Gibson L5 1935 Union Grove Music Santa Cruz 7390

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9zKgdjCNVg

One of the last of the 16-inch L-5 guitars built by Gibson. It has a carved Adirondack spruce
top, carved maple back, solid maple sides, and maple neck. The bound fingerboard is ebony
with 20 frets, and pearl block inlays at the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, and 15th frets. The end of
the fingerboard is pointed. The top bracing is parallel and non-kerfed.

The original Cremona Sunburst finish is in excellent condition on the top and back. There are
some minor scratches and dings present, but none of these are very noticeable unless one
carefully inspects the guitar. The top and sides are crack free on this guitar. The back has a
tightly repaired 2" crack at the bottom of the guitar. Also, at one time (before 1975), the back
was removed for some reason. I would guess that the center seam on the back had separated
due to dryness, and the back was removed to do the repair. A dark center strip was added to
fill the gap left by the two pieces of the back having shrunk. The repair was so well done that
I thought the center strip was original construction, and I didn't notice it.  Upon exploring the
inside of the guitar, I then realized that this center strip was added. The inside of the guitar is
clean and the center seam is lightly cleated for reinforcement of the back joint  with thin
wood strips. The binding that joins the back to the sides had obviously been removed to
facilitate the separation of the back from the sides. The binding shrunk, and when it was
reinstalled there was a piece of binding added to fill the gap caused by the shrinkage, just
above the end pin. The sides were over sprayed with lacquer to touch up this repair.

Other repairs done to this L-5 are a neck reset, refret, and the standard adjustments to the
action. The guitar plays great, and has a straight neck. It is strung with standard medium
gauge strings, (013-056).

The original serial number on the interior white label is unreadable, but a previous owner has
written, in Sharpie pen, the number 91440. The specifications and features on this guitar are
identical to another L-5 with serial number 91438 that appears on the fantastic website
"Prewargibsonl-5". This serial number implies a 1935 shipping date. The FON number is
difficult to read but appears to be 126X-7, indicating a late 1934 production date.
The hardware on the guitar is gold plated. The wrap-around gold tailpiece is original, and the
ebony bridge is original. The gold Grover G-98 Statites (6:1 tuning ratio) have been replaced
with a later set of gold G-98 Grovers with a 12:1 tuning ratio. The pickguard is missing. The
original red line Geib case is included and in fully funtional condition.

The guitar is very loud and well balanced, with a full range of sound from a deep bass
response to smooth mids and a bright high end.