1958 Gibson LG-2 00-Size Flattop Guitar

Customers just keep sending in great stuff! This '58 LG-2 just sounds great and because the repair work was minimal I managed to squeeze it in with today's batch of structural repairs. It's very much comparable to the '50 LG-3 I recently worked on but perhaps slightly louder with a touch less bass. This makes it a perfect thumping-on old-time guitar or perhaps an even better fingerpicking blues machine. I like it for flatpicking, though -- do ya hear those lines on the soundclip? She cuts.

Work included a light fret level/dress, a set of new (cream) pins and endpin, a touch of compensation and adjustment at the saddle, string ramp adjustment, and setup. It plays spot-on with 3/32" bass and 1/16" treble action at the 12th fret.

This is x-braced with a solid spruce top and solid mahogany back, sides, and neck. The board and bridge are both Brazilian rosewood and everything is original except perhaps the saddle and the pins. The back definitely has a coat of overspray but I'm not certain about the top and sides. Both the top and sides show plenty of Gibson-style weather checking and weather crackle in the finish -- just as you'd want them to.

You can see there's use-wear throughout on this guy but nothing that really detracts from its enjoyment aesthetically. The original plastic nut (1 11/16" width) is still in good shape.

The board is radiused with those vintage smaller Gibson frets. They've still got almost full height, however, even after my level/dress work. The 7th fret marker has been replaced with pearl but the rest are faux-MOP dots from the factory.

The neck shape itself is your standard 50s Gibson C profile which has a bit more meat than the 60s models but is still quite comfortable in the hands. The truss rod also works perfectly.

The original bridge (pearl dots hide factory bolts) was reglued at some point and the job was well done. I'm pretty sure the bone saddle is replacement as well and while it didn't come properly compensated for the B string, a quick bit of adjustment dealt with that. I also cleaned up the string ramps for better back-angle and replaced the pins that came with this (black with white dot plastic types) with these cream ones which look more period.

Note the bit of flaked-off finish just forward of the bridge: nothing to worry about but I'm sure that happened when the bridge was replaced.

The only top crack I can find is the usual hairline one to the "left" of the pickguard at the top of the soundhole. It's secure and good to go.

Hansome, huh? I especially like the arm-worn patch of finish on the top bass lower bout. It's a small patch but I like to see it as it means it got some use.

The mahogany back is certainly oversprayed (a good job, though) and has a smallish repaired hairline crack along its center seam near the neck block.

The original Klusons operate just fine.

Someone added a strap button at the heel.

All I can say about the LG-2/3 and later B-25 (same guitar) models is that they're my absolute favorite flattops... just big enough and wide in the waist enough to get a J-45 sort of sound but also small enough to be enjoyable to just pick up, carry, and play long gigs with. They're a perfect "singing with" guitar... though with one as oomph-y as this guit you can certainly pick out a bit of lead, too.

Not the best pic with the shadow and overexposure... but the endpin is actually drilled out for a pickup jack. I've stuffed it with those oversize cream plastic pin, however, until someone is ready to come along and pop a pickup in it.

The T-prefix factory order number means this was made in '58.

It comes with a beat-up old 00/classical case that serves for storage and light duty.

One of the hinges was replaced recently and I cleaned up the job on that.

And one last pic: this is my B-25 and I just wanted to share its new repro pickguard I whipped up... with the outline copied off of the above LG-2's 50s pickguard. Note that the shoulder isn't as wide on the upper bout as the 60s one that was on my B-25 at one point in time. It's a classier look.