Used Luthier-Certified

Gibson Custom L-4 CES Archtop Guitar #91010595 - Used — image 1

Gibson Custom L-4 CES Archtop Guitar #91010595 - Used — image 2

Gibson Custom L-4 CES Archtop Guitar #91010595 - Used — image 3

Gibson Custom L-4 CES Archtop Guitar #91010595 - Used — image 4

Gibson Custom L-4 CES Archtop Guitar #91010595 - Used — image 5

Gibson Custom L-4 CES Archtop Guitar #91010595 - Used — image 6

Gibson Custom L-4 CES Archtop Guitar #91010595 - Used — image 7

Gibson Custom L-4 CES Archtop Guitar #91010595 - Used — image 8

Gibson Custom L-4 CES Archtop Guitar #91010595 - Used — image 9

Gibson Custom L-4 CES Archtop Guitar #91010595 - Used — image 10

Gibson Custom L-4 CES Archtop Guitar #91010595 - Used — image 11

Gibson Custom L-4 CES Archtop Guitar #91010595 - Used — image 12

Gibson Guitars

Gibson Custom L-4 CES Archtop Guitar #91010595 - Used

A breathtaking Gibson Custom Shop archtop at a pre-loved price!

$4,100.00 or about $171/mo with Affirm Prequalify →

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Sound Pure's Take

Fantastic! This guitar came to us with a bit of honest wear and, aside from needing a setup, perfect structural health. The pickups seem to be just a touch hotter than what you might expect and we LIKE that. You've got Wes Montgomery in the neck and T Bone Walker in the bridge. Tremendous clarity and warmth plugged into an amp with some higher wattage, straight grit and organic breakup through lower wattage amplification. Get straight to the core of classic Jazz, Blues, Western Swing and more with this bonafide classic!

From Gibson Guitars

The Gibson L-4 archtop became jazz’s greatest rhythm instrument in the hands of six-string innovators like the virtuoso Eddie Lang in the 1920s and assured the company’s dominance of the guitar market even before the outbreak of World War I. But the L-4’s story - how it evolved from an acoustic guitar to the dynamic L-4 CES Mahogany Archtop of today - is perhaps the best illustration of Gibson’s historic dedication to endlessly refining and improving instruments that are already world class.

The L-4 was developed as a louder, bolder update of Gibson’s popular L-1 and L-3 designs, advertised as a “grand concert size” model with 20 frets, one more than its predecessors. The L-4’s top changed radically in 1935 when, under the direction of the company’s famed designer Lloyd Loar, the round sound hole was replaced by a pair of f-holes to enhance tone and projection. During the ‘40s, many elements were added including crown pegheads and parallelogram inlays on its fingerboard, but the biggest innovation in the guitar’s design came in 1949 with electrification.

To meet the demands of the dawn of popular music’s electric age, Gibson first created the laminated top ES-175 in 1948 based on the construction of the acoustic carved top L-4. But players still wanted a genuine electric full-bodied L-4 with a carved top. The first wave of these guitars were built in small batches throughout the 1950s, but were perfected late in the decade. Along the way the guitar’s body traded its rounded edges for a single cutaway horn to allow easier access to the high notes – a sign of the L-4’s evolution from rhythm to lead-and-rhythm instrument. Finally, in 1958, the design reached a pinnacle with a run of 20 guitars bearing the Gibson L-4 CES name. Some had Charlie Christian pickups, others Alnicos, and a few sported humbuckers. Over time the humbuckers proved the most versatile and practical, and thus today’s graceful mahogany L-4 CES model reached maturity.

Solid spruce carved top with f-holes

Carved solid mahogany back and sides

One-piece mahogany neck

Ebony fretboard with pearl parallelogram inlays

Multi-ply binding on top, single binding on neck and back

Gold hardware

2 - '57 Classic Humbucker pickups

ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge with gold-plated brass tailpiece

Ebony bridge base with pearl inlays

Warranty

This item is sold without the Sound Pure 3-year warranty (used / B-stock / dealer-exempt). Coverage terms for items in this category live in Terms & Conditions, Section 27.

Returns

This item is not eligible for the Try-Before-You-Buy 48-hour audition. Standard return policy applies — see Terms & Conditions, Section 18 for details.

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$4,100

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Warranty

Returns

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