2000 Gibson L-4 CES Historic Collection Electric Archtop Guitar – Used

This is a clean and completely original L-4 CES, a Gibson archtop model you don’t see very often because only a handful were made in the late ’50s and ’60s. And the reissues, introduced in 1986, were discontinued twenty years later.

The easiest way to summarize this Historic Collection version is to imagine a cross between an ES-175 and an L-5 CES. The body is like a deluxe version of an ES-175, but with a carved spruce top. The gold hardware, including the tailpiece, are essentially the same as on an L-5 CES. The carved top gives more acoustic tone if you choose to practice without plugging in, but it also gives it more of the sound of an L-5 despite the smaller 16″ size of the ES-175 (which of course has a laminated maple top). This example has light fret wear so it has been used, but the owner was a careful player and the only other playing wear is confined to the pickguard. The original case is equally clean.