With less than 100 examples shipped between 1948-1950, the Gibson L-12 is a particularly rare model. While it is not as well known as the L-5, the L-12 shares much of the same quality - and certainly retains tonal characteristics that the guitars of this era are best known for. The 17" carved spruce top is fully bound, seen with a cutaway here on the "Premier" model. Solid Maple back and sides, all fully bound look stunning - the slight buckle rash implying "this is player approved".

Sonically, this is quite the healthy guitar. Strung up with heavy gauge strings, this is a super instrument on the band stand, that can carry a lot of volume and tonal weight for any jazzer. intricate chord work has clarity and woody affectation, while even country and western chords can chop out with serious volume and balance.

The body is built out of a solid book matched Spruce top with wide grain - finished in the iconic burst. The back and sides made of Maple, have nice three dimensional quilting. The top retains a nice arch, internally, this example with two parallel tone bar bracing. The body is cosmetically in very nice shape, with typical checking/crazing, pick wear north of the 6th string, and some minor nicks. The binding has held up well. The tailpiece has been replaced with a modern gold plated accurate hanger style that is in good condition, and looks great aesthetically. The pickguard has been replaced (the original gassed out) with added volume control for its pickup.

The neck is designed with a 25.4" scale length, and a 1 11/16" nut width. It is constructed out of two pieces of maple with an ebony center seam - the fingerboard fully bound made out of rosewood with split parallel mother of pearl inlays. The neck profile has some expected play wear, but no annoying nicks or dings, and it feels comfortable. It has been re fretted in its past, the frets standing narrow and tall - appropriate for the era - showing very trivial wear. Original open gear waffle stamped Kluson tuners present and functional - the buttons all original and in good condition with little sign of shrinkage. The truss rod is functional keeping the neck very straight yielding easy low action measuring 6/64" in height at the twelfth fret of the sixth string, and 5/64" on the first. There is plenty of room for adjustment at the thumb screws at the bridge.

Includes non original hardshell case with case cover.