Gibson L-4
Encyclopedia
Gibson L-4 refers to several archtop guitar
Archtop guitar
An archtop guitar is a steel-stringed acoustic or semi-acoustic guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top, whose sound is particularly popular with blues and jazz players.Typically, an archtop guitar has:* 6 strings...

s produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation
Gibson Guitar Corporation
The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...

.

The L-4 was first introduced in 1911 as an acoustic rhythm guitar with an oval sound hole; it was used by Eddie Lang
Eddie Lang
Eddie Lang was an American jazz guitarist, regarded as the Father of Jazz Guitar. He played a Gibson L-4 and L-5 guitar, providing great influence for many guitarists, including Django Reinhardt.-Biography:...

, who also played an L-5.

During the 1930s, the oval sound hole was replaced by two f-holes, similar to those found in other archtops such as the L-5 and the Super 400
Gibson Super 400
The Gibson Super 400 is an archtop guitar, "the biggest, fanciest, and most expensive archtop ever built," and a highly influential model guitar which inspired many other guitar makers . It was first sold in 1934 and named for its $400 price.The Super 400 was the largest guitar that the Gibson...

.

In 1949, Gibson released the ES-175
Gibson ES-175
The Gibson ES-175 is an electric guitar manufactured by the Gibson Guitar Corporation, currently still in production. It is a 24 3/4" scale full hollow body guitar with a trapeze tailpiece and Tune-O-Matic bridge...

, which was essentially an electric version of the L-4 with a laminated (as opposed to carved) top and a florentine cutaway.

Electric versions of the L-4 (known as L-4 CES) with a carved top and a florentine cutaway, were released in limited runs throughout the 1950s.

In the late 1980s, Gibson reintroduced the L-4 CES, which has been in production ever since.

The current version features two humbucking pickups, a solid carved spruce top, and solid mahogany back and sides. Other differences with the ES-175 include gold hardware, a fancier tailpiece, a different pickguard, and the rhythm pickup mounted closer to the neck.
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