For sale is a rare and elusive Gibson model L6-S, dating from 1973 (the first year of issue), made in USA. While later 70s models were made in the newly-opened Nashville factory, the very first models (including this one) were however made in Kalamazoo - the very same factory that had produced Gibson's legendary guitars of the 50s and 60s.
Having developed their relationship with legendary employee Tim Shaw, Gibson tasked him with the designing of a new guitar for the new decade. The result was something of a platypus - an electric, wide-bodied, 24 fret set neck, thinline Les Paul-shaped guitar - made entirely out of maple. They were loaded with 2x newly designed Tim Shaw 'Super Humbuckers', which are Firebird-like in appearance with no visible pole pieces - yet are full humbucker-sized. The result is a fabulously hot humbucker - to my mind, they sound like a full-sized Firebird pick (if such a thing were to exist) - reclaiming some of the warmth usually lost, though retaining all of the 'bite'. They are backed with black resin - in the same vain as a 'Tarback' 70s Humbucker - which makes me wonder if some design process was shared, here.
Personally, I feel these guitars deserve a second look. Rory Gallagher owned and used a very similar modified 'Deluxe' model, circa 1970s and made rather good use of it. The 24 fret neck allows for a full, high C# pentatonic scale, facilitated by the dramatic cutaway. These models came as standard with a set neck, 'Harmonica' bridge and stop bar tailpiece, meaning they feel familiar to a contemporary Les Paul / SG model. Being all-maple, this is one of the few Gibson guitars to ever feature a factory maple fingerboard.
This is a really clean example and wholly original, save for necessary fret work - it is currently set up with 11s and playing fantastically. The notched switch was another innovation of the time, clearly Varitone-esque in its mechanics but with a rather different sound. The switch instead blends the various coils, opening up the guitar's tonal capacity vastly. In short, the different positions are: 1 = both pickups in series/in phase, 2 = neck pickup only, 3 = both pickups in a parallel/in phase, 4 = both pickups in parallel/out of phase, 5 = lead pickup only. Atop of this, the knobs offer 1x master volume, 1x midrange control and 1x master tone. As you can imagine, this offers for countless tonal combinations and makes for a very versatile guitar.
As above, this guitar is a factory set neck meaning the sustain is unparalleled. The guitar 'feels' familiar owing to the Les Paul shape, though of course is slightly lighter owing to the wholly thinline body.
Condition is very good, with the guitar having clearly been well looked after. There are some minor signs of playing wear and the occasional minor ding, though is free of breaks, repairs or any serious damage.
All original hardware, electronics and pickups - wholly unmolested with '73 dated pots. It even includes an elusive original Gibson-branded purple lined L6-S case, about the rarest case of the period due to the fact that a Les Paul / SG / 335 case will not fit this guitar (no matter how close in shape). These cases were designed specifically for this model and it fits very snugly. The case itself is rather battered with only 2 of the latches functioning, though it fits the guitar perfectly and does a decent job in protecting it when not being played - and of course the purple lining looks really striking paired with the guitar's lightly ambered natural finish.
An obscure but wonderful original Kalamazoo-made Gibson set neck, solid bodied electric guitar.