Gibson L6-S
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Gibson L6-S | |
|---|---|
 A Gibson L6-S Custom. | |
| Manufacturer | Gibson |
| Period | 1973–79, 2011–present |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Solid |
| Neck joint | Set-in, Bolt-on on Midnight Special models |
| Scale | 24.75" |
| Woods | |
| Body | Maple |
| Neck | Maple |
| Fretboard | Maple, rosewood, ebony |
| Colors available | |
| Natural, ebony, tobacco brown sunburst, wine red | |
The Gibson L6-S is a solid body electric guitar. It was the descendant of the L5S jazz solid-body electric guitar. It was the same shape, very much like a wide Gibson Les Paul, but with a 24-fret neck, the first Gibson guitar to have this.
The L6-S was the first cooperation between Bill Lawrence and Gibson. It was designed in 1972 and first released in 1973.[1] The idea was to make a "multi-sound system" under a very tight budget.
The popularity of the L6-S gradually dropped after 1974, despite high-profile endorsements from the likes of Al Di Meola and Carlos Santana. Pat Martino, John McLaughlin, Keith Richards, Tom Johnston, Paul Stanley, Mike Oldfield, Dave Davies, Brad Delp, Rich Williams, Bob Mothersbaugh, Bob Casale, Martha Davis of The Motels, Allison Robertson, Malcolm Young and Prince also used the model during this period. All models were dropped from price lists in 1979. The L6-S Custom remained in the catalog in 1980 and was still being made in the Nashville plant.
The original L6-S came in three variants; all were maple-bodied with twin super-humbucking pickups.
Late in 2011 The Gibson company re-issued this guitar, with slight alterations:
The bridge is a standard Gibson Tune-o-matic, less heavy than the Schaller-made rectangular bridges from the mid-1970s, often called "harmonica" bridges.[citation needed] The pick-ups are not the original's ceramic sealed Bill Lawrence-designed "super humbuckers", but two humbucking pickups with four-conductor split-coil wiring—a 490R in the neck and a hotter 498T in the bridge. This is similar to what is on offer in some Les Pauls. Colours on sale in 2012 are "Antique natural" - like the original 1970s all-maple maple neck L6-S - and "Silverburst" with a baked maple fretboard. No ebony fretboard model is on sale. The current L6S neck does not feature the unique "narrow at the nut and wider near the body" taper of the 1970s guitar, but a conventional Gibson shape. The chamfered body shape and 24 frets are of similar design to the 1970s classic, except that the newer version is a two-piece maple body, as opposed to a one-piece (I own one verified by Gibson to be a 1976 L6-S Custom that’s a 2-piece maple body)bodywork on the original.
Josh "Josh 2" Hager of Devo uses a L6-S. It is unknown what type of L6-S it is.
