1965 Gibson LG-1 Flattop Guitar

00-sized Gibsons -- LG-0, LG-1, LG-2, LG-3, and B-25 models -- have always been popular at the shop. This one was bought in 2020 by a friend of mine but has recently (2024) come back in trade (she switched to a B-25) and, ya know -- her loss! I like this one a lot.

The earlier, previous owner of this thought it might be a B-25 but a quick glance at the bracing (and, ya know, the faded LG-1 stamp in the soundhole) gave up that ghost pretty quick. He'd had some work done on it in the past but it needed a bit more love to be "bang on the dot." Now that said work is done it's a really fun guitar. These have a raucous, bluesy, up-front, mids-focused, woody sound to them. You can dig into them like an x-braced guitar but they spit the sound back out like a darker, more aggressive '30s ladder-braced instrument. They're pretty loud, too, for a 00-size instrument.

This one has the mid-'60s, slim, narrow-nut neck, too, so it's perfect for someone who wants that "electric speed neck" feel on an acoustic. Barred chords all day long, folks...

Repairs included: recut of the saddle slot and a new, wider, rosewood saddle to get proper intonation. I then leveled/dressed the frets, reglued a couple of slightly-loose back braces, cleaned-off some sticker residue on the lower bout (the whole area below the bridge was a bit tacky), cleaned it up, and set it up. I also installed a K&K Twin Spot pickup in it.

Setup notes: action is spot-on fast at 3/32" EA and 1/16" DGBE height at the 12th fret. Strings are 52w-11 which is what I like to keep on these ladder-braced guys. The neck is straight and the truss rod works.

• Scale length: 24 3/4"
• Nut width: 1 9/16"
• String spacing at nut: 1 3/8"
• String spacing at bridge: 2 1/8"
• Body length: 19"
• Lower bout width: 14 1/4"
• Side depth at endpin: 4 1/2"
• Top wood: solid spruce
• Back & sides wood: solid mahogany
• Bracing type: ladder
• Fretboard: rosewood
• Bridge: rosewood
• Neck feel: slim C-shape, ~12" board radius
• Neck wood: mahogany
• Weight: 3 lb 11 oz

Condition notes: someone removed the original pickguard quite early-on as there's not much of a "shadow" where it used to be. The finish is also quite a bit lighter than the cherryburst it would have been originally -- it's now a pretty, "iced-tea-burst," pumpkin-y orange color. "Sunrise" is what I like to call these. The original plastic/bolted-on bridge was removed a long time back and touch-up was added around the bridge footprint where it would've been. The (other repairman's) replacement bridge is rosewood and cut along the lines of a '50s Gib bridge but without the same sculpt. The saddle is low in the slot on the treble and bass sides (due to the curvy neck profile) but there's some adjustment room left on it, yet.

It comes with: Sorry, I don't have a proper case for it at the moment, but I may have something spare to include for storage use.