Gibson L-5CES 1975 - Vintage Sunburst

Product Description

Here we have a vintage L-5CES from Gibson! This one was built in 1975 and is in very good overall condition.

Features a hand-carved spruce top, carved maple back, maple sides, and 5-piece flame maple neck. The fretboard is ebony with block inlays and multiply binding. The neck pickup is an original stamped patent number while the bridge pickup looks to be a newer '57 Classic. The neck pickup tone pot has been replaced, but the rest of the electronics appear original. Additionally the knobs are newer units, it has a replaced nut, it has been refretted, and there is a Gretsch strap button added at the neck heel. There is no interior label. The tuners, tailpiece, bridge, and other hardware looks to be original.

The guitar has a small repair on the top bass side lower bout where your picking arm rests. It looks to be a small crack with a bit of touchup. There is a crack or center seam separation repair under the tailpiece. The back seam looks to have been reglued slightly at some point too. The hardware plating is well worn on the tailpiece and pickup covers. The guitar has tiny dings and surface scratches throughout. There is light patina about the finish in areas too. There are no major dents or breaks however.

This one weighs 7lbs 13oz. The neck measures .795 to .930 at the 1st and 9th frets. It has a 1 11/16" nut and the neck has a slimmer oval C carve to it. It has a bold and round sound with excellent clarity and a full spectrum of frequencies. It's very even sounding with medium volume acoustically. It is a parallel braced guitar and the top drives well with nice sustain. The guitar has been refretted with larger wire at some point, and the frets show light wear, but notes ring out true.

Overall we're pretty happy with this L-5! It comes from an era that doesn't always get much love, but it's still a flagship model hand-carved by a master luthier and truly sounds the part. Ships in the original hardshell case.

1975 Gibson L-5CES Specs

• Hand-Carved Spruce Top
• Hand-Carved Maple Back
• Maple Sides
• 5-Piece Figured Maple Neck
• Ebony Fretboard
• Set Neck Construction
• Parallel Bracing
• 1 11/16" Nut Width
• 12" Radius
• 25.5" Scale Length
• Kluson Sealfast Tuners
• Multiply Neck and Body Binding
• Bound F Holes
• Flower Pot Headstock Inlay
• Block Headstock Logo
• ABR-1 Bridge
• Carved Rosewood Bridge Base with Inlays
• L-5 Engraved Tailpiece
• Two Volume & Two Tone Controls
• Dual Humbucker Pickups
• 3-Way Toggle Switch
• Bound Tortoise Guard
• 17" Wide Body
• Lacquer Finish

Product Details