What do we think of the Gibson L-00?

[rbrcbr]

So, I'll make a trade for the L-00 or the J-100 this weekend. Quite a disparity there! I'm hoping for the J-100 but I'll go either direction.

Larry! Don't!

You want a Waterloo WL-12. Seriously.

I'd heard those Waterloo acoustics are amazing. Recently saw Father John Misty playing one in black with a white pickguard - quite a good looking and sounding guitar (I mean, you can only really gauge so much with a plugged in acoustic, I'm sure it sounds great in person). And Collings built? I'm surprised these aren't more popular.

[Larry Mal]

OK.

Well, you've created a Gibson acoustic monster, Maggie!

[Despot]

Larry - I'm with Maggie on this one.

If you're after a small body acoustic guitar like a L00 you're actually going to be better served by the Waterloo than the Gibson. But you have to actually want that sound - if you're primarily playing full size guitars (and like that sound) you might find the small body guitar to be boxier sounding.

I had that old '47 Martin 0018 a few years back - a beautiful sounding small body guitar ... and while it had a really beautiful sound, it wasn't the sound that I needed or wanted.

I don't record, or play live anymore. What I needed was a J45 or J50 - as soon as I found the right old J45 for me I was done. My acoustic guitar GAS has been killed stone dead.

[Larry Mal]

Well, like I say, I'm kind of experimenting here. I don't need any more guitars of any kind for any reasonable purpose, so I'm trading something that I can't seem to get along with for something that might be fun and might not be a keeper, but I'll learn something either way.

For the time being I have an embarrassment of riches, and I have every conceivable base covered with the acoustics I have and then some. And even if I have to scale my collection back due to finances at some point, the two I have designated in my mind as lifetime keepers would still more than cover everything I really need.

So I've been intrigued by the L-00 ever since a luthier I use recommended I check them out, I don't immediately feel like this will be the sound and the guitar that I've been looking for my whole life but you never know. Why not take a shot?

I'll say this: the guitar I'm trading is very nice, it's an electric. One of the people that I made a trade offer to asked me for some sound clips, so I said sure. I spent an hour and a half trying to dial in a sound I would feel proud of sending to this person (he wanted them fairly clean) and I just couldn't be happy with any of it. It occurred to me as I struggled to record something good with this guitar that I've never been happy with the way it sounded, that I always kept thinking that one day I'd get it dialed in, one day I would get some new pickups in it or something- that something would work, some day.

And I'll accept the idea that it's not the guitar, that it's me, but that doesn't help me a lot since I have to be me every single day. So I am done with this guitar, all it will be to me now is a pawn for something else, if that doesn't amuse me, then the trade becomes the pawn... but my core collection is more than satisfied so I'm just playing around.

I would still prefer the maple J-100, since I recently got that bubinga J-100 and love that thing. I've been spending more time with my maple Dove (thanks Maggie) and am growing intrigued by that and would like to hear it in a more classic configuration with the Super Jumbo size.

But I'll trade for the L-00, also.

[Embenny]

Maple and jumbos seem to be made for each other. The only maple acoustics I've liked have either been jumbos, or had cedar tops. Both of those things kind of compliment the clear and bright projection of the maple that might otherwise be a bit too bright. I definitely recommend trying out a maple SJ.

[Larry Mal]

Yeah, no sooner did I shoot off my mouth about it than I happen to notice that the maple J-100 guitar has been sold, so it's quite possible that while the seller and myself were working out a trade someone else just straight up bought it. That happens.

So, maple. It's something that I'm still wrapping my mind around a bit. I got that Dove from Maggie, and it took me a while to really connect with the sound, or at least figure out how to use it. I always liked it, but the maple combined with that dreadnaught shape leads to a guitar that doesn't quite sound like what you usually associate a dread with sounding.

The bass is tempered with maple, probably why it's used with the Super Jumbos. And while I could always see the strengths of that, it's still a different sound, you know? You had mentioned that having a lot of booming bass with an acoustic might be fun ear candy but doesn't really make it onto the final mix a lot of the time, and I agree with that. So I can see the advantages of maple and all, but still, it can seem a little bit like a subdued guitar.

But then one day I have the idea to make the Dove be my open C tuned guitar. I love that tuning, and dropping the bass string all the way down to C can really lead to a flabby and useless sound on a lot of guitars. With the Dove, though, it keeps that tightness in the bass and the maple lets the high end shine in a brilliant way- I'm totally sold on it now.

So I was looking forward to exploring more of that. No big deal, though.

[Maggieo]

I would still prefer the maple J-100, since I recently got that bubinga J-100 and love that thing. I've been spending more time with my maple Dove (thanks Maggie) and am growing intrigued by that and would like to hear it in a more classic configuration with the Super Jumbo size.

You're welcome, Larry! I am so pleased it found a good home!

[Larry Mal]

Yeah, it's a lot of fun... sometimes I pull it out and I'm like, how the fuck do I own a Gibson Dove? It just seems so over the top and extravagant and it's nothing I would have ever gone out and bought for myself.

Anyway, thanks for the advice all, I am making the trade for the L-00. You can all laugh at me if I end up hating it. I predict I'll like it just fine.

Like I say, it can occupy a very specific niche in my guitar world- I've already got my other flavors all covered. If this is fun to play, and adds a sound that I consider to be useful from time to time, I'll be happy.

Also, I want a small bodied guitar for my small bodied people that I've created. I felt bad selling my little Martin because my little Big Guy always said he liked that one and in a couple years he'll be big enough to play guitar, and a J-200 isn't going to do him any good. Not sure if he'll like the L-00 but it's a lot better than my first acoustic was.

[Maggieo]

Yeah, it's a lot of fun... sometimes I pull it out and I'm like, how the fuck do I own a Gibson Dove? It just seems so over the top and extravagant and it's nothing I would have ever gone out and bought for myself.

I say the same thing about my Mustang!

Speaking of it, I think I'm going to put some Novaks in it.

[Larry Mal]

That might be a good idea- those Telecaster style pickups that are in there are probably pretty cool, but some real, quality vintage Mustang pickups would be just the thing, I'd imagine.

[Larry Mal]

Just got it today, I'm going to go out on a limb and call it a keeper already:

[BoringPostcards]

Looks good. I love that body style. I have a The Loarthats similar.

[wproffitt]

Okay, I have to admit that it looks great, too. How does it play/sound?

[Larry Mal]

Okay, I have to admit that it looks great, too. How does it play/sound?

Well, I only got it yesterday, so I'll be giving a very inexpert review at this point, I haven't even changed the strings (it still has the .13s that is came with and I usually use .12s). But I'll give a bunch of first thoughts.

And the first thing I'll say is that when I first got it, I played it for a bit, and I was thinking, well, this probably won't stick around. I always kind of thought that might be the case, you know, I was happy to think that I would learn a bit from this and then use it as a pawn if I didn't like it. And that's what I thought was happening for the first half hour or so.

But after a couple of hours, it seemed to just totally open up- I got back to it, and played it, and then all of a sudden I realized how great it sounded. No idea if maybe the kids had just shut up for a moment and I could hear what I was doing, or if it actually had opened up in some way, or if I just clicked into place with it, or what. But all of a sudden I just loved it.

So, it's a keeper.

It's very loud, is the first thing. A good amount of dynamic range to it, also, you get a good mix of quiet to loud. That's always important to me. And while this guitar has a good amount of that, it's not a great amount- not as good as some of my other acoustics. But still very acceptable.

It's a dry sound, with a moderate amount of sustain, but you know how some acoustics are very reverberant and give a big and lush sound? That's not what's happening here- this is immediate and pronounced, "in your face" if that makes any kind of sense. The sound just kind of leaps out of the guitar, it doesn't spend time developing in the body which is no surprise since there's less body to develop in.

But some acoustics have this kind of haunting, distant "3D" quality to them, and that's great- but this doesn't do that, it just erupts out of the guitar.

I'm finding that microphones like that, and I'm looking forward to recording with this guitar.

The bass is fucking tight on this guitar. That's very nice, and it's still got a good thump to it like Gibsons do... you put your thumb on the strings past the soundhole and over the fretboard and pluck on it, and you almost get this acoustic bass thump there.

That being said, I always had the idea that this might be a strong guitar for fingerpicking and I'm not loving anything about it for that. This might change, I guess, when I get more used to it and when I get the lighter strings on there. But at the moment I'm not finding much fingerpicking magic about it, it's hard to drive the strings on this guitar with my fingers enough to make the sound be very lively and exciting. This could be different for anyone else, but I never had any trouble with my Martin 00-17s and to a lesser extent my Martin 000-18, nor that Larriveé 12 fret that I had for a while. And I don't have any problems getting good fingerpicking sounds out of my dreadnaughts and such.

But I thought this would be a fingerpicking champ, and at the moment, I don't feel that it's at all the first thing I would reach for with that. That surprised me a lot. At the moment, I'm only getting passable sounds out of it with my fingers and would rather use one of my other guitars for that.

Played with a flatpick, though, it's wonderful. That also surprised me. It's strong, and powerful, and immediate. Palm muting just lends itself to this guitar for whatever reason, and you can just make it pop by pulling that mute away. Very cool. It's articulate, the note separation is pretty good with chords, nothing tremendous but still good. I had not thought this would be such a strong guitar for flatpicking but it's great, frankly.

Gibson claims that this guitar is somehow the equivalent of a J-45 in a smaller body, that is stupid, this guitar is more in the territory of my J-35, which also is very dry, strong, and immediate. There's not a ton of that Gibson "sweet" that you hear about.

I'll also say this- it plays like a dream. The nut width is closer to 1.75", which I think is great- I measured it at 1.745". All of my Gibson acoustics measure wider than the 1.725" that Gibson claims their necks are, which I think is great. Sloppy, I guess, but I like the 1.75" best anyway.

And between the short scale, the wide neck, and the slim-taper profile, this thing just plays itself. Feels great on the lap but I never get too worked up about that stuff, still, it's a very comfortable small guitar. That being said, this guitar had been worked on by a very good luthier at some point. Gibsons are terrible on the showroom floor but someone really did a great job on this one making it be the great instrument it is.

I'll say this: I would not want this to be my only acoustic guitar. It's more versatile than I had thought, and it is stronger in ways that I had not thought, but it's not the most all around versatile acoustic I have played, that's for sure.

It will be super strong for recording. Very inspiring so far. I'm going to keep it and love the sound of it.

Some of this might change, I have some strings on the way, and some new tuners, and so on. I might find how to make it pop with fingerpicking better, that sort of thing.

[Embenny]

That's a gorgeous guitar. I'm glad you're pleased with it.

Is this a truly new, out-of-the-box guitar, or did you trade for a used one?

If it was new, I understand the exact moment you're referring to when it started to open up for the first time. Every new acoustic guitar I've ever had has had this singular moment where it's like it finally figured out that it's a guitar and not a tree anymore, and finally started vibrating together instead of fighting me.

Of course, they continue to get much better with time and more playing, but I always find this point a few hours into playing them where something just "clicks".