Old Gold
With perhaps not quite the mojo of the 1926 Gibson L-1 that Robert Johnson played, this L-00 is certainly from the same time period and harks back to the era of Delta Blues and the street musicians of the time. The L-00 was introduced in 1932 and sported mahogany back and sides, a bound top, rosewood bridge and 14 frets clear of the body. This particular model, leaving the factory five years later, has binding to both front and back, however.“It’s double bound, front and back,” Phil Carwardine from Vintage And Modern Guitars tells us.“They change throughout the years – that came in, I think, that year. And the dots change; the 15th [fret] dot appears and disappears…”
Not as instantly recognisable as a Les Paul or SG, old Gibson acoustics occasionally turn up in the least likely places.“The last one I bought came in with a receipt for eight quid,” Phil continues. “The guy had bought it at a junk shop! I didn’t buy it for eight quid, I hasten to add.”
This instrument bears the now familiar ‘Made In USA’ marking… “[In those days], it meant that it was for export, so Canada, South Africa and the UK, obviously. Gibson made some specifically for a shop called FDH [Francis, Day & Hunter, who had a music shop in Charing Cross Road and were distributors for Gibson guitars]. It was an archtop called The FDH and it was absolutely beautiful. We’ve had a few of those.”
As to how this 1937 L-00 sounds, it’s remarkably sweet and punchy – a perfect fit for blues fingerpicking.“For me, that’s as close as Gibson get to a Martin,” says Phil.“It’s a fingerstyle guitar and quite pretty-sounding, whereas Gibsons [of the era] could sound a little loud and brash.”