1940 Gibson L-00 (Refinished) 00-Size Guitar

April 05, 2022

1940 Gibson L-00 (Refinished) 00-Size Guitar

This cool old L-00 is quirky. It was refinished in the '60s or '70s to "naive natura"l by its then-owner, complete with "Gibson" scrawled on the inner back lining and at the headstock. Its now-owner refinished the top and headstock to this relic'd small-sunburst look (hey, good on you!) complete with a sprayed-on "Gibson" at the headstock. I think he wins.

The factory order number suggests a 1940 build per Spann's Guide to Gibson and, post-work, I have to admit that I think this sounds better than many late-'30s and early-'40s L-00s I've handled. It has a bit of a chiming bell-like thing going on in the upper-mids where the average L-00 is a bit drier and spankier.

My work involved putting it back into proper playing condition, which meant a neck reset, new bridge, refret, and associated work. The first three frets of the fretboard had been replaced with what we think is a '70s Epiphone (!) board -- complete with "big block" inlay. That wasn't level with the rest of the board and so that, combined with bad fretting, was going to make a good setup impossible without a board plane and refret. Now that all that's done, though, this thing plays beautifully.

I made the new bridge from some stashed-away Madagascar rosewood which looks a lot more like Brazilian than Indian. Because the bridge plate and surface was a bit mangled from reglue jobs of the past, I didn't feel bad about "player-izing" this bridge -- including slightly-angled bridge pin location (to avoid splitting of the rear deck) and a drop-in saddle slot for easy action adjustment in the future.

Repairs included: a neck reset, board plane and refret, new bridge, new nut and saddle (bone), replacement pins (ebony), setup, etc...

Top wood: solid spruce

Back & sides wood: solid mahogany

Bracing type: x

Bridge: rosewood (Madagascar, replaced)

Fretboard: rosewood (Brazilian)

Neck wood: mahogany

Action height at 12th fret: 3/32” bass 1/16” treble (fast, spot-on)
String gauges: 54w, 40w, 30w, 22w, 16, 12

Neck shape: medium C

Board radius: ~10"

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium-modern