TYPE
Acoustic Hollow Body Archtop guitar
FEATURES
Spruce top and body, maple and birch back and sides, maple and mahogany neck
Ebony fretboard
INFORMATION
Like Orville Gibson before him, Lloyd Loar (1886-1943) combined his technical skills with his musical experience. During his five-year tenure, between 1919 and 1924, he improved many of the technical aspects of Gibson’s designs. However, his masterpiece was the Gibson L-5 archtop, which dates from 1922 and is considered one of the most important guitar designs ever.
The L-5, like previous Gibson models, had f-holes instead of round or oval soundholes and a large body, which benefited the acoustics.
The Gibson L-5 had fourteen frets, a truss rod for neck adjustment, an adjustable bridge, and a celluloid pickguard that provided stability and comfort. The instrument had a warm, full sound.
A cutaway model was introduced in 1939, followed in 1951 by a fully electric version; the L-5 CES.
