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1934 Gibson L-10
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Serial #: 90897, white oval label
Body size at lower bout: 16". Scale length: 24.9" Nut Width: 1 3/4"
Materials: Hand graduated solid spruce top; solid hand graduated maple back and sides, Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, variegated 'picture frame' mother of pearl fingerboard inlay and ornate peghead inlay; bound peghead and body; original bone nut.
Hardware: All original hardware includes Grover Sta-Tite G-98 butterbean tuning machines, "Pat. Pend' nickel trapeze tailpiece; compensated adjustable ebony bridge. Original bound tortoise pickguard included, additional vintage correct bound tortoise pickguard installed.
Notes: Until the very end of the roaring '20s, if you wanted a professional quality archtop guitar your options were largely limited to a single instrument: the legendary Gibson L-5. Introduced in 1923 at a whopping $250, the top-shelf L-5 was simply out of reach for most working players, so in 1929 the company debuted a more affordable alternative, the elegant model L-10 . Built in very limited numbers, the Gibson L-10 was introduced with identical body size, materials, scale length and bracing as the L-5, but with a very distinctive jet black finish.
Originally fitted with a simple dot-inlay fingerboard and a plain script-logo headstock, the 16" L-10 was eventually decorated with 'picture-frame' Mastertone banjo fingerboard inlays and a unique ornate peghead design, until the model was upsized in late 1934. Produced in very small numbers, the L-10 model was discontinued by 1939, becoming Gibson's rarest prewar pro-sized archtop.
This veteran player is from the last year of production for the 16" body, and has all original finish and hardware. The original binding is tight and intact, with a vintage correct bound tortoise guard installed, and the original guard included in the original arched black Gibson hardshell case. All nickel hardware includes the original 20's style 'Pat. Pend' trapeze tailpiece, small ebony bridge, and Grover Sta-Tite G-98 butterbean tuning machines.
At a mere 4lb 10oz, he instrument is exceptionally light in weight, and the finely aged parallel-braced soundboard has a brilliant, highly resonant voice, with exceptional clarity and projection. Well played and well loved, the guitar shows typical scattered pick marks, mostly confined to the top, and some thumbwear suggestive of a long playing career, with a single short grainline crack under the tailpiece soundly resealed long ago. The neck has a comfy classic vee profile, and the fingerboard has a generous 1 3/4" nut width, with smooth, low action over a fresh high-precision setup and recent pro reset.
Extremely rare and uniquely elegant, this handsome guitar is one of the rarest birds in the Gibson aviary. 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; bridgewheels and tuners lubricated; fingerboard and bridge oiled; body and neck cleaned and hand polished.
This instrument is strung with medium gauge bronze strings. 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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