Gibson L-5 CES VS Electric Guitar Review

Guitar Information

The Gibson L-5 CES electric guitar is one of the most iconic guitars on the market today. Used by some of the biggest jazz musicians in the World, the L-5 harnesses the combined sounds of the smooth electric Gibson signature tones and the warm acoustic sounds you would expect from a handcrafted Gibson jazz guitar.

The L-5 CES Gibson is often very difficult to find due to the low quantities available of the signature guitar. The build time for a guitar of this caliber is longer than usual and getting your hands on your own can be a little tricky!

However, despite this, the guitar is well known for its vintage feel with its comfortable neck made from maple walnut wood allowing guitarists to move up and down the fret with ease, making the L-5 an easy choice when it comes to choosing an electro-acoustic guitar.

Back in 1922, this guitar was designed and produced as an acoustic guitar, it was the first Gibson guitar with f-holes.
Gibson electrified this model in 1951, and fun fact : Django Reinhardt tried electrifying his Gibson L5 before Gibson revealed the L5 CES model electrified as we know it today.

Who played with the Gibson l-5 CES ?

This guitar is often associated to Wes Montgomery, one of the most famous American jazz guitarsit who used this model during the 60s. Of course, plenty of famous guitarists had a chance to use this gem : Scotty Moore, Dave Barbour, Tuck Andress, Eric Clapton, Kenny Burell, Tony Mottola ….

Guitar Dimensions and Stats

Guitar weight – 11.3kg
Guitar Dimensions – 127cm x 50.8cm x 22.9cm
Colour – Vintage Sunburst
Scale Length – Standard full-size guitar

Experts Feedback

When talking about the Gibson L-5, we could talk for hours about how the modern L-5 has not changed from the original Gibson guitar in the 1950s. Gibson does such an excellent job on the production on every guitar, that it’s no wonder really why Gibson is considered as the Rolls Royce of the Guitar World.

The L-5’s acoustic and electric abilities are so equally matched, it’s almost like receiving a 2 for 1 deal. The L-5 does excellently when it comes to playing live but also unplugged. The quality of tones is second to none with the L-5 and this makes the guitar every jazz /acoustic/general musicians dream guitar to play! We can’t rate this guitar enough, to be honest!