Description
What makes this guitar special: Beginning with his solo albums in the mid-1970s, Ritenour’s smooth style and clean sound have been completely set apart by the use of his beloved Gibson L-5. And while the Lee Ritenour L-5 introduced by Gibson Custom in 2003 stays true to the original in many ways, it is also quite a revolutionary version of this classic archtop. Beginning with the body, the Ritenour L-5 is most characterized by its scaled-down dimensions, which are 15½ (W) X 19¾ (L) X 2��� (D). The body retains its traditional tonewoods; high-grade and hand-carved spruce top with high-grade and hand-carved figured maple back and sides. The body is then adorned with multi-ply black and white binding on both the top and back, with single-ply white binding around the f-holes. The gold hardware includes a “fingers”-style tailpiece and endpin jack, with a compensated bridge and base made from ebony. Brand new these guitar sell for over $10,000, so here's a wonderful opportunity to own a slightly used one for considerably less money. Professionally set up by Cream City Music, so it plays & sounds fantastic!
Cosmetic Condition: Excellent condition overall & for the most part very clean. There are some mild surface scratches throughout the guitar & a small lacquer crack in the bass side of the neck near where it joins the body. There's also some finish chipping on the face of the headstock around the tuner pegs. These are all purely cosmetic issues & do not affect playability or sound quality.
Neck: The scale length of the neck remains at 25½-inches, as does its traditional five-piece construction, which is made primarily from high-grade flame maple with two streamers made from high-grade walnut, resulting in one of the most stunning neck designs in the history of Gibson Custom. The eye-catching neck is topped by a 20-fret ebony fingerboard with mother of pearl block inlays and multi-ply black and white binding, then hand-fitted with Gibson’s traditional ES-rounded neck profile. The heel of the guitar has also been contoured closer to the body to allow access to the guitar’s higher register of frets. The frets themselves are in great shape with no wear. Multi-bound headstock with traditional flower pot inlay and Schaller M6 tuners, all in perfect working condition. 2-ply black truss rod cover with Lee Ritenour signature. 1 11/16" nut with. Neck is straight & truss rod is in perfect working condition.
Body: Single-cutaway, hollow body with bound F-holes & finished in Antique Sunburst. Hand-carved, solid spruce top with 7-ply binding. Hand-carved, solid flame maple sides & back with 3-ply binding. The flame figuring in the back is absolutely stunning! "Fingers" style tailpiece & all gold hardware. Compensated ebony bridge on a floating base with mother of pearl inlays. 5-ply pearloid pickguard is in great shape with no cracks. Guitar weighs 6 lbs 4.6 oz.
Pickup: The single pickup is Gibson’s traditional BJB floating pickup (6.13K ohms), which was originally used on Gibson’s signature Johnny Smith models of the mid-1960s. The pickup & single volume control are attached to the pickguard, which conceals the wire that runs through the f-hole connecting it to the jack, and also features adjustable pole pieces as specified by Ritenour. The end-pin is the input jack. All electronics are in perfect working condition.
Case: Original hardshell case included along with the original Certificate of Authenticity.
