Gibson L4C

My L4C is a 1966 sunburst model in near mint condition. The L4C has a solid spruce top. I recently put a custom made tortoise shell pick guard on it and an Atilla Zoller AZ-48 floating pickup (attached to the pickguard) on it. everything is stock on this beauty (I haev teh original pickguard in the case.

I've been using D'Addario Jazz Lights on it. I use a variety of amps, including a Rivera Clubster and SWR bass amp. It sounds great. The guitar has a nice, mellow, well-rounded, acoustic tone as well

Everything is first class. The guitar has only a slight ding on the top (as I got it) but otherwise is a "10"

I've gigged for 35 years, jazz the past 30, and this axe is one of my favorites. It is very dependable to straight ahead bebop and standards.

I bought mine used so I never dealt with Gibson.

Been playing for 45 years. I have three other archtops (Guild CE 100 [1958 w/two P90s and 1962 w/spruce top, no pu's] and Ibanez Joe Pass [1980]) and this has become my favorite. However, I;d be willing to sell it if the price was right.

The L4C is a much nicer guitar than the ES175; heck, I even prefer the CE100s I own to the 175s I've had in the past. For whatever reasons, ES 175s of the 1950s and 1960s are valued much higher than L4s, which no one has been able to rationally explain to me. Feedback is not an issue with this instrument.

I highly recommend you play one if you can find a nice one.

Standard sunburst model from 1966 that I just bought (May 2006). Made in Kalamazoo, no pickup, solid spruce top (nice tight grain), maple back and sides (nice flame), mahogany neck. Kluson Deluxe tuners. This is at least a 9/10 with only a few ticks/nicks for a 40 year old instrument.

This is a jazzer. I just had Vancouver luthier Paul Iverson custom fit an Attila Zoller AT-48 Shadow pickup onto a custom made tortoise pickguard (to save the original pickguard and to not make any holes in the side of the neck). Side by side, in comparison with a 1962 Guild CE100CB (the Guild version of an L4C), this guitar is sweet and warm. The pickup sounds great through my Rivera and SWR amps

These are soem of the nicest guitars ever made. Period. The fit and finish on this guitar, 40 years old, is still amazing.

I use my 1980 Ibanez Joe Pass and 1958 Guild CE100DB for gigs, will try this one at a concert next month. I'm sure it'll be great

Been playing since 1964. This is one of my all-time favorite axes. I'll probably keep it the rest of my life. Value on these is great. For whatever odd reason, people are willing to pay much more for "plywood" top ES175's when this guitar sounds so much better acoustically and amplified. Feedback has never been a problem for me playing standard jazz. If I was playing fusion, sure. For my money, solid spruce top is the way to go. You could pay much more for a new guitar, but if you want a nice jazz box, thsi is the one!

1950's, blonde, no pick ups, no pickguard, no alterations of any kind. Spruce top solid, maple back 16 inches wide 24 3/4 scale

I will never sell this guitar. It is a great guitar. It has bark, subtlety, feels like "jazz" and yet you could write a pop tune on it. What's the term, "real deal"...not sweet like an acoustic round hole, "plunky" with a certain warmth

Wierd...I took off the adjustable screws to raise and lower the bridge and the action is perfect as is the intonation. GREAT NECK, very comfortable to play

great

i'd give it a 15, really

Off the bat, Ill have to say this is a belated review - Why?, 'cause I sold it yrs. ago - I know, I know!
Inst. - Mid to late 60's LC 4 Custom. Custom moniker engraved on truss rod cover. Sun burst finish, carved top, came w/out pick-up and when I took this pup into my local Luthier and asked for a couple of Humbuckers to be installed he looked at me [rightly so!] as if I was smoking something bad and said "No,No,Nyet - This came with a one piece pickguard & floating pickup & and I have one in stock"]! It was a Johnny Smith mini humbucker and fit the existing screwholes on side of neck and body. 100.00 Can. installed! [mid 70's] That said, I'm pretty sure this was a custom ordered inst. 'cause it had a bound neck and split diamond inlay on headstock unlike most which are crown inlaid. Also seemed a little thinner in the body. It was'nt too ornate [no binding on f-holes] otherwise. The gist of the matter was - I had a heck of a time keeping it in tune for some reason and that mattered to me more then than the incredible rarity of the inst. Who knew? One that got away!

Sounded good - except for intonation probs. -{my fault]

One of a kind - who cares?

I let the inst. down - not vice a versa.

I've never tried to check Gibson's records on this pup, 'cause I don't have the ser.# anymore.

Overall rating?... I coulda retired on this sucker's possible market value today but ke cera it's ephemeral and moot now. Betcha I would'nt complain 'bout tuning prob.s now!

1962, USA, Archtop, Cutaway jazz guitar, shaped like an ES-175 Really nice carved spruce top, rather than the ply of a 175. Added single coil pickup, attached to fret board, i.e floating. This is an old handmade pickup, probably made by a local luthier, it is strat sized single coil, with slug magnets, pickguard-mounted volume, tone and jack. Has had two holes in guitar top for previous volume/ tone presumably, but very good job made of filling and disguising these. Mahogany neck and rims and maple ply back, shorter Gibson scale length as per 175. floating bridge, nickel tailpiece. Original green tuners.

Mainly improvisational jazz and rock from post 50s stuff to free playing and spacy stuff. The L4C is perfect for playing a suprising variety of styles, from chord-melody jazz to thrashy noise, The acoustic sound is full and dynamic, with excellent balance between volume of notes in all registers. the pickup can sound very warm, and fat with the treble off but sparkling and acoustic without. There is a beatiful gritty depth to the sound thru a valve amp, but it retains a lively acoustic character. I currently use flat wounds 12s, and played with a boss octave, metal zone, marshall supervibe (yes, I know what you are thinking) DL4, Boomerang, thru a Fender SuperChamp and a Gibson A class 15 watter (the Trace Elliot job). Urrgh you might think, but actually it sounds fantastic. the only problem is the single coil is prone to flourescent light hum etc (serves him right) I have always played strats (mostly Blade R4, an excellent guitar), more recently a bitso-tele with a PAF, and then an Ibanez AM50 which is another superb small bodied 335 style) and have that kind of solid body player's sensibility when it comes to effects. I have been persuaded into using the current setup by my drummer, having been sceptical at first but have been knocked out by the sound. I feared feedback hell, the distortion sound is actually quite wonderful, and amazingly controllable, overall it has all the facets of acoustic, electric and over the top weirdness I always thought were impossible to combine

A little battered but overall in beautiful shape. very comfortable neck profile, and fast action

So far so good. Of course this is a delicate instrument compared to a tele or strat, and recently the wiring has been a little crackly, but it hasn't let me down so far. I'm planning to change the pickup/fingerboard assembly to one using a Kent Armstrong floating PAF to sort out the interference/hum issues of the single coil.

Bought secondhand thru Frets Old and New from original owner. Dave Bresnan the shopowner knew the guitar from new, it was bought back from NY to Liverpool by a seaman for a mate, "get us one of those Gibsons, while you're over there, La"

Playing 20 odd years, have owned piles of stuff, and put together 2 or 3 Fender style guitars. I have tinkered for so long trying to get this sound out of solidbodies, but it really isn't as good, (much as I love what Ed Bickert, Mike Stern, Jim Mullen et al have got out of teles)

This beautiful 1954 L4C is a classy US archtop. The rosewood fingerboard has 19 frets with a Johnny Smith "floating" pickup mounted right at the neck. The body is an ES175 shape, but the top is carved. The florentine cutaway provides easy access to all frets and my left hand rarely hits the body. There are two pickguard-mounted pots to control the pickup (tone/volume). The tailpiece is not the original nor is the bridge and pickguard--rather they are understated ebony and really allow the brown sunbirst to shine. The tuners are the normal sealed ones found on most Gibsons, and the guitar holds tune very well. Despite the fact that this guitar is 44 years old, the finish checking is only obvious when viewing at certain angles (like a subtle flame).
Rounding out the collector's-value-annihilation modifications is a replaned neck. This makes the feel more like a slim 60 Les Paul than a Louisville Slugger. The output jack is located in the strap pin.
The "9" rating is for the midifications which enhance playability, but detract from originality. This guitar came with a Gibson hardshell case (don't know if it's original, but it looks like it could be).
Previously owned by Canadian guitarist Roy Patterson (you can probably hear it on a cd or two).

If you play jazz, it never hurts to have an archtop. And if you master a few of Wes' chops and play them with your thumb, close your eyes, you'll be pleasantly surprised.
I (sadly) have, as an amp, a marshall valvestate head with a 1960 cab. A real rocker, but tough with jazz a low levels. I'm sure this would melt my ears with a nice old tube combo, but the amp is nicely balanced and reporduces a tone I enjoy--while perhaps it is not ideal.
The tone knob is a bit silly. It is extremely sensitive from virtually all off to just a fifth of the turn. I usually keep it rolled way down unless I'm comping or playing octaves (where a brighter tone is better since I'm using my thumb). If you want Herb Ellis, roll it off and turn the high-end off on your amp--eerily reminiscent.
The last two frets on the E and B strings are essentially useless since they tend to hit the Johnny Smith, but if you don't need to stay there long you'll get by. Also, curiously, you can play the "20th" fret on the E (and B sometimes) since the left edge of the pickup is right where the next fret would be. The playability is identical to my LP Classic with low action anywhere else on the neck--real quick fretboard.

Factory? Ha! I bought it a couple months ago and set the action where I like it and there it stays--I still like it. The top is one piece. There are a few dings on the finish, but I'm sure they were put in during the guitar's first 25 years of life! For its age it is gorgeous (hardware modifications notwithstanding).

Like most archtops, this one will feedback if left unattended and with volume on, but at least the bass player will sympathize. This guitar has proven itself, and thus I don't worry. The only dilemma is that with such an old guitar I worry about it more that I probably should, but mabe that will allow it to work for forty more years.

Never dealt with them. I'm not sure I would since I've always been able to find good luthiers where ever I am.

I've been playing half of my 24 years, and I have sort of the "standards" of guitars: a 1991 Les Paul Classic (which I love, but has unfortunately been gathering dust since I bought the L4C); a 1988 Am. Std. Fender Strat; a 1967 Gibson SG; yamaha acoustic (cheap bang around box). I'm glad I didn't ask "Is it really a 1964 L4C" since it's not and I might have had to shell out more cash for it.
It's clear I like this guitar. But the reason I filled out this review is that I presume there are others like me: played rock for years, and got tired of it, decided that jazz was more fulfilling and creative (personal choice, ok;), but that cadre of rock solid-bodies could not even approximate a good jazz sound. So you want an archtop. You can get a low-end Guild for the same price as this guitar, and it won't be as good. So if you can find a nice condition L4C (with pickup, of course) check it out, then examine the Guild Artist Award, and thank yourself that you just save a couple grand.