1957 Gibson L-5CES
Peghead Nation instructor Matt Munisteri demonstrates his rare Gibson electric archtop with a special pickup configuration.
To his Peghead Nation students, Matt Munisteri is mostly known for his use of vintage acoustic Gibson archtops, including his 1930 L-5, 1930 Master Model L-5, and 1949 L-5N. But Matt also plays a lot of gigs that require an electric guitar, and for more than 20 years, his instrument of choice was a vintage Gibson ES-150. However, recently, Matt found an ultra-rare version of a Gibson L-5CES that he feels is ideally suited to his electric playing. Matt had the guitar with him during a recent Peghead Nation video shoot that followed a string of California gigs with Catherine Russell, and in this clip, he demonstrates and discusses the instrument.
Matt’s L-5CES was made in 1957, and it appears to have left the factory with the extremely rare combination of a Charlie Christian pickup in the neck position and an Alnico 5 pickup at the bridge. Similar guitars had been used by Hank Garland, Tal Farlow, and possibly Wes Montgomery. Matt has only ever seen one other L-5 with this pickup configuration. As is standard for the CES (which stands for Cutaway, Electric, Spanish) versions of the L-5, the guitar has a 17-inch lower bout and was built with maple back and sides and a carved spruce top. The guitar also has a maple neck and a long scale. After getting the guitar, Matt had Tom Crandall of New York’s TR Crandall Guitars replace the neck’s multi-ply binding and refret the guitar. Matt also had a slightly enlarged pickguard made that provides a more comfortable place for his picking-hand’s pinky to rest. In addition, the guitar’s electronics have been modified with an Ilich Electronics hum canceling system, which removes virtually all of the typical hum and noise that two single-coil pickups would ordinarily produce.
“I was stunned when I started using this guitar on gigs, how much more I liked it than my ES-150, which I used on everything for years and years and years, thinking it was just the best guitar that I could find. I’ve never had a long-scale, maple neck, carved top, electric guitar. The difference with a guitar that has a long scale and doesn’t have a mahogany neck is stunning, in terms of the clarity you get.”
To study guitar with Matt, see his Roots of Jazz Guitar, Swing Guitar Soloing, The Song According to Matt Munisteri, and Western Swing Guitar courses on Peghead Nation!
Related Vintage Vault Posts
 |
1949 Gibson L-5NPeghead Nation instructor Matt Munisteri demonstrates the guitar he uses in his new Western Swing Guitar course. Read More |
 |
1928 Gibson F-5 Master Model “Fern”A beautiful post–Lloyd Loar era F-5 mandolin. Read More |
 |
1930 Gibson Master Model L-5Peghead Nation’s Roots of Jazz Guitar instructor Matt Munisteri demonstrates his main guitar. Read More |
 |
1930 Gibson L-5 GuitarPeghead Nation’s new Roots of Jazz Guitar instructor Matt Munisteri demonstrates one of his two 1930 Gibson L-5 guitars. Read More |
 |
1940’s Epiphone BlackstoneBay Area guitarist Jim Nunally demonstrates a vintage archtop he found while touring with David Grisman. Read More |
 |
1926 Martin 000-18Peghead Nation instructor Doug Young demonstrates his vintage 12-fret. Read More |
 |
1960 Gibson LG-2A classic Gibson small-body with a cross-continental history. Read More |
 |
1932 Martin 00-18Eric Schoenberg with a one-of-a-kind vintage Martin. Read More |
 |
1944 Martin 000-18Bluegrass/jazz flatpicker Grant Gordy discusses and demonstrates his vintage Martin. Read More |
 |
1923 Gibson F-5 MandolinJohn Reischman demonstrates a Lloyd Loar-signed F-5 that’s in nearly mint condition. Read More |
