• Model: L-5 CES
• Year: 1962
• Finish: Sunburst
• Production: One of Only 30 Produced That Year
• Construction: Full Hollowbody Archtop
• Cutaway: Sharp Florentine
• Top: Solid Carved Spruce
• Back: Carved Figured Maple
• Sides: Figured Maple
• Body Binding: Multi-Ply
• Neck: 3-Piece Figured / Flamed Maple
• Neck Profile: Slim Early-’60s Profile
• Fingerboard: Ebony
• Fingerboard Binding: Multi-Ply
• Fingerboard Inlays: Mother of Pearl Block Inlays
• Nut Width: Approx. 42mm
• Headstock: Multi-Ply Bound
• Headstock Inlay: Mother of Pearl Flowerpot / Floral Inlay
• Frets: Professionally Refretted
• Pickup Configuration: HH
• Neck Pickup: Original Gibson PAF Humbucker
• Bridge Pickup: Original Gibson PAF Humbucker
• Pickup Covers: Original Gold Covers, Never Removed
• Pickup Rings: Original, No Splits
• Controls: 2 x Volume, 2 x Tone
• Switching: 3-Way Toggle Pickup Selector
• Knobs: Original Gold Bonnet Reflector Knobs
• Switch Tip: Original White Toggle Tip
• Bridge: Original ABR-1 on Floating Rosewood Base
• Tailpiece: Original Gold L-5 Engraved Tailpiece
• Tuners: Original Kluson Sealfast
• Pickguard: Original Multi-Ply Tortoiseshell
• Hardware: Gold
• Weight: Approx. 7.1lb
• Case: Original Gibson Hardshell Case
• Documentation: Extensive Original Paperwork Including Original Purchase Receipt

• Original carved spruce top
• Original figured maple back and sides
• Original 3-piece maple neck
• Original ebony fingerboard
• Original Gibson PAF humbuckers
• Original pickup covers – never removed
• Original pickup rings
• Original wiring and control layout
• Original gold bonnet reflector knobs
• Original white switch tip
• Original ABR-1 bridge
• Original floating rosewood bridge base
• Original engraved L-5 tailpiece
• Original Kluson Sealfast tuners
• Original multi-ply tortoiseshell pickguard
• Original gold hardware
• Original Gibson case
• Original purchase receipt and accompanying paperwork
• Original Frets

This is an extraordinary L-5 CES and quite possibly one of the cleanest surviving 1962 examples you are likely to encounter. Calling a guitar of this age “immaculate” can often feel excessive, but in this case it is genuinely difficult to overstate just how well preserved it is. From the Sunburst finish and binding through to the plastics, gold hardware and accompanying paperwork, it has the appearance of a guitar that has somehow avoided the normal sixty-plus years of ageing and use.

The construction is classic golden-era L-5: a carved solid spruce top, beautifully figured maple back and sides, sharp Florentine cutaway, three-piece figured maple neck and an ebony fingerboard with large mother-of-pearl block inlays. The multi-ply body and headstock binding, floral headstock inlay and engraved gold L-5 tailpiece complete what was effectively Gibson’s flagship electric archtop specification.

Most importantly, the guitar retains its original Gibson PAF humbuckers. The covers appear never to have been removed and remain remarkably undisturbed, The original pickup rings remain intact without the cracks so often seen on guitars of this age.

The accompanying provenance is exceptional in its own right. The original Gibson case is present along with original purchase documentation, paperwork and receipt, all of which remain remarkably fresh. For a serious vintage Gibson collector, that combination of condition, originality and documentation is incredibly difficult to replicate.

With only around 30 L-5 CES examples produced in 1962, this would already be a scarce instrument. Finding one this complete, this original and in this level of preservation makes it something altogether more special.

Exceptional vintage collector’s condition. The guitar is astonishingly clean for an instrument manufactured in 1962 and presents far closer to a carefully preserved modern guitar than a sixty-plus-year-old vintage archtop. There is only minor natural ageing and light tarnishing to the gold hardware, exactly as would be expected with age. The finish, binding, plastics and hardware remain remarkably well preserved.

The guitar has received a professional set-up it remains exceptionally original and is accompanied by its original Gibson hardshell case, original purchase receipt and extensive original paperwork.

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