2015 Gibson 17" Venetian

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Materials: Solid formed X-braced spruce top and flame maple back and sides; solid mahogany neck; solid rosewood fingerboard; dot mother of pearl fingerboard inlay and thistle peghead inlay; bound fingerboard and peghead; triple bound body; solid bone nut.

Hardware: All nickel hardware includes Kluson Keystone tuners, triple parallelogram trapeze tailpiece, compensated rosewood bridge, tortoise pickguard. Gibson floating 16K ceramic pickup, with thumbwheel volume and tone controls, endpin jack.

Notes: Gibson's first cutaway archtops, designated the 'Premiere' series, were introduced in 1939. This rounded 'Venetian' cutaway, was available only on the L-5 and Super 400 models until 1948, when the option was extended to the L-7C, L-12C and ES-350 respectively, and eventually to the Byrdland, Johnny Smith, and other high-end Gibson archtops.

Gibson's 17" Venetian debuted in 2015, with a proprietary 'Solid Formed' construction technique, bending arched tops and backs of solid tonewoods, in contrast to the laminates found on many mass produced instruments. The soundboard has solid spruce braces in a traditional X pattern for enhanced warmth and sustain, with a solid one-piece mahogany neck for improved balance on the lap or the strap. (Though Gibson's specs currently describe a 24 3/4" scale for this model, this example has the longer L-5 scale of 25 1/2", which combined with the X-braced body, making this guitar similar in design to the LeGrande, Citation, and Kalamazoo Award models.)

The high impedance floating ceramic pickup resembles the classic Gibson BJB, and is controlled with thumbwheel volume and tone controls under the suspended tortoise pickguard. A final touch is the venerable 'The Gibson' peghead inlay, superceded by the firm by the early 30's. This guitar has exceptional tiger flame maple in the back and sides, and a classic medium C profile neck, with smooth low action over a fresh high-precision setup. At barely 6lb, the instrument is light and well balanced, with a bright, forward voice. This handsome example is in virtually unplayed condition, with all original hardware, case and paperwork.

Setup: Trussrod tension and neck relief adjusted; bridge height adjusted; bridge compensation set; string slots at nut and bridge inspected and recut as necessary; bridgewheels and tuners lubricated; fingerboard and bridge oiled; body and neck cleaned and hand polished.

This instrument is strung with medium gauge nickel strings (.013-.056). The guitar will accommodate lighter or heavier gauge strings, according to preference. String action is set at 4/64" to 5/64" at the 12th fret, with moderate relief for acoustic playing with medium strings. The action may be lowered or raised to your requirements with the adjustable bridge.

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