Rare Two "PAF" L-5CT George Gobel

This wonderful L-5CT George Gobel guitar weighs just 7.10 lbs. and has a very fat nut width of over 1 11/16 inches inches and a long scale length of 25 1/2 inches. The 'thinline' body of the guitar is just under 2 1/2 inches thick , compared to 3 3/8 inches for the standard L-5. Carved spruce top, highly figured curly maple back and sides, three-piece curly maple neck, and bound ebony fretboard with 20 jumbo frets and inlaid pearl block position markers. The top of the guitar has nine-ply binding, the back of the guitar has five-ply binding, the f-holes are single-bound, the neck is triple-bound, the headstock has five-ply binding, and the fretboard has double sets of white lines going down it. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl flowerpot inlay. The back of the headstock is laminated black. The serial number ("21403002") appears on an orange label inside the guitar and is stamped in blind on the back of the headstock. Individual Gibson Sealfast tuners with bell-shaped metal buttons. Two '57 reissue PAF humbucker pickups with black plastic surrounds and outputs of 7.70k and 7.85k. Tortoiseshell pickguard with five-ply (white/black/white/black/white) binding. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch. Gold plastic bell-shaped knobs. ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic retainer bridge on ebony base and L-5 trapeze tailpiece. All hardware gold-plated. This guitar is in mint (9.50) condition. Housed in the original Gibson black hardshell case with purple plush lining (9.50). With the original case key in the original envelope.

The L-5CT was a "thin line" L-5 with a 2 3/8 inch deep body (instead of a 3 3/8 inch for the standard L-5) and a shorter scale length of 24 3/4 inches (instead of 25 1/2 inches). "It was expressly developed by Gibson for comedian George Gobel (hence the 'George Gobel' nickname) who asked for the guitar to be finished in a gleaming cherry red. The L-5CT was manufactured from 1959 to 1961 in fairly small quantities (43 in all) but a few of them were factory equipped with humbuckers or bar pick-ups, although it was primarily introduced as an acoustic guitar next to the L-5C" (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics from the Origins up to 1961, p. 132).

Gibson produced many Artist models in the 1950s and '60s -- the Les Paul, Byrdland, Tal Farlow, Barney Kessel, Trini Lopez, and Johnny Smith are probably the best known. This model, the L-5CT, is one of the rarest of the Artist models. The original CT was a variant of the venerable L-5 (which had a "long" scale length of 25 1/2 inches) with a thinline body and cutaway, and was originally designed for comedian George Gobel. In 1958, Gobel was big-time -- he had his own TV show, and the first L-5CT was presented to him by Tennessee Ernie Ford on Gobel's show. The comedian wanted a thinline, shorter-scale guitar to fit his somewhat rotund and short-armed body, and the CT design was Gibson's answer. The production model of the L-5CT had the thinline body and a "standard" 24-3/4" scale length. Another unique feature of the guitar was the cherry red finish, which was the very first use of that color.

This 2003 Gibson Custom, Art & Historic L-5CT is an exact replica of the original model from over forty years ago with the exception that it has a 25 1/2 inch scale instead of the 24 3/4 inch on the original. It comes complete with it's certificate of authenticity, Gibson gold warranty, customer care guide, original tags, truss rod adjuster and case key. We recently contacted one of the Gibson Historic dealers, who informed us that Gibson are no longer offering this model in their catalog.