1995 Orville by Gibson L-1 Acoustic Guitar Vintage Sunburst, Near Mint w/ Case & Hangtag

Up for sale, a 1995 Orville by Gibson L-1 in near mint condition, complete with the original hangtag and hardshell case. An extremely rare and long ago discontinued model, this L-1 is a reissue of the guitar favored by Robert Johnson and also offered under the Blues Tribute banner. The "Orville by Gibson" guitars represent the highest tier of Japanese construction under a Gibson banner, made exclusively for the Japanese market and virtually unseen outside their country of origin. This Orville is an official Gibson-licensed guitar and a result of a partnership between Gibson USA and their Japanese distributor Yamano Gakki, named after Gibson's founder, Orville Gibson.

This L-1 boasts the distinctive "egg" body shape, 12 frets clear of the body, and the tonewood combination of a solid spruce top and mahogany back and sides. Tonally, this Gibson acoustic combines the warmth and richness of mahogany with the articulation and woody percussive cut of spruce. With an X braced spruce top, the instrument has ample projection, with snappy, sparkling trebles, a rich low-midrange warmth and a sweet bloom and rumble in the low end. The body dimensions are well-suited to fingerpicking, with a balanced sound across the strings. The guitar weighs 4lbs 1oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar with fresh 12-53 strings and comfortable action.

The mahogany neck has a slender C-shaped profile carve with nicely rounded shoulders, measuring .825" deep at the 1st fret and .945" at the 9th. The rosewood fretboard features perfect medium jumbo fretwire with its full factory height, and the guitar plays cleanly up the 24 3/4" scale with a straight neck and responsive, optimally adjusted truss rod. The nut measures 1 11/16" in width, and headstock features "Orville by Gibson" pearloid inlay and Kluson-style tuning machines with white buttons.

The body has a 13 1/2" lower bout width and 4 1/2" lower bout depth, with 12 frets clear of the body. The rosewood pyramid bridge sits flush to the top, and the saddle has good height. The period-correct two-tone "Vintage Sunburst" gloss is framed by binding that shows some isolated ambering, particularly on the top binding on the upper bout. Stunningly clean, cosmetic wear is limited to just a few exceedingly faint finish scratches in the clear coat of the gloss.

The original black tolex hardshell case is included and equally as clean as the guitar, along with the original dated hangtag with matching serial.