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Guitar

ALTERNATE NAME(S)

Archtop guitar

Maker Gibson, Inc.

Maker Gibson

Date1933

Place MadeKalamazoo, Michigan, United States, North America

ModelL-5 Carl Kress Special model

Serial No.89849

SignedInlaid in mother-of-pearl on headstock: Gibson

Oval paper label with double-line border, the outer line bold, the instrument name and serial number rubber-stamped in black ink, the word "Special" written in black ink: Gibson Special GUITAR Style / Number 89849 is hereby / GUARANTEED / against faulty workmanship and materials. Should / this instrument, with proper care and usage, prove de- / fective, we agree to repair it free of charge at our / factory or to replace it with another of the same value. / GIBSON, Inc. / KALAMAZOO / Michigan, U S. A. [sic]MarkingsStamped on front of tailpiece clasp: PATENTED JULY 19.1910

Stamped on tuner plates: WAVERLYDescriptionThis guitar was custom-made for the jazz guitarist Carl Kress (1907-1965) as a "Special" L-5. The neck is significantly thicker than a standard instrument, with a different heel shape, and the headstock is longer than a standard model. Additionally, it features some decorative inlay elements from banjos of the period.

Kress was originally a tenor banjo player who switched to playing guitar in Paul Whiteman's orchestra in 1926. He was extensively recorded in the 1920s and 1930s. Kress was known for using an all-fifths tuning on his guitar, as was typical of the tenor banjo he originally played.

Stringing: six steel strings
Soundboard: arched, two-piece, quarter-cut spruce: wide grain
Back: two-piece, slab-cut maple: narrow, irregular, horizontal curl
Sides: two-piece, slab-cut maple with quilted figure and pith flecks; lower sides divided by mahogany graft, slightly wider at top than back, surrounded on each side by black wood strips
Head: maple with black-lacquered face; integral with neck; white celluloid binding with two ply black and white strip trim; abalone foliate inlay surrounded by white celluloid strip; mother-of-pearl “Gibson” inlay; bell-shaped black celluloid truss rod cover
Neck: two-piece maple with broad, irregular curl; integral with head; mahogany strip along center line, surrounded on each side by thin strips of ivory celluloid
Heel cap: white celluloid with white and black celluloid purfling strip trim on inside edge
Binding: white celluloid; trim comprised of two-ply (black-white) celluloid purfling strips
Fingerboard: ebony bound in ivoroid with black strip trim on sides; end terminating in a point, with rounded edges on the sides; 19 nickel-silver frets; rosewood blocks each inlaid with different mother-of-pearl foliate design, surrounded with thin white celluloid strip trim, behind 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, and 15th frets; single imitation tortoise-shell celluloid side dots behind 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th and 15th frets
Nut: bone; later; original preserved separately
Bridge: two-piece ebony with nickel-silver screws for height adjustment; later compensated upper piece, original preserved separately
Tailpiece: gold-painted steel secured to lower rib with three steel domed, slot head screws
Tuners: six Waverly rose gold-plated worm-gear machine tuners; later
Endpin: ebony
Soundholes: f-holes
Pick guard: translucent dark red-brown imitation-tortoise-shell celluloid bound in white celluloid with two-ply (black-white) celluloid purfling strip trim, mounted on guitar with gold-over-nickel plated brass metal and two steel screws
Lacquer: dark red-brown sunburst
Linings: kerfed maple
Neck block: mahogany with beveled corners
End block: mahogany with beveled corners
Top bracing: two spruce angled bars between f-holes; soundholes reinforced with white canvas on inside
Grafts: noneDimensionsTotal guitar length: 1049 mm (41-5/16″)
Back length: 517 mm (20-1/32″)
Upper bout width: 296 mm (11-21/32″)
Waist width: 241 mm (9-1/2″)
Lower bout width: 414 mm (16-5/16″)
Rib height (including edging) at heel: 84 mm (3-5/16″)
Rib height, at waist: 84 mm (3-5/16″)
Rib height, at end block: 86 mm (3-3/8″)
Head length: 189 mm (7-7/16″)
Head width, top: 89 mm (3-1/2″)
Head width, bottom: 75 mm (3-15/16″)
Neck length (nut to ribs): 346 mm (13-5/8″)
Neck width, nut: 46 mm (1-13/16″)
Neck width, heel: 57 mm (2-1/4″)
Soundhole length: 156 mm (6-1/8")
Scale length: 628 mm (24-23/32")
Vibrating string length (nut to bridge edge): high E: 630 mm (24-13/16″); low E: 635 mm (25″)ProvenanceOriginally made for and used by Carl Kress. Recorded in the surviving Gibson shipping ledgers on June 22, 1937, as an “Old Style L-5” in a #515 case to New York Band. Purchased by the donor from Gruhn Guitars in 2015.Published ReferencesGeorge Gruhn. ""The 1933 Gibson L5 'Special'." _Vintage Guitar_ 27, no, 9 (July 2013): 60, 62.
https://www.vintageguitar.com/15441/1933-gibson-l-5-special/

Credit LineGift of Roderick McDonald, 2025

Object number15999

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