Introduced just two years earlier in 1931, the Gibson L-00 had quickly established itself by 1933 as Gibson’s most accessible small-body flat top, offering exceptional tone and playability at a modest price point. This 1933 Gibson L-00 is a textbook example of the model during its early pre-war development.
The guitar features a 14 3/4" wide body with a spruce top finished with a smaller sunburst as the majority of earliest models were, paired with mahogany back and sides. Scalloped X bracing gives the L-00 a lively, responsive voice that far exceeds its compact size, delivering a warm, open and punchy tone well suited to blues and fingerstyle playing.
Appointed in typical L-00 fashion for the period, this example has top binding only, a tiger striped tortoiseshell pick guard, rectangular bridge with black pins, and an unbound fingerboard with dot inlays. The mahogany neck has a comfortable period correct V profile, and the headstock carries the white painted 'Gibson' script logo.
As expected of a near century old instrument, this guitar shows honest signs of use throughout, with the patina and lacquer checking accrued over time. To be equally as expected, this guitar has also had some work undertaken over the years to keep it playing and sounding as it should. It has previously had both a neck reset and refret, carried out to a very good standard. There has also been a small area of drop filled black lacquer to the top, in an attempt to blend a scratch back in with the original finish.
As with all our instruments, this guitar has been given a full service and appraisal by our luthiers at the Vintage Instrument Workshop, and includes a 2 year warranty.
