Built to celebrate 100 years of Gibson flat-top acoustics; this is the new Gibson Custom Shop L-1 Anniversary Limited in Cremona Burst - only 100 pieces made worldwide!
While it has been seen in the hands of numerous musicians, including Jeff Buckley, Scrapper Blackwell, Norman Blake, Hubert Sumlin, and Keith Richards, to name a few, the L-1 is probably most closely associated with legendary bluesman Robert Johnson, who, in one of the few authenticated photos of him, can be seen playing a sunburst L-1 with a 12-fret neck. With its small body, 12-fret neck, and distinctive tonal warmth, the L-1 is an ideal guitar for the blues. While it sounds great when played with a flatpick, it’s also an exceptional guitar for fingerstyle playing.
The L-1 Anniversary Limited Edition is crafted at the Gibson Custom Shop in Bozeman, Montana. It features the L-1’s distinctive body shape, crafted from solid mahogany for the back and sides, with a thermally aged red spruce top and scalloped x-bracing. The L-1 Anniversary Limited Edition is replete with cream binding, which appears on the top and back, along the sides of the ebony fretboard, as well as around the headstock perimeter. Even the sound hole edge features cream binding. The 25” scale mahogany neck joins the body at the 12th fret, has a Historic V profile, and is fitted with an ebony fretboard with 19 standard frets and dressed up with mother-of-pearl dot inlays. A quick note about the 12-fret neck: our current acoustic portfolio consists almost entirely of guitars with necks that join the body at the 14th fret for increased access, but when we invented many of our platforms 90-100 years ago, the necks joined the bodies at the 12th fret. Those instruments have become some of the most hallowed and collectible vintage examples, not because of their age or scarcity, but due to their sound. While the L-1 was offered with 12 and 14-fret necks during its original production run from 1926 to 1937, Gibson opted for a 12-fret neck for the L-1 Anniversary Limited Edition due to its outstanding sonic characteristics.
The L-1 Anniversary Limited Edition headstock features three-on-a-plate open-back tuners with cream buttons. It is equipped with a bone nut and ornamented with a vintage-style “The Gibson” logo inlaid in mother-of-pearl and a two-ply black and white truss rod cover that features the word “Anniversary” engraved in white. The rectangular, closed slot ebony bridge features carved pyramid wings and is equipped with a bone saddle and bridge pins.
Includes: Hardshell Case and Certificate of Authenticity
