robthemac wrote: ↑Mon Nov 21, 2022 8:35 pm
clubhouse wrote: ↑Mon Nov 21, 2022 7:26 pm
Starfire wrote: ↑Mon Nov 21, 2022 6:06 pm
Pics of the Starcaster and Jag, please!
Hey...that's sweet of you to be interested. Thanks man.
I'll be sure to post them up when I make Fender status.
But as I'm Gibson, how about my 1937, L-12 arch top? I know it isn't offset but it sure is purty...well, at least to me.
1937 Gibson L-12.jpg
...and, no. It's not a birth-date guitar
There's a LP Jnr skulking around here somewhere that I should post before I evolve status as well.
Wait, is this yours?
Why, yes, my good man...I'm custodian for now. Have been for a decade, nearly two.
I have a 60s De Armond 'super chief' 1100 (monkey on a stick) pick-up yet to put on...it's one of the only options slim enough in height to fit between the strings and arch-top to amplify them...and it's in keeping with the vibe of the thing, looks and sound-wise. The tuners are Grover replacements (I have the originals) for smoother tuning. The neck profile is a solid 'C' shape without being a baseball bat. The pick guard is the original, bound tortoiseshell, celluloid...and hasn't bubbled, warped, shrunk or generally disintegrated over the years. Everything else is tight, together and as the day it left Gibson...a genuine 'survivor' guitar.
Regarded by Gibson as an 'Advanced' model (L-5, L-7, L-10, L-12 series), L-12s sat under L-5s price wise. They came from the same wood stock and other materials chosen for the L-5, and the same line of craftsmen worked on them as the L-5, but for some reason...blemishes, the very high spec 'wood combination' tone (L-5s have a distinct tone and volume/projection that puts them in a class of their own from other models), etc...they never made the final cut to receive tuning as an L-5. Instead they were braced and tuned as the L-12 model and received their own style appointments...maybe Gibson's way of recovering costs of L-5 that weren't? They are much rarer than L-5s.
This is a '37. The second year of the 17" wide bodies. Like the L-5s, the L-12s had gone from a 16" lower bout to a 17" in '35. Unlike the L-5s though, the L-12s continued on with X-bracing (like D'Angelicos, D'Aquistos, Benedettos), whilst the L-5s stuck with Loar's 'traditional', parallel bracing. X-braces are said to give a bigger bass and more sustaining tone, not as cutting as parallels, so less likely to acoustically cut through a big-band setting. '37 is the last year of X-bracing on L-12s, as they too, became parallel braced from after that.
I think X-bracing suits amplification better than parallel as the board is less prone to feedback issues, on the whole.
I regard them as 'tone-wise' companions to L-5s. If you could afford it, and had the chops to demand it, the L-5 was
the choice for most working-men, big band guitarists (
stars would have used the Gibson Super 400) as it sat very well in a big, acoustic, swing band mix. The L-12, whilst not as 'in your face' tone-wise, would have been the choice of dudes in smaller bands and those looking to lay back more in the mix. If your band didn't have a piano, then the L-12 would've been a better bridge between double bass and the bass brass.
Much like the Selmer Maccaferri 'Django' guitars: Le Grande Bouche was favoured for rhythm whilst Le Petite Bouche was favoured for soloing...although, obviously, either could do the other, and with Django, often did.
'37 did, however, signify the apex of the Art Deco movement, in terms of aesthetics and appointments for Gibson and the the L-12 was the brand styling hero. It was the first Gibson to feature parallelogram fretboard inlays. It also had a model unique tailpiece design and headstock inlay in a typical Art Deco geometric style.
Toward the end of the '30s, through the '40s, the L-12 became plainer in appointments, eventually became available with a cutaway and pups and eventually dropped in the '50s. Probably more than you wanted to know
...so here's some wallet shots:
- Gibson L-12.back and case.jpg (3.04 MiB) Viewed 1124 times
The original Gieb case has lasted well and is in very good condition outside and in.
- Gibson L-12.Gieb case button.jpg (1.44 MiB) Viewed 1124 times
...and for the gynaecologically inclined...a view through the f-hole...
- Gibson L-12. label through the f-hole.jpg (1.86 MiB) Viewed 1124 times
If you squint, and put your tongue in the right place, you can just make out the 'L12' stamp digits in the upper right