With a factory order number and specs placing this Gibson L-4 with a date of 1934, this guitar was made toward the very end of the run of the L-4 as a round hole archtop. Following the transition of the L-7 to a 17-inch "Advanced" model, the L-4 would transition to fill its spot as a 16-inch f-hole archtop. The round hole L-4 lasted from 1928 to 1934 and filled an interesting spot, being in some ways in between a round hole flattop and an f-hole archtop.
This guitar is punchy, but with less of a mid-range focus heard from a 16-inch Gibson f-hole guitar. It has plenty of volume with a distinctive warm tone that is also more on the flattop end of the spectrum than the preceding oval hole version of the L-4.
The guitar plays very well and was clearly professionally refretted at some point in its life at which point it also appears that some light fretboard divots were professionally filled. The original ebony bridge has room for adjustment up or down as the player prefers. The neck has a very soft V-shaped carve, not nearly as sharp as many mid-1930s Gibson guitars. The overall feel is very comfortable.
The guitar had lost most of its neck binding by the time it arrived in our shop. Master luthier, Darrell Guinn, expertly replaced the neck binding with vintage material and added fresh lacquer to the neck, making it look fantastic. He also reglued top braces that were loose. The guitar is now ready for many, many more years of making music. There is a short center seam separation in the back upper bout which has been glued and appears completely stable. There is a light crease in the top at the waist on the bass side which doesn't appear to be a through crack.
The bridge, tailpiece, and truss rod cover all appear original. The tuners have been replaced with much newer Gibson branded, Kluson Deluxe style tuners. There is an endpin jack that was installed at some point. This could easily allow for wiring if the next owner wanted to add a pickup to the guitar.
Weight - 4.0 pounds
Nut width - 1.73 inches
1st fret depth - 0.95 inches
10th fret depth - 1.06 inches
Scale length - 24.75 inches
The guitar comes with the original hard shell case.
Ships free in the United States and for reasonable rates worldwide.