Richie Sambora's L-5S from the Bon Jovi Bounce Tour of 2002-2003

This prototype was specially made for Bon Jovi's lead guitarist Richie Sambora in 2002 by the Gibson Historic Custom Shop, and was used by him on the "Bounce" Tour in 2002-2003. This is the second of two prototypes made for him for a potential Signature model -- the other prototype was black (and as far as we know, he didn't use that one). The Richie Sambora L-5S Signature model never went into production. This 13 5/8-inch-wide guitar weighs 8.20 lbs. and has a nut width of 1 11/16 inches and a scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Solid mahogany body with carved maple top and back, one-piece mahogany neck, and ebony fretboard with pointed ends, 22 medium jumbo frets, and inlaid abalone block position markers. The initials "R S" are inlaid in black into the abalone block on the third fret. The top of the guitar has seven-ply binding, the back of the guitar has three-ply binding, and the neck and the headstock are single-bound. Headstock with "The Gibson" inlaid in abalone and an abalone flowerpot ("torch") inlay. The back of the headstock has an abalone and mother-of-pearl five-piece split-diamond inlay and "Gibson Custom Shop" logo silkscreened in gold. The serial number ("CS 21988", i.e. "Custom Shop 2002 1988") is stamped in white on the back of the headstock. Two-layer (black on white) plastic truss-rod cover with the initials "R S" engraved in white. Individual Grover Roto-Matic tuners with carved mother-of-pearl stairstep buttons. Two Gibson (Zebra) humbucker pickups with outputs of 7.79k and 7.66k. Four controls (two volume, two tone) on the lower treble bout, plus three-way pickup selector switch on the upper bass bout. Black plastic bell-shaped knobs with the numbers in white and with circular abalone inserts on the tops. The pickup switch has an abalone ring around it. Tune-O-Matic retainer bridge with metal saddles and separate stud tailpiece. All hardware nickel-plated. This guitar is in mint (9.50) condition, with only some very light belt buckle wear on the back of the guitar and some light finish checking. The top of the guitar is inscribed in silver marker on the lower bass bout: "Richie Sambora Bounce Tour '05'." Housed in the original Gibson Custom Shop black hardshell case with five latches and burgundy plush lining (9.00). Included are two photographs of Richie Sambora holding the guitar.

"Gibson's Custom, Art & Historic division has introduced an updated and improved version of the L-5S solidbody electric guitar, a model originally made in the 1970s and played by Rolling Stones guitarists Ron Wood and Keith Richards. A newly designed, lighter-weight companion model, the L-4S also debuted with the L-5S at the Summer NAMM show. The new models have a single-cutaway body that is wider than Gibson's flagship solidbody, the Les Paul Standard, but not as deep. Like the classic Les Pauls, the L-5S has a mahogany back and a maple top cap. The Style 5 designation is rooted in the 1920s, when Gibson named its new, and now legendary, archtop acoustic guitar the L-5. Across the Gibson line, from guitars to mandolins to banjo, Style 5 has represented the highest level of achievement in instrument design. The L-5S, with S standing for Solidbody, brought that tradition to the solidbody line from 1972-85 in its original version. The new L-5S features a single humbucking and Ebony finish, like the custom model played by Keith Richards, along with coil-tap capability, three-piece maple neck, multi-ply body and neck binding, ebony fingerboard, pearl block inlay and gold-plated hardware. MSRP: $5,444" ("Gibson Brings Back L-5S and Debuts L-4S," Press Release dated July 30, 2004, at http://namm.harmony-central.com/SNAMM04/Content/Gibson/PR/L-4S-L-5S.html).

"The Gibson L5S is a solid-body electric guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation. Introduced in 1972, the Gibson L5S was essentially a solid-body version of the popular Gibson L-5 hollowbody. Like the L-5, it featured multiple binding on the single-cutaway body, neck, and headstock, and also featured an ebony fingerboard with block inlays. The headstock featured a flower-pot inlay similar to the L-5 archtop and most L5S models featured the L-5 trapeze tailpiece (though some had stop-bar or TP-6 fine-tuning tailpieces). However, the L5S had a thin solid body, whereas the L-5 archtop was larger in size and fully hollow. The L5S was available in various finishes, such as ebony, cherry sunburst, and natural. Upon its introduction in 1972, the L5S featured two low-impedance pickups, similar to those found on several Gibson Les Paul models of that period, such as the Recording model, the Signature model, the Personal model, and the Professional model. This incarnation of the model was not a success, however, thus Gibson switched from low-impedance pickups to regular humbucker pickups. Though it was considered one of Gibson's more top-of-the-line models, it was still not particularly popular among guitarists. In the mid-1980s, the L5S was dropped from the Gibson line. Though it was not a popular model, the Gibson L5S was played by several famous guitarists. Ron Wood has occasionally used a black custom-made single-pickup L5S over the years with The Rolling Stones, and Keith Richards used the same guitar with his band the X-Pensive Winos in the late 1980s. Pat Martino used the L5S in the 1970s. Paul Simon also used a black-finished L5S in the late 1970s and early 1980s; he can be seen playing it in his film "One Trick Pony", and in several of his concert films of that era. More recently Johnny Borrell, of Razorlight, has used one exclusivly in recent videos and exstensivly on tour. In 2004, the L5S was briefly reissued by the Gibson Custom Shop Division; this reissue was partly based on the black-finished single-pickup L5S that Ron Wood and Keith Richards played. However, the model was discontinued by Gibson in 2005" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_L5S).