PAUL
VERNON CHESTER
Manouche Maestro
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Manouche Maestro |
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Nevil Skimshire's Guitar - 1943 Gibson L7
In response not only to Epiphone’s challenge but to the increasing size and volume level of 1930s jazz bands, Gibson pushed archtop design over the top in 1935 with the 18-inch Super 400. On its coattails, the body widths of the entire archtop line were “advanced” by an inch, widening the L-5, L-7, L-10, and L-12 to 17 inches. For unknown reasons, these new versions included an X-braced top. The demand for greater volume prompted players to use heavier strings, but whether or not the heavier pressure on the top was a factor in the change to X-bracing is pure speculation. Gibson went back to tone bars in mid-1939. In the meantime, Gibson had enhanced the L-5’s appeal by offering an optional blonde finish and a cutaway version, initially called the L-5 Premier and then the L-5C.
This L-7
guitar has great Big Band sound with 17" lower bout, sunburst finish carved
spruce top with tone bar bracing, dark stained maple back, sides, and 2-piece
neck, white-bound 20-fret rosewood fingerboard with dual parallelogram inlays,
1-23/32" nut width, 25-1/2" scale, adjustable rosewood bridge, trapeze tailpiece
with 3 raised parallelograms, white-bound tortoise plastic pickguard,
w-b-w-bound body, white-bound headstock with pearl "Gibson" logo and crown
inlays, tuners with oval metal buttons.  Body
size at
lower bout: 17". Scale length: 25.4" Nut
Width: 1 11/16"
Materials: Hand carved book matched solid spruce top; solid mahogany neck, solid bubble-figure maple back, solid maple sides, Brazilian rosewood fingerboard, variegated mother of pearl inlay fingerboard inlay and fleur de lis peg head inlay; bound fingerboard, peg head and body. Hardware: Original Brazilian rosewood bridge, original bound tortoise pick-guard, correct nickel-plated Grover Sta-Tite open back tuners with tulip keys and modern 16X1 gearing, newer nickel trapeze tailpiece with raised parallelograms on crossbar; good original frets, original bone nut. Notes: Introduced in 1932, the Gibson L-7 was Gibson's most popular acoustic archtop ever. Identical in all but cosmetics to the L-5, it remains the outstanding value in a true pro-sized all-carved Gibson archtop. This remarkable example is quite distinctive in that it is fitted with the ornate fleur-de-lis inlay pattern used on the very first L-7 models of the early 30's. We have only seen a few other examples of this on the later advanced model 17" guitars, and only on instruments made during the very depth of the war years. We consider it likely that Gibson may have experienced shortages from its pearl suppliers, and took to using up vintage inlay stock from the 20's and 30's. The result is a guitar that is not only extraordinarily graceful, but extremely rare as well. The highly figured back shows intense bubble-type quilting in the birds-eye maple, under a deep walnut finish. The hardware has been restored with a set of nickel Grover Sta-Tite 16 x 1 open back tuners with tulip keys in the exact vintage style, and a correct nickel trapeze tailpiece. The bound pick-guard is original, and in solid condition, though showing a few spots of aging. A great player with a refined, appealing voice. Setup: The
frets have been precision levelled, re-crowned and polished; truss rod tension
and neck relief adjusted; bridge height adjusted; bridge compensation set;
string slots at nut and bridge inspected and re-cut as necessary; bridge foot
contour inspected and fit to top as necessary; bridge radius inspected and
re-curved as necessary; bridge wheels and tuners lubricated; fingerboard and
bridge oiled; body and neck cleaned and hand polished. Every few years, Gibson returns to their roots and reissues one of the original models that made them famous. The L7-C, the 1940s cutaway version of their popular workhorse model, a close relative to the flagship L5 model, but without the fancy inlay and gold hardware.
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