One of the Very First Gibson L-5 CES's with Alnico-V Pickups

This magnificent 17-inch-wide blond L-5 CESN weighs just 7.10 lbs. and has a perfectly book-matched carved natural spruce top with a two-piece 'birds-eye' maple back and curly maple sides. Two-piece curly maple neck with a center mahogany strip, and multi-bound ebony fretboard with a small, graceful point at the end of the fretboard. The nut width is just under 1 5/8 inches and the neck profile is nice and thick staring at .90 inch behind the first fret and rising gently to 1.00 inches behind the eleventh fret. Twenty medium jumbo frets, and inlaid pearl block position markers. Nine-ply binding on the top of the guitar, five-ply binding on the back, and single-bound f-holes. Multi-bound headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl "L-5" flowerpot inlay. Black plastic bell-shaped truss-rod cover with white binding. Black-painted headstock rear face with widow's peak. Individual Kluson Sealfast tuners with tulip-shaped metal buttons. Two Alnico-V single-coil pickups with outputs of 8.77k and 8.86k. Four controls (two volume, two tone) on the lower treble bout, plus three-way pickup selector switch on the treble horn. Gold plastic barrel-shaped "speed' knobs. Inside the bass 'f' hole is the original Gibson white oval label with Style number "L5-CES" written in ink and the serial number "A 18187" (October 1954) stamped in black. Inside the treble 'f' hole is the FON (factory order number) "Y 6443 7" stamped in black. Original multi-bound tortoiseshell pickguard. Mid-sixties Gibson Tune-O-Matic bridge with nylon saddles on original rosewood base and gold-plated flat plate tailpiece with engraved "L 5" and small hole at the bottom center (for allen wrench tension adjustment). All hardware gold-plated. This guitar is almost new and unplayed. In 1954 the guitar was available with either a rosewood 'preset' bridge or a Tune-O-Matic bridge on a rosewood base. It appears that this guitar was originally shipped from the factory with a rosewood 'preset' bridge and this has been replaced with a more functional and easier to intonate mid-sixties Tune-O-Matic version. There are a few miniscule marks on the top, but otherwise this incredible guitar is truly in near mint (9.25) and totally original condition. Housed in its original Gibson four-latch brown hardshell case with pink plush lining (9.25). Quite simply the best Alnico-V L-5CESN we have ever seen…

"At the end of 1953 the L-5CES was upgraded with a pair of Alnico pickups featuring 6 adjustable magnets. But a few instruments were produced subsequently with regular P-90s or even a mixed outfit like the 1954 Les Paul Custom. The model was also fitted with a Tune-O-Matic bridge, but there again it seems that the rosewood bridge was apparently retained (on special request?) on some instruments. All the other specifications remained unchanged." (A.R. Duchossoir Gibson Electrics: The Classic Years, p.182).

"The L-5CES, or electric L-5, was introduced in late 1951 when 31 sunburst and 8 natural-finish guitars were shipped from the Kalamazoo factory. The L-5CES was introduced slightly before the Super 400CES, but both models were shown together at trade shows just prior to the L-5CES introduction. Like the Super 400CES, the
L-5CES evolved through a series of changes in pickups, body cutaways, and neck contours as the instrument became more an electric guitar and less an acoustic guitar. The evolutionary changes of the L-5CES will be summarized in some detail below. The new electric L-5 guitar was designed to incorporate a combination of features from the L-5C and the ES-5, Gibson's premier electric guitar from 1948 through 1950. From the L-5C, the L-5CES took its neck and body design and also incorporated the carved spruce top and carved, book-matched curly maple back. From the ES-5, the L-5CES utilized the more rigid internal bracing under the top, which was routed to accommodate two P90 single-coil pickups and fitted with two tone and volume controls and a pickup selector switch (slightly different from that of the ES-5, which sported three P90 pickups, three volume controls and one tone control, and no selector switch.) Thus, the L-5CES emerged as an ingenious blending of features from two very fine but different instruments, and quickly assumed a personality of its own." (Thomas A. Van Hoose. The Gibson Super 400, pp. 112-113).

The "Alnico-V" single-coil pickup looks somewhat like a P-90 soapbar pickup, except has "staple" poles with adjusting screws next to the poles. They were used by Gibson only on their upper line models from 1954-1957.