Gibson Custom L-5 Wes Montgomery 1997 Sunburst — All Orig

No sales tax for US customers outside California.

Wes Montgomery is the standard against which every jazz guitarist since the 1960s has been measured, and in some cases found wanting. His approach — single-note lines, block chords, and octaves played with the fleshy part of his thumb rather than a pick, producing the warm, dark, singing tone that became known as the Naptown Sound — was so original and so fully realized that it reshaped what jazz guitar could be.

Pat Metheny, George Benson, Joe Satriani, virtually every significant jazz guitarist of the past sixty years cites Montgomery as the foundational influence. He played the L-5CES almost exclusively throughout his career, eventually ordering custom single-pickup instruments with the Venetian cutaway directly from Gibson. He died in 1968 at forty-five. Gibson didn't produce a signature model until 1993, when the Custom Shop introduced the L-5 Wes Montgomery as a faithful reproduction of the master's own instrument.

This is a 1997 example — built in a year when Gibson produced only a reported 25-piece limited run of this model — in sunburst finish with all original hardware. The carved solid spruce top and figured maple body are correct and beautiful, the five-piece maple neck with walnut stripes is one of the most distinctive neck constructions in the history of the Gibson Custom Shop, and the single humbucker in the neck position reading 8.06k is original and fully working.

The ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge with its ebony base, the engraved Wes Montgomery trapeze tailpiece, the original Gibson logo Schaller M6 tuners, the original pots — everything is present and original. Strung with 11-50 jazz light flat wounds and set up with 2/32" action on both strings at the twelfth fret, this guitar is playing correctly for the style it was built to serve. The 17" body, carved top, and single neck-position humbucker produce exactly the warm, dark, full-bodied archtop tone that made the original instruments famous — round on the bottom, present in the middle, and smooth at the top without a trace of harshness.

The guitar is in beautiful condition and it set up perfectly for us.  It was owned and played by a professional musician in Hawaii for years.  He took great care of the guitar.  The frets are full, the neck is straight, and the guitar has no structural repairs or finish changes.  The pickguard binding was lifting around much of the part when we got it, and there was one crack where it mounts near the fretboard.  We glued everything up nicely and it looks no worse for wear.  There is a little hardware oxidation/tarnishing from the island environment, but much of it cleaned up nicely for us.

The original hardshell case is included.

We buy, sell, and take trades.

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SPECS:

• Color: Sunburst
• Weight: 8lbs 0.5oz
  
• Top: Carved solid spruce top
• Body: Figured maple
  
• Neck: 5-piece figured maple with walnut stripes
• Fretboard: Ebony
  
• Inlays: Mother of Pearl Block
  
• Frets: Original
  
• Fret Count: 20
  
• Nut: Original
  
• Nut width: 1-11/16"
  
• Radius: 12"
  
• Scale: 25-1/2"
  
• Neck thickness at 1st Fret: .81"
• Neck thickness at 8th Fret: .942"
• Action 1st String at 12th Fret: 2/32"
  
• Action 6th String at 12th Fret: 2/32"
  
• Overall Length: 42"
  
• Lower bout: 17"
  
• Waist: 10-1/4"
  
• Upper bout: 12-1/2"
  
• Body depth/thickness outside edge: 3-5/8"
• String gauge: 11-50 Jazz Light Flat Wound
  
• Hardware Color: Gold
• Pickguard: Original, some repair - see pics.
• Neck Pickup/Brand: Gibson Humbucker
• Pickup Reading: 8.06k
• Original?: Yes
  
• Bridge: Original ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic with ebony base, Engraved "Wes Montgomery" trapeze
• Tuners: Original Gibson logo Schaller M6 
• Knobs: Original
  
• Pots/Codes: Original
• Case: OHSC
• Notes: 

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