Gibson L-7C Model Arch Top Acoustic Guitar (1951), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # A-7145, sunburst lacquer finish, maple back and sides, spruce top; mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, original brown hard shell case.
This very early 1950's L-7C is a lovely solid wood cutaway archtop guitar fitted with an interesting Gibson period innovation-the short-lived Fingerrest/pickguard assembly. This was Gibson's answer to the period DeArmond "guitar mike" pickup, which was extremely popular at the time with players desiring to amplify their acoustic archtops. Obviously Gibson wanted a piece of the action, and one of new president Ted McCarty's first jobs after arriving at the company was to come up with a solution, and the patent application was filed in his name in November 1948. The Gibson unit goes DeArmond one better by actually integrating the pickup, controls and pickguard into one unit, which can be removed to convert the guitar back into an acoustic. The pickup actually sounds very good, but in practice never seriously challenged the DeArmond pickup hegemony, and Gibson found much greater success building dedicated electric guitars. The fingerrest unit has since become known as the "McCarty Pickup" and was officially available for any Gibson archtop, but only offered as a stock appointment on the L-7C.
He other features on this L-7C are typical for the day. The neck is maple with a center laminate, the top is carved spruce and the rim and back are maple. The neck and headstock are single bound, with triple binding on the top and back. The pearl inlay is a parallelogram pattern on the fingerboard with Gibson's traditional crown on the headstock. The bridge, tailpiece and tuners are the standard period fittings; the Kluson Deluxe pegs with tulip buttons are the very earliest style with the shaft completely enclosed by the housing. The white Gibson "artist" label inside the body indicates a shipping date in early 1951, one of just under 175 shipped both with and without pickup that year. This is a great-playing and sounding solid wood archtop acoustic/electric guitar, well on par with many more expensive Gibsons. Includes original brown HSC in nice condition.
Overall length is 42 in. (106.7 cm.), 17 1/16 in. (43.3 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 3/8 in. (8.6 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.). Very nice original condition overall, with no major wear just small dings and scratches, mostly to the lower areas of the top and some playwear to the back of the neck. The pickup unit works splendidly and the guitar also makes a very fine acoustic instrument with ot without it fitted. A lovely piece complete with the original brown HSC. Excellent - Condition.
