Garage Find

[savethematches]

One of my kids comes in this morning and says that he found a guitar when they were cleaning out the garage. His grandpa forgot that he even had it. So, I'm thinking it's some old cheapy, but then the kid says it's a Gibson. He brought it in after school, and it's completely covered with grime. Tuning keys are shot, and pickguard is disintegrated. One big crack in the back, and a brace that runs across the bottom directly under the bridge is loose and rattling around. Under the grime, the Gibson logo is quite clear. I look inside the top f hole and see L-48 imprinted. Through the other f hole I saw a 982 followed by a space or two and then a 4.

I brought it home, cleaned it with Pledge, removed what was left of the strings and pickguard. After a quick Google session, I found that the L-48 was produced between 1946 and 1971, but I'm not sure how old this one is. Anybody have any info? Pics to follow shortly.

[savethematches]

[Feynman]

That is so cool.

[Sugartune]

No idea, but yeah very cool. Make it work.

[velorush]

My Gruhn's guide says, "Dot on i connected to G, open b and o, lower link between o and n: early 1947-51"

Great find! Wouldn't advise any more Pledge: the glue required to repair won't stick to silicon-based polishes.

[hamerhead]

That is great! What a find.

I'd have it repaired just enough to be structurely sound and playable, and leave the rest alone. It looks perfect showing it's age like that. Beautiful.

[savethematches]

Thanks for the info! Any idea on value?

[Ting Ho Dung]

Wow, after 8 years of shit things are really happening for you again. Great find.

[Bennyboy-UK]

Nice one.

That's a great headstock shape, nice and compact.

[stonge]

Thanks for the info! Any idea on value?

really clean ones from about 1950 run about a grand; I have a 1950 L-48 that I picked up last year for just over that - mine is a feather and sounds really nice. They were the 'entry-level' archtops of the Gibson line, but they sound and play pretty nice ("affordable vintage"). From about that timeframe, L-7's run about 3K, and L-5's start about 5K from what I have seen so the L-48 is definitely the 'bang for the buck' model imho.

I'd echo hamerhead's idea; get it fixed just enough to be playable and enjoy it and the story behind it. Stew-Mac has press-on tuner buttons that might fit those pegs - I replaced the buttons on a 56 Fender lapsteel where the original crumbled into dust when touched. No need for a pickguard imho. Flatwounds or even acoustic (bronze) strings should sound fine on it.

Enjoy!

[savethematches]

It isn't mine . . . yet. I just had a repair guy look at it. He wasn't too worried about the crack, but there are two internal braces loose, not just one as I'd thought. He wasn't sure about how to fix those but seemed willing to take on the challenge. Given the numerous issues and concerns, how much should I offer the kid for it? $100? More? Less?

[savethematches]

Wow, after 8 years of shit things are really happening for you again. Great find.

Amen, brother Thorn! Life has indeed been great lately!

[stonge]

Given the amount of repair work to get it back to playable (and you don't really know what that will cost) I wouldn't go above $200. Check the neck to see if it looks straight and not twisted; there might be a little kink where the fretboard meets the face of the guitar and that could effect the string height and action (mine has a little bit of this, and a luthier who checked it out pronounced it "original sin" meaning it was built that way). If it's really off, you might need a neck reset and that will cost much more than the guitar would ever be worth. Since you really don't know if it can be made playable, i would be cautious about getting into the guitar too deep as it could end up a wall - hanger. If it had the original case, that might be worth a hundred by itself.

I found a really cool '52 L-7 cutaway in the local GC, but there was a slight twist in the neck and a weird kink where the fretboard joined the body that looked like it would be expensive to correct. It hurt to walk away from that one, but sometimes you need to figure out what you are willing to deal with and that went out of my comfort zone. At the price they wanted, it should have been a lot cleaner and had minimal issues. That being said, I do have a beater L-7 with cracks and slight seam separation that I got into at a fair price (my luthier said "if you like it, play it until it falls apart and then decide whether you want to fix it. It might never fall apart though"). It sounded great, so I bought it and really enjoy it. I'm learning to accept that some things can just be functional and flawed at the same time lol.

[Steve Haynie]

The repair bill on that one is going to be as much as the guitar could ever be worth. Pay it if you are going to play it enough to be worth the purchase of such a guitar. Dan Erlewine has taken a front or back plate off of a guitar to fix bracing issues. More labor. More money. This L-48 would be good for someone who has some advanced repair skills looking for a DIY project.

You might have a parts guitar.

The tuner buttons are easy.

• Remove the tuners from the guitar.
• Brush the stems to get off all the old plastic. (A rotary tool with a brush works well.)
• Holding the tuner strip in a vise, use a butane torch instead of a lighter to heat the stem.
• Push a new button in place.

Get a few more buttons than you need because you might mess one up. You want to push them on to a consistent depth. Cheap cigarette lighters put a black soot on the metal where you are going to push on the new button. A Bernz-O-Matic torch leaves no visible residue or soot.

[gorch]

Post on the Gibson board. There's plenty of work to put into it. So, I'd check if it's worth.

Congrats for an awesome find.

[dragan]

If you decide to keep it and fix it I have one half set of old tuners with ferrules that would match those I could sent you( strings 6 through 4 )

[savethematches]

The boy is going to keep his guitar and try to have it repaired. HIs grandpa, prior to leaving for Vietnam, bought it from an uncle. The uncle had bought it from his grandfather who had purchased it new. How did it end up in the garage? Apparently my student's grandpa left his wife and moved to California. Grandma took all the stuff he'd left behind, including this guitar, and stuffed in a shed/garage, where it was forgotten for years.

[Montelovesco]

Thats close to a movie story. And every guitar freaks deam. Thanks for sharing, and all the nest from here!

[savethematches]

I'm trying to setup an interview w Grandpa and do an article in my newspaper. I'll keep you updated on the restoration progress.

[stonge]

Thats close to a movie story. And every guitar freaks deam. Thanks for sharing, and all the nest from here!

Deke Dickerson has a great book 'The Strat In The Attic' full of stories which would have just about any guitar geek stopping at every tag sale or estate sale they see. Cool guitars are still out there in unexpected places.

While it would be cool to have the guitar, it's even better that it will stay in the family. The backstory is worth it imho.

[ghamerinfrance]

Just imagine the coolitude within 60 Years....

No one will care about electric guitars except the happy few and they will discover our collection (yours as mine is one guitar only).

...and will pay some monkey money for having our best gear....

Gibson/Fender will do their best for proving the new models (if still existing) are better than the older ones which were crap.

LP 80s for 500 USD todays equivalent...or even less cause plenty on the market.

And so one...

The happy few (as we are) will be very happy in the future...Is there rock music in the future ?

Wait and pray - I really should stop smoking....

[JES1680]

Love these old archtops. I have a 1940 L30 great lo-fi sound and not too loud.