1934 L5 Acoustic-Electric Guitar

Artistry in archtop guitar design
All guitar historians will tell you that Orville Gibson invented the archtop guitar at the end of the 19th century, but many will also add that Lloyd Loar advanced the design considerably in the early 1920s. Gibson was already the leader in a market dominated more by mandolins and related instruments than by guitars in the early part of the last century when it hired a multi-talented musician, composer, teacher, and physics engineer by the name of Lloyd Loar in 1919 as a design consultant. Along with designing the other members of his Master Series”the legendary F-5 mandolin, H-5 mandola and K-5 mando-cello”Loar unveiled the L-5 guitar in 1923, but the model is considered to have reached its zenith in 1934. While Gibson was already the preeminent manufacturer of archtop guitars, Loar brought a raft of advancements to the table, including harmonically tuned carved tops, violin-style f-holes (the L-5 was Gibson's first guitar to carry them), tuned longitudinal tone bars (braces), and necks with longer playable portions of the fingerboard.

Advancing the form
While Loar's L-5s of the early 1920s were impressive instruments in themselves, Gibson designers continued to take the format forward after his departure from the company in 1924, and improved the model considerably over the course of the following 10 years. They dropped the Verzi Tone Producer”a supposedly "tone enhancing" wooden disc of somewhat dubious worth”from the inside of the body, upgraded the cosmetic appointments, changed the rosewood fingerboard to ebony, and replaced the plain dot position inlays with pearl blocks.

A powerful performer
Players who are unfamiliar with the format are often surprised to find what a powerful acoustic guitar the L-5 can be. Throughout the late 1920s and early '30s it was the choice of professional jazz and dance-band players across the country, noted for its cutting, punchy rhythm work in particular. The thin, carved-arched top of solid spruce was tap-tuned to resonate harmoniously with the entire body, and the result was a guitar that not only put out impressive volume for its size, but one that was sweet, rich, and musical too.

A classic L-5 for a new century
The Gibson Custom Shop's 1934 L-5 is a painstaking recreation of the ultimate evolution of this stunning archtop acoustic guitar. Every effort is made to retain period-perfect detailing, while the full weight of the Custom Shop's luthiery skill is brought to bear on its manufacture. From the high-grade spruce top and high-grade maple back and sides, to the select maple/walnut neck and ebony fingerboard, this is a guitar made to play flawlessly and sound superb. Alongside such constructional considerations, details like the elongated bound pickguard, hand-rubbed Cremona Brown finish, open-back Waverly tuners, and flower pot headstock inlay make it virtually indistinguishable from the L-5 Gibson was producing at the height of the big-band era. Each 1934 L-5 comes with a Custom Shop case, Certificate of Authenticity, and Custom Care kit.

Nitrocellulose finish
Applying a nitrocellulose finish to any Gibson guitar is one of the most labor-intensive elements of the guitar-making process. A properly applied nitro finish requires extensive man hours, several evenly applied coats, and an exorbitant amount of drying time. But this fact has never swayed Gibson into changing this time-tested method, employed ever since the first Gibson guitar was swathed with lacquer back in 1894. Why? For starters, a nitro finish dries to a much thinner coat than a polyurethane finish, which means there is less interference with the natural vibration of the instrument, allowing for a purer tone. A nitro finish is also a softer finish, which makes it easily repairable. You can touch up a scratch or ding on a nitro finish, but you can't do the same on a poly finish. In addition, a nitro finish is very porous in nature, and actually gets thinner over time. It does not "seal" wood in an airtight shell”as a poly finish does”and allows the wood to breathe and age properly.

VOS treatment
All VOS (Vintage Original Spec) series guitars will use a proprietary process that includes unique steps for staining, wet-sanding, and hand-rubbing; subsequently the guitars reflect what a well-cared for 40-year-old guitar looks like. The result is a remarkable patina that will delight even the most discriminating enthusiast.