1947 Gibson L-48

1947 Gibson L-48, FON: 323-29

This is a 1947 Gibson L-48. The L-48 is a sixteen inch archtop guitar with laminate mahogany top, back and sides. The neck is one-piece mahogany and the fingerboard is unbound Brazilian rosewood. There are nineteen frets with pearloid dot markers at the third, fifth, seventh, ninth, twelfth, and fifteenth frets. The neck is a comfortable “C” shape with a 1 11/16” nut width, a neck depth at the first fret of 15/16” and 1 1/32” at the ninth. The headstock features an adjustable truss rod, a bell flower shaped truss rod cover and a silkscreened modern Gibson logo, first introduced in this year. 

It is an archtop with a pair of comparatively small f-holes, more reminiscent of the 1930s Gibson pattern.  The bridge, made of Brazilian rosewood, is floating, adjustable and original to the guitar. The tailpiece is the correct Gibson style, though it is a later chrome plated replacement. The tuners are modern three-on-a-plate Waverly replacements for the original Klusons. It was originally mounted with a floating pickguard and bracket, but those are long gone. The frets are the original small wire with some divoting in the lower frets, though they play well and have a reasonable amount of life left in them. The finish is original with no signs of touchup or overspray. It displays heavy checking and extensive wear from handling and play throughout. The finish is worn through on the back of the neck from the first fret to the sixth and there are numerous areas on the top, back and sides where the finish has been rubbed through entirely. 

The Body depth is 3 ¼” the upper bout is 12 ½,” the lower bout is 16” and the overall length is 40.” Overall, it is a great playing and fine sounding example of what was originally a student-grade instrument. 

It comes with a recent cardboard case.