1955 Gibson L-5 CES -N Archtop Hollow Body Electric Guitar with case S#- A 24085

This great guitar is a Gibson model L-5CESN Model Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar, made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, that we think is either from late in 1955 or from 1956. It carries the serial # A-24085. It is in a  natural lacquer finish with a curly maple body and neck, a spruce top, an ebony fingerboard, and an aftermarket hardshell case.

This beautiful guitar shows some wear and does have some repairs -- this was definitely someone's gigging guitar at one point. It has had some repairs to the wood on one side  which you can see in the photos, but we hit it with a blacklight and we are very confident that the finish is original except where the repairs are.  The area inside the soundhole is pretty dirty and gunky. I  don’t know why but you can see what I mean when you look at the photo of the label. 

There are a number of small scuffs, scratches, and a couple of small dings into the spruce top. I have taken a photo of the area on the top where the small ding is. 

The frets appear original and look good with plenty of material left and the guitar plays extremely well. 

The two pickups are the high-end "staple pole" units used by Gibson only in the 1954-57 period, before the humbucking unit was designed. Compared to the earlier P-90 pickups these put out a fairly bright snappy sound (not unlike the DeArmonds they resemble) and have a sharper attack. These are controlled with the "standard" Gibson rig of four knobs, and a selector switch on the cutaway.

In Scotty Moore's hands, they called the L-5CESN "the Guitar that changed the World". This guitar may not have changed the world, but alongside its 18" sister the Super 400CES, this was Gibson's flagship instrument in the 1950s. Both models represented the fanciest, most deluxe electric guitars available. Just before the advent of solid body electric guitars, when introduced in 1951 this was the most advanced amplified 6-string in the world.

Built with all solid wood including a fully carved top and back, these two models were aimed squarely at the top of the market. With all the features of the acoustic L-5C and two built in pickups, the L-5CES was a guitar worthy of Gibson's top endorsers, the biggest name jazz, Country & Western, and pop players of this pre-rock era.

The laminated electrics Gibson and Epiphone offered by 1950 were big and fancy, but still didn't have quite the cachet of the fully carved acoustics, and the L-5 CES ("Cutaway electric Spanish") was meant to fill that niche. The gleaming natural finish on this guitar was an extra-cost feature, although it proved quite popular anyway. While the L-5CES cost a bit less than the Super 400CES, many players preferred the 17" body and this was to many the defacto top of the line Gibson.

The features on this instrument are based on the contemporary L-5CN, including multi-bound body, fingerboard, and headstock; bound f-holes; pearl block inlay in the ebony fingerboard; and a pearl "flowerpot" inlay on the headstock. The electrical appointments are specific to this era.

 We don't know who originally bought this guitar in 1955-6, but anyone purchasing an L-5CESN was almost certainly a serious player and could absolutely afford the best! Scotty himself said "the workmanship was so much better on the L-5" compared to the plywood ES-295 he traded in for it.

This is a wonderful sounding guitar, with a unique tonality for a large-body Gibson due to the combination of the solid wood construction and fairly rare alnico staple-magnet pickups. It perfectly re-creates the early Elvis RCA sounds, and a host of others besides. 
 
Overall length is 42 1/4 in. (107.3 cm.), 16 15/16 in. (43 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/4 in. (8.2 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/4 in. (641 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).

 It has been unplayed since it was gone over and has sat in the collection of Mr. Mike Hale until we purchased it to offer for sale today. Michael was a fixture in the Jazz community, a large collector of amazing Jazz guitars and a frequent contributor to  JazzGuitar.be under his user name BigMikeinNJ. Due to recent health setbacks, Mike sold his entire collection to us and we will be offering 70 of the finest Jazz guitars made over the next several months. 

This guitar can be viewed at Butler Music in Harrisonville, MO. Feel free to come in and test play it before buying it on Reverb.