Gibson's Most Successful 17-Inch Archtop  -  Essentially a Plain Version of the L-5
One of Just 17 Examples Shipped in 1952

1952 Gibson L-7CNE 'McCarty'.

One of just 17 natural L-7CNE's shipped in 1952. This sixty-three year old L-7CE 'McCarty' weighs just 5.60 lbs. and has a nut width of 1 11/16 inches and a scale length of 25 1/2 inches. Seventeen inch wide, 3 1/3 inches deep body with hand-carved book-matched solid spruce top, two-piece solid maple back, solid maple sides and two unbound 'f' holes. Two-piece maple neck with mahogany center-strip. Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 20 original thin frets and inlaid pearl double-parallelogram position markers. The body is triple-bound, the fretboard and headstock are single-bound. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl crown inlay. Single-layer black plastic truss-rod cover with two screws. Black laminate 'stinger' on the back of the headstock. Individual 'no-name' Kluson Deluxe tuners with single-ring Keystone plastic buttons (stamped on the underside "2356766 / Pat Appld."). Original Gibson 'McCarty' single-coil pickup (with an ouput of 4.79k) with non-adjustable, flat pole pieces mounted into a five layer black over white plastic laminated pickguard together with one volume and one tone control and a screw-on type input jack. Black plastic circular knobs (9/16 inch in diameter, 5/16 inches tall) with ribbed sides. Height-adjustable frequensated rosewood bridge on rosewood base. Standard trapeze tailpiece with three raised parallelograms on cross-bar, secured to lower edge of body by three screws. Original oval white label inside the bass f-hole with the Style "L-7-C" written in black ink and the serial number "A-10309" stamped in black. This guitar is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition. There are a few very small and insignificant surface marks on the body and some fine finish checking on the top and back. There are a couple of very small indentations on the back of the neck just behind the 8th and 9th frets - most probably due to the use of a capo. The original thin frets show very little wear and the fret-board has no divots. Overall this fine sixty-three year old jazz masterpiece is in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition. Housed in the original Gibson 'Faultless' 'four-latch' shaped brown hardshell case with green 'flannel' lining (8.75).

A total of just forty-seven L-7CENs were shipped between 1950 and 1954. The shipping numbers are as follows:
1950:10; 1951:14; 1952:17; 1953:0; 1954:6.

"The basic finish of the "electrified" L-7's was initially (and only) the traditional sunburst, but in 1950, a "natural" option was also offered for each model, until their discontinuation in 1954." (Gibson Electrics. A.R. Duchossoir, p.41).

"In 1948 Ted McCarty joined the Gibson company, and one of his first priorities was to expand the potential number of Gibson's electric guitar models in a quick and inexpensive way. He invented an ingenious pickup/pickguard assembly known now as the McCarty pickup, consisting of a very thin single-coil pickup with non-adjustable, flat pole pieces mounted into a laminated pickguard along with volume and tone controls and an input jack. The McCarty pickup assembly was offered in single - and double - pickup versions, for cutaway and non cutaway guitars, and for guitars with nickel-plated parts and gold-plated parts. The pickup was officially introduced on the L-7 guitar as an option, and these early electric L-7s were labeled the L-7E or the L-7PE, with the letter E designating their electric status, while P indicated Premiere, or cutaway, body style. In reality, these were stock L-7 guitars that had the McCarty pickup assembly supplied with them at the factory instead of a conventional acoustic pickguard."

Originally introduced in 1948 as a 'plain' version of the L-5. "Extremely popular for orchestra use, the L-7C with its modern cutaway design has outstanding appearance and an unusually rich tone. Gibson quality, exclusive features, and expert workmanship insure perfection in every detail of construction. Attractive alternate white-black-white ivoroid binding - hand graduated carved top of selected spruce, arched curly maple back with matching curly maple rims. Three piece curly maple neck, with adjustable Truss Rod construction - bound rosewood fingerboard with attractive parallel pearl inlay design. Nickel-plated metal parts, Gibson designed tailpiece, laminated pickguard with attractive border, rosewood adjustable bridge, and enclosed individual machine heads with deluxe buttons." (1957-8 Gibson catalog).