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A friend of mine is trying to decide about buying an L48 that he has in hand. It belonged to the father of a friend of his, who has asked him to sell it for her. He brought it over last night and it's in incredibly clean condition. Pretty obviously the tuners have been replaced, but other than that I think it's original, even the frets have very little wear. The neck is perfectly straight. The stamped number on the back of the headstock appears to be "1G 700." Inside the treble f-hole is stamped "1983 31." Of course in the bass f-hole "L48." Even has the beautiful brown lizardy case. FWIW, we strung it up with some Elixer 12's and it sounds phenomenal, just as good as my carved Eastman, but of course the strings were new. I'm thinking we should have used heavier, at least 13s. I thought these were supposed to be 'hog tops, but it sure looks like spruce to me. He's on the fence about maybe buying it for himself, but I have no idea about what to tell him it's worth (and for the long term.)
I'll post pics soon.
Thanks.Last edited by Woody Sound; 04-11-2022 at 08:55 PM.
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04-11-2022 08:15 PM
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Definitely 1948 or later. There were some spruce topped L-48s, but not a lot. The pics don’t show enough resolution for me to say with certainty.
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Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan
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That closeup of the top, sure looks like spruce to me!
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Spruce!
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I'm assuming even though it's spruce, it's still laminated, but it sure sounds brilliant, like a carved top. Can't tell unless I were to scrape off some finish in one of the f-holes.
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The top should be solid carved spruce. It’s not surprising that it sounds good. Originally Posted by Woody Sound
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ps - After banging some rhythm changes on it, my wife said to me "maybe *you* should buy it." That's the *first time* that's ever come out of her mouth.
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Clean peanut!
Is that a SS # or driver's license scratched into the headstock
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Very nice guitar.
And still the original bridge made of Brazilian Rosewood.
The arched back looks like made of Mahagony?
BTW, with a carved spruce top (supposed to be like that) and the arched back, what is the difference to a L50?
Acc. to the FON number its a 1948. Does it have the script logo? I can not identify it on the pic.
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Maybe she got wise and realised that dissuading your from a buy requires praising it to high heaven ... my mom did that with girls I fancied but she didn't like Originally Posted by Woody Sound
my wife said to me "maybe *you* should buy it." That's the *first time* that's ever come out of her mouth.
So what is something like this worth?
ps: good to know a recent, played-in Eastman sounds just as good as a 75yo vintage guitar that (I presume) hasn't been played in ages, not sure if that's a compliment
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The logo is block letter and can just be seen in the full front shot. Originally Posted by bluenote61
The L-50 of the post war era gets trapezoid inlays and fingerboard binding.
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Yes it has the more modern gold (painted?) block logo, not the prewar script. Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan
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What is that funky number (1G 700) on the back of the headstock?
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I thought these were solid pressed, not carved. Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan
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While it’s not impossible, I would expect a spruce top on one to be carved. Essentially, it’s probably an L-50 body with an L-48 neck. Originally Posted by customxke
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Last time I visited my violin maker (a well-known Dutch master builder) to leave "our" violin in consignment with him I showed him my Loar and he expressed some doubts as to whether it could have been carved and voiced. He told me many cheaper violins (coming out of the Far East, I can't remember) had in fact pressed plates, and that it was often very hard to determine this (also because they can sound as good as a [cheaper] carved instrument).
I can indeed see how you could create a piece of solid wood that would make a good/great flat top, and then press it into an arched top of comparable quality using the same kind of principles as used for the sides. You could even start with a graduated plate, and I presume you could still voice it after the pressing step.
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That guitar is the spitting image of my L-48, which I was told was a '48. The tuner buttons are ovals and considerably shrunken. The top is spruce, and whether carved or pressed sounds like a million bucks. It's a keeper!
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The L-48 was $48.00, the L-50 was $50.00 etc..
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Imagine they had modern sales talk back in the day, we'd now have an L-47.99 that cost less than $48 originally Originally Posted by Capnpissgums
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Originally Posted by Capnpissgums
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The top of my L-50 from the same period is carved, not pressed. Doubtless. Originally Posted by customxke
I suppose the same for that L-48.
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I remember being told, in 1964, that the difference was the binding. The L50 had more.
Bought an L50 at the original Sam Ash store for about $130. Still have it. I didn't realize it at the time, but my father, who knew nothing about music, was making about $100 per week. So, buying that guitar was a big expense.
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Unfortunately, Gibson did not put prices in many of their catalogs. The L-50 was $50 in the 1937 catalog. I don’t know if this was planned or a coincidence. The L-37 was $37.50 in the same catalog. An L-50 was $68.25 in 1942, an L-47 was $52.50, and an L-30 was $44.75. But the original price of the EH-150 lap steel guitar / amp set was $150 when introduced in 1937, so they probably had a marketing angle on at least a few of these prices when the models were introduced. A Super 400 cost $400 when introduced in 1934 and was still $400 in the 1937 catalog, but it must have been a nonstarter to try to raise it during the depression. By 1959, it had reached $675 in sunburst and $700 in natural. Originally Posted by Capnpissgums
I don’t have a 1946 catalog or price list, so I don’t know the MSRP of the L-48 when it was introduced. I’d be a bit surprised if it was $48 in 1946 when an L-47 cost more than that 4 years earlier. But anything’s possible.
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