A Beautiful 1957 Gibson L-5 CES with Alnico-V Pickups - Refinished at the Gibson Factory in 1969

1957 Gibson L-5 CES

This magnificent 17-inch-wide Golden Sunburst L-5 CES weighs just 6.90 lbs. and has a two-piece carved spruce top with a two-piece 'book-matched' curly 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 11/16 inches, the scale length is 25 1/2 inches and the neck profile is nice and thick starting at 0.92 inches behind the first fret and rising gently to 1.03 inches behind the eleventh fret. Twenty medium frets, and inlaid pearl block position markers. Seven-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. Three-layer black over white plastic bell-shaped truss-rod cover with "Custom" engraved in white and secured by two screws. Individual Kluson Sealfast tuners with tulip-shaped metal buttons. Two Alnico-V single-coil pickups with nicely matched outputs of 8.38k and 8.41k. Four controls (two volume, two tone) on the lower treble bout, plus three-way pickup selector switch on the treble horn. Gold plastic bell-shaped or 'top-hat' control knobs. Inside the bass 'f' hole is the original Gibson orange oval label with Style number "L5-CES" written in ink and the serial number "A 26149" (ca. August 1957) stamped in black. Inside the treble 'f' hole is the FON (factory order number) "U 8952 8" stamped in black. Multi-bound tortoise like plastic pickguard. Rosewood bridge with pre-set compensating rosewood saddle and pearl 'Bow-Tie' inlays. Gold-plated flat plate tailpiece with engraved "L 5" and small hole at the bottom center for the 'Varitone' (allen wrench tension adjustment). The original? owner had his name "Dan Burm" engraved on the brass insert of the tailpiece. All hardware gold-plated. Housed in its original Gibson four-latch brown hardshell case with pink plush lining (9.00).

This is a truly amazing guitar which under ultra-violet light shows absolutely perfectly - in fact the guitar shows as an absolutely mint (9.50) example. According to the previous owner it was sent back to the Gibson factory in 1969 for a complete re-finish. We have thoroughly examined every part of this guitar and with the help of Tom Van Hoose, the author of the standard work on the Gibson Super 400 and L-5 we have the following comments:

The guitar was refinished in 1969 at the Gibson factory with the original 'Golden Sunburst' finish and at the same time
the factory renewed the frets, replaced the pickguard, the rosewood bridge and the switch-tip. The inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo
on the headstock is missing the dot on the "i" but is otherwise absolutely correct - this was most probably an oversight when the guitar was originally made in 1957.

"From the photos, the guitar looks very nice overall.  The finish corresponds to a color that may have been very much like the original, as opposed to the usual late ‘60s lighter sunburst. The headstock contours look right, and the missing I dot may just be an oversight.  The bridge is a replacement.  At the rear pickup cavity, the two “forward” screw holes look interesting - perhaps a mistake made originally or when refinishing was completed.  The pickguard is also a replacement. On the underside of the pickups I think you can see gold plating on the Alnico magnets, maybe. The pickups look good. Overall, it does look very nice even if refinished." (Tom Van Hoose - March 1st, 2022).

"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… From 1954 through approximately the first half of 1958, the L-5CESwas equipped with twin Alnico pickups with large rectangular adjustable pole pieces." (Thomas A. Van Hoose. The Gibson Super 400, pp. 112,113 & 115).

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.