Electric Guitar Review

While we’re on the topic of historic archtop guitars… Gibson’s L-5 CES, which was first released to the world in 1951, is to this day one of the premier jazz guitars on the market — overshadowed only by its bigger, and even more expensive brother, the Super 400 CES.

These are truly gorgeous guitars, though I have to warn you, the price tag for the L-5 CES isn’t for the faint of heart — you could easily spend over $7,000 on one.

Still, there’s a method to the madness: rumor has it that the high-grade of spruce and maple used on this instrument is becoming quite scarce, allowing for only a handful of these guitars to be made each year. On top of that the L-5 is literally bound from head to foot; including neck, body, f-hole, and even peghead binding.

The Gibson L-5 CES Features—

• High-Grade Carved Spruce Top
• High-Grade Maple Back & Sides
• High-Grade Walnut & Maple Neck
• Ebony Fretboard With 20 Frets
• Pearl Dot Inlays
• Schaller Tuning Machines
• Dual ‘57 Classic Humbucker Pickups
• Two Volume & Two Tone Controls
• 3-Way Pickup Switching
• ABR-1 Ebony-Base Bridge
• L-5 Tailpiece
• Gold Hardware

And the L-5 CES includes a Gibson hard case, and comes in natural, wine, ebony, and natural sunburst finishes.