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1949 Gibson L-7 Premiere

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Serial #: A-3153 FON#: 589(7?)-15

Body size at lower bout: 17". Scale length: 25 1/2" Nut Width: 1 11/16" Neck depth, 1st/10th frets: .86/.96

Materials: Solid carved spruce top; solid carved bubble maple back; three-piece maple neck; rosewood fingerboard with split-parallelogram mother of pearl inlays; solid bone nut.

Hardware: Gibson 'McCarty' pickup/pickguard assembly with floating P-90 pickups and tone and volume controls. Vintage correct aged Kluson Deluxe single ring tuners, aged nickel raised parallelogram trapeze tailpiece, compensated adjustable rosewood bridge.

Notes: Is your pristine vintage L-5 or D'Angelico just a little too pristine to leave the house? Here's a trusty player you can take to any jam session or club date with perfect confidence.

Introduced in 1948 as the L-7 Premiere, the cutaway version of Gibson's most popular professional size archtop made its debut with a sunburst finish, to which was added the natural finish option the following year, at a premium price. Originally labeled L-7P, the blonde cutaway was never produced in more than a few dozen examples in any model year, and blonde guitars constitute only about one for every five sunbursts. This guitar is one of only 33 cutaway L-7 models in blonde from the first year of production.

Identical to the costly L-5C in materials, scale and bracing, the cutaway L-7 was available in natural finish only until 1959. Carved of all-solid tonewoods, the instrument boasts handsomely figured bubble maple back and sides, and a finely graduated soundboard of bookmatched quartersawn Sitka spruce.

At a mere 5lb 11oz, this guitar is unusually lightweight, and years of vigorous play have given it the open, resonant voice of a true bandstand veteran. The deeply ambered blonde finish is original, with typical age checking, and a bit of clear lacquer added to the neck. Despite a few battle scars, the instrument shows no apparent cracks or structural repairs. Binding is tight to the body, and the neck has a gently rounded classic C profile, easy in the hand, with smooth low action over fine recent fretwork, and a fresh high-precision setup. The strap pin has been moved from the neck heel to the side, and an additional filled screw hole shows where a previous pickguard bracket was attached at the waist.

Of special note is the rare vintage Gibson Model 106-DCN double pickup cutaway pickguard. Known informally after its inventor as the 'McCarty' pickup, this was Gibson's first floating pickup, preceding the Johnny Smith by over a decade, and remaining in production through the 1960's. With separate volume controls for each pickup and a master tone control, the specially designed low profile P-90 single coils measure just over 7K. Notably faithful to the acoustic voice, the McCarty features extended high frequency response, superior clarity and detail: quire simply it's one of the finest and most versatile acoustic pickups we've ever played. A 1/4" jack is installed under the pickguard, in addition to another mounted in the conventional position in the side.

A versatile performer, amplified or unplugged, this historic model is gig-ready for its return to the spotlight. One only: call now.

Setup: The frets have been precision leveled, recrowned and polished; trussrod tension and neck relief adjusted; bridge height adjusted; bridge compensation set; string slots at nut and bridge inspected and recut as necessary; bridge foot contour inspected and fit to top as necessary; bridge radius inspected and recurved as necessary; bridge wheels and tuners lubricated; fingerboard and bridge oiled; body and neck cleaned and hand polished.

Case: 60's vintage Gibson deluxe black arched hardshell case with plush lining.

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