"What Type of Gibson Do I have?"
Here are the general types of Gibson guitars:
o Electric Solid body Gibsons: body is a solid piece of wood (no soundhole or cutouts), 1.5" to 2" thick, pickups and knobs routed into the top of the guitar.
o Flattop Acoustic Gibsons: single round sound hole under the strings, body 3.5" to 4.5" thick with a flat top, usually not electric (but often owners add a sort of bolt-on electric assembly).
o Acoustic Archtop Gibsons: two "f" hole style sound holes cut in the top, body 3" to 4.5" thick, slightly arched top, acoustic with no pickups (but sometimes these models have bolt-on electic assembly added later by players).
o Electric Archtop Gibsons: same as above ("f" holes, arch top) but the factory installed electric pickups into the guitar with volume/tone knob(s).
o Electric Thinline Archtop Gibsons: same as above (electric with two "f" holes in the top), but the body is thinner at 1.5" to 2" thick. These are always electric from the factory.
o Electric Lapsteel Gibson: a small solidbody guitar (no cutouts or sound holes) that is played in the lap, Hawaiian style, with a metal slide bar, pickup and knob routed into the top.
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Once the type of guitar is determined, figuring out the exact model is MUCH easier! (just go to one of the above six linked webpages that describes your guitar, and compare each model specs to your guitar, until you find the one that matches).
Next Determine the Year or Approximate Year.
Gibson guitars usually have a FON (Factory Order Number), a serial number, or both (but sometimes neither!) Various serial number systems were used by Gibson, and often the same serial number could be used in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. See the serial number/FON section for details. Duplicate or no serial/FON number doesn't make things easy, but there are other traits that allow the serial number to make sense. Also mid to top end instruments usually have a label inside the guitar with the serial number. Guitars with no label are usually lower end instruments (or are a solidbody guitar!)
Probably the first thing when trying to determine the year on an old Gibson is whether the guitar was made "pre-WW2", during WW2, or "post-WW2". This is easy to do, as Gibson used different peghead logos for pre-WW2, "wartime", and post-WW2. Knowing the general era of the Gibson guitar will make Gibson's rather complicated serial number/FON systems less tangled.
Next Determine the Exact Model.
There are several general questions which can be asked in determining a guitar's model, once the type of guitar (flat top, arch top, etc.) has been determined:
o What is the color of the top of the guitar? Common top colors include "sunburst" (a yellow center that fades to a darker red or brown around the edges), black, natural and "cherry red" (a translucent red which shows the wood grain).
o What is the color of the back of the guitar? Common back colors include translucent dark brown, translucent light brown, sunburst, cherry red, etc.
o What is the body size? (measure the guitar across the top at the widest point, which is the guitar's "hips"). This is really important for all model types except solidbody electrics.
o What is the style of fingerboard inlays? (dots, blocks, trapezoids, double parallelagrams, etc.)
o What is the style of "Gibson" peghead logo? That is, is it white silkscreen, gold silkscreen, or pearl inlay? Also if the logo is pre-WW2, wartime, or post-WW2 (see above). Also fancier models can even have some sort of pearl inlaid decoration (a "crown" or long skinny "diamond") on the peghead just below the "Gibson" logo.
o What is the style of binding? Binding is the whitish/yellowish/tortoise "band" that goes around the edges of the body. Most Gibsons have some sort of body binding. Often binding is multi-layers (white/black/white, etc). Some guitars also have binding on the neck. The more binding a guitar has, the fancier the model.
Finally Determine the Originality.
Originality of an instrument is very important. Modifications (any modifications), are a bad thing in the eyes of a collector. This will greatly influence value. Modifications can often be determined by looking at the model specs for a particular year guitar in this web page (after the approximate year is determined), and compare to your instrument.
Gibson Model Collectibility.
Vintage Archtop Gibsons Collectibility.
Gibson invented the archtop guitar as we know it and has remained one of the better makers. The most collectible Gibson archtops are the larger models made from the early 1930's to 1959. The Advance (17" or wider) models from late 1934 onward are of the same construction used in today's archtops. The Lloyd Loar signed L-5's, the pre-war Super 400, and Advanced L-5 archtops are highly collectible. The pre-war cutaway L-5 and cutaway Super 400 are also known as Premier models. Non-cutaway models are not nearly as collectible as cutaway Premier models.
Cutaway archtop models made from 1946 to 1959 are also very collectible, but are not as much as the pre-war Advance Premier models. Non-cutaway post-war models are interesting but not very collectible. Archtop cutaway models made from 1960 to 1969 are also very good instruments, but are not nearly as collectible as the pre-1960 models and are more utility instruments.
Vintage Flattop Gibson Collectibility.
Gibson began to develop professional quality flat top instrument in the 1930's. Many concepts were stolen from Martin, which was the company that invented features such as X-braced tops and large dreadnought body sizes. Gibson then modified Martin's designs and developed its own improvements including adjustable truss rods, adjustable saddle(s), and super jumbo body shapes. Although workmanship on pre-war Gibsons is not as high as pre-war Martins, Gibson flat tops are well designed and constructed so they have excellent tone. Many player (including me) prefer Gibsons of this period to all other flat tops.
Flat tops of the 1940's and 1950's are also excellent instruments. Since they are much more common, they are also easier and less expensive to obtain.
Gibson flat tops of the 1960's and 1970's seem to be inferior in tone and construction to the same models of the 1950's. This is generally blamed on adjustable bridges that were standard on all models in the 1960's. Also the end of "sloped" shoulder body styles helped alienate players and collector alike.
Vintage Electric Arch top Gibson Collectibility.
Pre-war Gibson electric arch tops are excellent instruments. Since pre-war models are early in the evolution of the electric guitar, they are historically important. The ES-150 and ES-250, both used by Charlie Christian, are very collectible pre-war instruments.
Postwar full depth, non-cutaway models were generally designed as student models and are not very valuable. Post-war Gison electric archtops with cutaways from the 1950's are considered to be excellent and collectible. The deluxe models, such as the L-5CES, Super 400CES from the 1950's are very collectible. The laminated body models, such as the ES-5, ES-350, ES-175 and ES-295 are not worth as much as the solid wood model, but are valuable.
Vintage Electric Thinline Archtop Gibson Collectibility.
There are two styles of Thinline Gibson models. First is the "fully hollowbody" style. These thinline, fully hollow, models are somewhat collectible. The single cutaway Byrdland (a short scale, thin body L-5CES) is excellent in quality, but its short scale length and narrow neck makes it less collectible. The single cutaway ES-350T (a plainer version of the Byrdland), having the same problems, also has limited collectibility mostly due to its scale length. Fully hollow thinlines such as the double cutaway ES-330 never had the appeal or utility of the semi-hollow counterparts such as the ES-335.
Thinline, semi-hollow electrics from 1958 to 1964 are very cool and wanted by players and collectors. The ES-335, which had the lowest list price of the ES-335/ ES-345/ ES-355 group, is considered to be the most collectible (even though it is the plainest). The Varitone/Stereo system of the ES-345/ES-355 is less desirable than the simple ES-335 design. Also, the stop tailpiece setup of the ES-335 is more collectible than the vibrato or trapeze tailpiece systems.
Vintage Electric Solid body Gibson Collectibility.
The Les Paul models from the 1950's along with the Korina Flying V and Explorer are some of the most collectible solidbody production guitars. Les Paul models with Humbucking pickups from the 1950's are the most desired, with the P-90 pickup models selling for significantly less money. Original series Firebirds with full reverse bodies are also very collectible. Other solidbody gibson may have some appeal, but not to the extent of the previously mentioned models.
Vintage Double neck Gibson Collectibility.
Double neck models with carved spruce tops are different than any other Gibson design. Because of this they are collectible. Solidbody double neck SG style guitars are not nearly as desirable, though popularized by bands such as Led Zeppelin in the 1970s.
Vintage Gibson Electric Bass Collectibility.
Generally speaking, Gibson doesn't have much of a reputation as an electric bass maker. Though the first electric Gibson bass introduced in 1953 (known as the EB-1) is interesting, it's not desirable to the player. The late fifties EB-2 and EB-6 are also interesting, but don't appeal widely to players. Likewise the Thunderbird II and IV basses are nice companions to the Firebird guitars, but again don't appeal to players. Because of this, the collectibility of Gibson basses is somewhat limited, especially when compared to Fender electric basses.
Vintage Gibosn Ukulele Collectibility.
Gibson ukes, though not as collectible as Martin ukes, has a certain charm. Although I do not list Gibson uke models here, please email me if you have a Gibson uke you are interested in selling.
Vintage Gibson LapSteel Collectibility.
Although lapsteels are considered student model instruments, pre-war models are interesting. This is because they are early examples in the evolution of the electric guitar. Today, the pedal steel has made the lapsteel obsolete.
Vintage Mandolins by Gibson:
Gibson mandolins are the standard of the industry. The original 1902 series made by Orville Gibson generally don't sound that good, but are interesting historically. Mandolins from 1904 to 1909 have a better design, but still lack sound. The high end models from 1910 to 1922 are excellent utility mandolins. The F-5 design of the mid 1920's is considered to be high point of mandolin design, and the mandolin by which all others are judged. By the late 1920's, the mandolin boom had pasted and demand feel. Because demand was low, so was production. Hence mandolins from the 1930's are somewhat rare. Until the mandolin became popular in country music after WWII, demand and production for mandolins stayed low.
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