Gibson L-7 Archtop Guitar Sunburst, 1942

The Gibson L-7 Archtop Guitar appeared in 1934 as a plainer, “workingman’s” version of the L-5, Gibson’s very popular archtop used by many artists including Maybelle Carter. Its first appearance in catalogs and price lists was during 1934.

In 1928, the L-5 sold for around $275, which translates to around $4000 in current prices, so these were serious investments during the Depression years. This motivated Gibson to produce lower priced models like the L-7.

When launched, the Gibson L-7 archtop had a slightly smaller 16 inch body and a fleur-de-lys peghead inlay. Within year, it grew to 17 inches and gained an X-braced top, ‘picture frame’ position markers, and a more ornate tailpiece. In 1939, the X-brace was dropped in favour of two longitudinal braces. By 1942, a crown peghead inlay and split-parallelogram position markers were added.

Here we’re looking at a Gibson L-7 Archtop built around 1942. Its serial number is on the label which is visible through the bass F-Hole, but all of the writing on the label is quite faded and seems to indicate 1930, which can’t be the correct date – it’s off by at least a decade! This guitar features a solid, carved Spruce top with tone bar bracing, carved Maple back, and Maple for the sides and neck. The fingerboard and bridge are, completely typical of the time, Brazilian Rosewood. The headstock features a Script – style Gibson logo with Crown inlay. The original Kluson Deluxe tuners have been replaced with nickel-plated Grover Roto-Matics. The top has a couple of circular impressions from removed contact pickups. Currently, a National Slim-Line pickup is installed, with volume and tone controls and an output jack mounted on the non-original pickguard. Inside, a bridge ground wire runs from the electronics to the tailpiece.

This player’s Gibson L-7 Archtop is in good working order plays well and is quite loud.

The original black hard shell case is included.