1959 Gibson LG-0 Flattop Guitar

LG-0s from the late '50s are the best ones I've played. They have that nice, medium-C neck profile, 1 11/16" nut width, and the benefit of a more "traditional" rectangular bridge with drop-on saddle. This one is almost entirely original, and it's pretty dang clean and has no cracks. A consignor sent this in and I've been meaning to get around to it for a while as there wasn't that much to do to it.

I like the dry, woody, slightly-compressed sound these guitars have -- especially when played by a great fingerpicker. I'm much more of a flatpicker, so I don't really coax the love out of it, but I think you can hear what I'm talking about. And, heck -- even flatpicked, these have a great "old time" voice that's plain and clear and suits a variety of styles.

Work included: a neck reset, fret level/dress, bridge reglue, replacement pearl dots on the bridge, two cleats for the center-seam on the top-lower-bout, a new bone nut and saddle, new ebony bridge pins, and a good setup. The neck is straight, the truss-rod works as it should, and action is 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE at the 12th fret -- spot-on. String gauges are 54w, 42w, 32w, 24w, 16, 12.

Scale length: 24 11/16"

Nut width: 1 11/16"

String spacing at nut: 1 1 7/16"

String spacing at bridge: 2 1/16"

Body length: 19"

Lower bout width: 14 3/8"

Waist width: 9 1/2"

Upper bout width: 11 1/8"

Side depth at endpin: 4 1/2"

Top wood: solid mahogany

Back/sides wood: solid mahogany

Neck wood: mahogany

Bracing type: ladder-braced

Fretboard: Brazilian rosewood, bone nut

Bridge: Brazilian rosewood, bone saddle

Neck feel: medium C-shape, 12" board radius

Condition notes: replaced saddle and pearl dots at the bridge (original saddle in case), replaced nut, replacement ebony bridge pins, but otherwise original and quite clean. It has the normal weather-check and mild usewear throughout that's typical for the age of the guitar, though.

It comes with: its original brown chip case with Gibson logo on the case pocket. Nice!