pickups and a rosewood bridge on the first 31 L-5 CES models to emerge from the original Kalamazoo plant in ’51. Although the guitars never went into high production, the company’s engineers continued to work on numerous modifications. In 1958, 21 examples of the classic version of the L-5 CES that’s produced today by Gibson’s Custom Shop emerged, beefed up with two humbucking pickups and an ABR-1 bridge.

This Wes Montgomery L-5 CES is a truly classic instrument with great tone and craftsmanship  . Its appearance is both imposing and graceful, with a stylish single cutaway, block inlays, and artfully crafted headstock. The headstock is itself a work of art, bearing a pearl inlay inspired by the urns of ancient Greece. The L-5 CES has a high-grade spruce top and maple back and rims. Its body is a substantial 17-inches wide, 21-inches long, and 3 3/8-inches deep – dimensions key to its rich, dark, woody tones. Multi-ply binding in black or white accents the top and back, and single-ply white binding outlines the f-holes

The guitar’s neck is made of high-grade maple and walnut supporting a 20-fret ebony fingerboard with pearl block inlays and multi-ply black or white binding. The ES rounded profile neck has a 25 1/2-inch scale length with a 1 11/16-inch width at the nut.

The electronics array is pure Gibson, with one patented Gibson humbucking pickup, one volume knob and one tone knob. The Custom Shop’s L-5 CES is outfitted in all gold hardware and features Schaller M6s tuners. The instrument’s ABR-1 bridge has an ebony base and there’s an artfully rendered L-5 trapeze tailpiece. This guitar is in great condition, no dings, or dents, but a few small impressions on the front, and a bit more on the back, but nothing seen easily or thru the finish. The neck, playability and tone is equal to the best that we have ever had in the shop.

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