Acoustic Guitar: Old Friends

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Old Friends
Often overshadowed by Gibson's larger flattops, Depression-era L-00s are excellent guitars for blues and fingerstyle players. Even though their history can be confusing, if you know what to look for, you might just find a vintage gem.

By Baker Rorick

Photo Credit: Martin Keith

First introduced in the late 1920s, Gibson’s L-00 model guitars helped set a standard for quality, tone, and playability that did much to increase the popularity of the guitar in America. Historically overshadowed by the later dreadnoughts and jumbos, the L series was Gibson’s first line of flattop guitars. Their affordability made them among the company’s most successful guitars; even in the depths of the Great Depression, they sold by the thousands. These 70-year-old instruments have a great voice for self-accompaniment and are fabulous choices for fingerstyle country blues and rags. Elegant in their simplicity, the L series has influenced and inspired many modern luthiers, and Gibson has offered numerous reproductions and reissues.

IN THE BEGINNING
By the 1920s, Gibson (which started making guitars in 1896) had earned a reputation for quality and innovation in its mandolins and archtop guitars. The company was one of the most successful stringed-instrument makers in the US, and in 1926—the same year it patented the adjustable truss rod—Gibson introduced its first flattop: the L-1. Although other specs would change later on, the first L-1s had the basic dimensions that the line would follow for years to come: a concert-size body, a scale-length of 24¾ inches, and a hearty V-shaped neck that measured 1¾ inches at the nut.

The first instruments (which featured “The Gibson” script logos on their headstocks) had all-mahogany bodies with a small, round-shouldered upper bout, a narrow waist, a large, circular lower bout, and 12-fret mahogany necks with rosewood fretboards. Not long after their introduction, the mahogany tops were replaced with spruce, and the resulting model was the instrument that’s closely associated with blues legend Robert Johnson.

NEW MODELS
The L-1 was followed by the less expensive L-0 in 1928. The first L-0s were constructed with mahogany back and sides and spruce tops and featured an all-black finish. These guitars had single-ply ivoroid binding on the top and back. Although the original L-0 retained the 12-fret neck, it featured a new body shape with a less rounded lower bout. In 1932, Gibson responded to the growing trend toward 14-fret necks with the L-00, which was otherwise virtually identical to the L-0 except that it lacked binding on the back. Eventually, Gibson made most of the L series with 14-frets and the new body shape, while continuing to make an occasional batch of 12-frets. For the next ten years or so, the various L-series models became virtually interchangeable, as styles and prices were swapped, discontinued, and reintroduced.

AN EVOLVING DESIGN
Most 1930s-era L’s have the same general specifications as earlier instruments, but some details provide helpful information if you’re tying to date a particular guitar. The guitars typically have a white, stenciled, script “Gibson” logo. Most of the L’s made during this time have single white binding and a simple white/black/white rosette. While earlier models didn’t usually have pickguards, many L’s now sported “firestripe” brown celluloid pickguards that mimic the body’s contour. A few L’s were made with white pickguards. The all-black finish slowly evolved into a dark brown with a small sunburst area around the bridge. The size of the sunburst area gradually increased over the years, eventually growing into the classic Cremona burst with dark, shaded edges and a beautiful golden-amber center. It is important to remember, though, that there are innumerable variations and anomalies with most Gibson guitars of this era. The company built in batches, and no two batches were ever quite the same, creating a lot of ambiguity when it comes to making exact identifications. The book Gibson’s Fabulous Flat-Top Guitars (Whitford, Vinopal, and Erlewine; Backbeat Books, 1994) is a great source for those interested in further study, as is Gruhn’s Guide to Vintage Guitars (Gruhn and Carter; Backbeat Books, 1999).

SWEET INSPIRATIONAL TONES
The first time I played an old L-00, I was flabbergasted. It had a beautiful, open, woody tone, a very well-balanced sound with plenty of bass and lots of volume, all coming from a small, incredibly lightweight instrument. The secret of the sound produced by vintage Gibson L-00s lies in the thinness of the woods and the light, tall, thin X-bracing of their spruce tops built to maximize tone. (Some of the earlier mahogany top guitars had H-shape bracing.) The woods used on these guitars’ bodies are often so thin that the sides are reinforced inside with strips of linen to prevent splitting. While great for tone, the guitars’ light construction also left them at the limits of structural integrity, and with the heavy strings of the day, many L’s had their bridges pull off; others simply collapsed. Vintage examples in completely original condition are extremely rare, but quite a few have survived with various repairs.

Strung with .012s or lighter strings, Depression-era L-00s are suitable for a variety of applications and playing styles. Their meaty V-shaped necks, unfamiliar to many players today, are remarkably comfortable, and their wide string spacing and short scale length make them particularly fine for fingerpicking. These are intimate, personal instruments—flatpicked or strummed, they are just as fine for jazzy comping and solo passages as they are for beautiful bossa novas—and they’re superb for recording. Their tone is not complex but warm, bright, and boldly voiced for such diminutive instruments. Though they lack the booming bass and midrange of many larger guitars, these little Gibsons can more than hold their own among mandolins, fiddles, Dobros, and dreadnoughts. L-00s were the “people’s guitars” of their time—used by some pros, but mainly by ordinary folks looking to bring music and joy into hard times.

Today, the mere sight of an L-00 can evoke Dust Bowl days and Delta blues, for these guitars were passed around cross-country buses and campfires as strangers came together to share their stories of hard times, as well as popular songs and spirituals. And, seven decades after their creation, nothing sounds better suited for old-timey, traditional folk, gospel, country, and blues than a vintage L-00.

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This article also appears in Acoustic Guitar, October 2006

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