One of the truly fun things about chatting with guitar enthusiasts—whether they’re players or simply observers—is coming to know the personal associations they have with specific guitar models. Some folks might see a Harmony archtop and think of their mom. Another might see a Les Paul and remember the first time they skipped school to smoke on the sly and watch their buddy’s copy of The Song Remains the Same. When it comes to the Gibson L-00, I have my own filmic associations. I came to know the L-00, or more specifically, it’s very close relative, the Gibson Nick Lucas model, via Don’t Look Back, D.A. Pennebaker’s 1967 document of Bob Dylan’s 1965 tour of England. Much of what made Don’t Look Back so arresting was watching Dylan perform alone to crowds that could fairly be called “rapt.” Dylan looked sharp in that film. But in his solitude, he also looked heroic—and the Nick Lucas like his Excalibur.
Not every guitar is suited to one-man-band duties like those Dylan took on in his pre-electric years. But the Nick Lucas certainly was. The L-00 Century reviewed here, which is the slimmer, 12-fret cousin of the Nick Lucas, could cut the mustard, too. Like its thicker-bodied relative, the L-00 is snappy, percussive, tight, and present in the midrange frequencies. And like a little dog that’s tougher than it looks, it’s surprisingly full of attitude—exactly the kind of instrument that could drive the snarling proto-rap of “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” or float along with the lazy country phrasings of “Love Minus Zero” with grace, authority, and ease.
Of Punch and Proportions
To those among our readership who have never held, played, or heard much from an L-00, a little clarification is in order. Gibson’s current marketing materials describe the new Century 12-Fret, obliquely, as a “parlor” instrument. While some folks may have referred to the L-00 as a parlor guitar in the past—or, indeed, played them in parlors—the L-00 is closer in proportions to a classical guitar or a Martin 00 than most of the very small instruments we would call parlors today. Though it’s more pinched at the waist than a Martin 00 and more narrow at the upper bout, it’s actually a touch wider than a Martin 00 at the lower bout. It’s a beautifully proportioned instrument—compact, curvaceous, and comfortable to cradle. Needless to say, those dimensions—and the guitar’s construction—inform the sound in a major way. In the case of this Century Collection instrument, there is the 12-fret construction to consider, too.
“It’s a beautifully proportioned instrument—compact, curvaceous, and comfortable to cradle.”
Players that keep a close eye on Gibson’s contemporary offerings will no doubt notice that most modern L-00s—from the Special and Studio to the Standard, Original, and even the 1933 reissue—are 14-fret models. This configuration, which many guitarists consider more playable, is a modern standard for a lot of guitars that began life in the pre-war era as 12-fret instruments. But significantly, on a small-bodied instrument like the L-00 Century the 12-fret configuration—and the resulting shift of the bridge closer to the center point of the top’s widest section—means more bass resonance, which is a wonderful, welcome bit of counterweight to the L-00’s generally tighter and more midrangey tone profile. The extra bass you hear from the 12-fret configuration isn’t exactly the kind that goes “thump!” Instead, it takes the shape of a warm resonance and glow that dovetails seamlessly with the guitar’s basic warm-and-sparkly voice—qualities that will serve fingerstylists with a nuanced thumb touch.
The warmth and sparkle are also, in no small part, a product of the solid Sitka spruce top and mahogany back and sides. The top-end detail that’s so easy to hear is aided perceptibly by the spruce, which also gives the more resonant bass an excited nudge in the overtone picture. These more activated overtones are supported by the signature toasty aura of the mahogany. The whole image is one of balance and an even-temperedness that could make it a recording star.
Balance is not the only virtuous outcome of the tonewood selection and 12-fret configuration. The L-00 Century 12-Fret also exhibits impressive headroom for a guitar of its size. A heavy touch with a flatpick yields lead tones that snarl and pop without blurring or sounding thin. And while unbridled flatpicking and strumming can yield startling power and brightness, the sound rarely turns compressed or mushy. For a guitar of this size, it flat-out has a lot of horsepower.
100 Years of Refinement
The L-00 Century 12-Fret was released—along with a raft of other beautiful flattops—to commemorate 100 years of Gibson flat-tops. Though there are guitars elsewhere in the Gibson line that celebrate the centennial with fancy—and expensive—appointments, the L-00 Century, along with its 12-fret stablemates the J-45 Century and J-185 Century, join the party in more understated style. Each has a satin finish—and while all three can be had in satin black or satin 2-color vintage sunburst, the hand-sprayed nitrocellulose vintage amber finish on the L-00 reviewed here strikes me as the most handsome and natural-looking of the bunch. If the satin finish is a means of making the Century Collection guitars more accessible, nothing elsewhere in the construction suggests cost-savings measures. I couldn’t find a misstep anywhere. My guess is that these guitars will age gracefully on the aesthetic front, and there is every indication they will endure as heirlooms for the hardiness in their build.
The Verdict
The L-00 Century 12-Fret’s feel of lasting, built-for-a-lifetime craftsmanship makes its $2,299 price much easier to justify. The guitar’s lovely, versatile voice, its dynamism and headroom, its substantial-but-fast neck, and its grace have me, at times, thinking, “expensive, yes, but in a way that makes sense.” There are less pricey ways to experience a genuine Gibson L-00—the L-00 Special, for instance, is $1,999—but not less expensive by much. And the 12-fret configuration here gives the L-00 Century 12-Fret a distinct tone advantage.
