Gibson LG-1 Model Flat Top Acoustic Guitar (1965), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 253956, cherry sunburst finish, mahogany back, sides and neck, spruce top, rosewood fingerboard, original brown alligator chipboard case.

This is a super clean all original example of a mid-'60s LG-1. This model served as Gibson's lower budget flat top for a couple of decades, but is still a classy looking and sweet sounding guitar. The LG-1 originally listed below the similar LG-2 in the line; they were externally identical but the LG-1 substituted simpler ladder-bracing under the top instead of an X-pattern. By the mid-60s the LG-1 was listed just below the B-25, which the LG-2 had morphed into and above the all mahogany LG-0, which took over the bottom of the line in 1958. The 1965 list price was $125 plus $13.50 for the "Durabilt" chipboard case. That year the surge in sales of beginner-grade flat tops peaked and 7,839 of these shipped from Kalamazoo, an all-time high for a Gibson flat top.

This one is a very nice survivor, less used than most showing very little wear. The top is finished in a medium-dark sunburst, not as "cherry" as many from this period. The back and sides are natural dark mahogany and top and back are both are single bound. The bridge is the bolt-on plastic piece Gibson adopted at this time, showing some slight shrinkage but solid and fully functional. The mahogany neck has a plain dot-inlaid rosewood fingerboard and is topped by the standard Gibson-logo'd headstock with Kluson Deluxe tuners. The nut is the slim style Gibson adopted this year, at a solid 1 5/8" wide not nearly as skinny as some. The slimmer nut width was originally specifically adopted for these student models before spreading to the rest of the line.

While intended as a budget guitar for student players the LG-1 in this period is still a very nicely made instrument. The sound is somewhat less sophisticated than its X-braced sisters, a tight but still sweet midrangey bark with something like a mix of Gibson and Stella characteristics. These days some folks actually like the bluesier tone of the ladder braced models better! This is a superbly well-preserved original 1965 guitar, one of the cleanest of these we have had complete in an original 1950s pattern alligator-grain chipboard case, which must have been leftover stock from several years before!

Overall length is 39 5/8 in. (100.6 cm.), 14 3/8 in. (36.5 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 4 5/8 in. (11.7 cm.) in depth at side, taken at the end block. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 9/16 in. (40 mm.).

This is simply a very clean, hardly used guitar looking pretty much unchanged from when it shipped out 59 years ago in 1965. There is some minor checking to the all-original finish and tiny scuffs, dinks and handling marks but really this guitar looks not much played since "HELP" was in theaters and "Satisfaction" ruled the airwaves.

There is a tiny finish chip in front of the bridge (from the bolted plastic piece edging forward very slightly) and the original bridgeplate has a bit of string hole wear. Otherwise this is a pretty flawless guitar, admittedly not Gibson's greatest flattop moment but a solid and sweet little easy-playing instrument with a pleasant sound, exactly as it was intended to be. The '50s style alligator-grain case appears original to the guitar although technically several years older, it is solid with a detached pocket lid but otherwise servicable and cooler than the 60's chipboards anyway! Overall Excellent + Condition.