Circa 1975 Gibson L6-S

I started playing guitar around 1977 and for reasons that are now obscure to me, my first guitar crush was the Gibson L6-S.  Was there something about the all-maple look that appealed to me or was it the simplicity of the layout? Perhaps I was attracted by the wide range of tones the six-position selector switch gave you. I do know I liked the idea that it was a new design, not like those ancient Strats and Les Pauls, and that it was the guitar of choice of Bob 2 of Devo, one of my favorite bands at the time.

Bob 2 devolving with his L6-S in 1980.

I couldn’t afford an L6-S in 1977 and by the early 198s when I could, it was out of production and used ones weren’t too common. Over the years, though, I did get to play quite a few of them and I came to realize that it was a good but not a great guitar. Yes, it did have a wide range of tones but to my ear the pickups were just a little too brittle sounding. It turns out the L6-S was designed by Bill Lawrence and that he was forced to design the guitar to meet a low price point and he was unhappy that he had to cut a few corners to get there. (You can read his thoughts on the guitar here.)

Looking at the L6-S again, though, I have to say I still like the all-maple look, which has a distinctly Fender-ish vibe. I also like the body shape, which has the same silhouette as the top-of-the-line L-5S, although the L6-S is just a solid slab of wood without the carved top of the L-5S. (And I do need to say that the L6 hyphen S version of the name is just wrong.  It should have been L hyphen 6S.) I also like that the guitar is something different but not too wacky. I don’t think these are ever going to be wildly valuable but I do believe they are great guitar for a gigging musician on a budget looking for something a little different. This example is on eBay and it’s been used but not abused. The current bid is $410 and as long as it stays on that side of $700 I think it will be good deal for someone. Maybe, in a fit of nostalgia, I might bid on it myself.