BILL AND SUE-ON HILLMAN: A 50-YEAR MUSICAL ODYSSEY
www.hillmanweb.com/book
PresentsTHE BILL HILLMAN GUITAR PAGES
~ Guitars I have known... and owned ~

Bill Hillman Guitar No. 23
Gibson Acoustic Guitar
L Series (LG-2 or LG-3 1943?)
Age and Serial Number not known
http://www.hillmanweb.com/guitars/g23.html


Gibson Acoustic - L Series

I've had trouble identifying this model. It was purchased by Brandon University professor, Dr. Robert Brockway, in an American pawnshop/second hand store in the early '50s. It was pretty beat up at that time and was in even worse shape when I inherited it as a gift from Katy Brockway in my last year as a professor at BU. 

The finish on the back of the guitar was in poor condition but there were no cracks in the wood, the neck was straight, and it appeared to sound very good. I decided to invest some time and money into it to bring it back to playing condition. Other than to clean it up I didn't do anything with the finish, but I replaced the frets, the tuning keys, the bridge pegs and strings. It now sounds better than most acoustics I've played.

The guitar has ladder bracing, binding on top and back, is about 14 1/2" wide, and there is no evidence of a serial number. There is a curious plate on the head with the name "GENE" (see above photo).

Web Info on the Gibson L Flat Tops
Ref: During the '30s (pre-world war II) the Gibson L-0 , L-00 and the L-1 (played by bluesmaster Robert Johnson) were known as the cheaper model guitars, these Gibson guitars were very lightly constructed, delicate, and affordable .

However, for the price (in the $30 range at that time) these guitars offered a beautiful warm, remarkable tone and volume for their small body construction. They were favorites among fingerpicking and blues style guitarists. The Gibson L1 and L-0 were the first Gibson flat top guitars to leave the factory in kalamazoo.



1937 L-00 Legend New Replica
Robert Johnson L-1: Gibson Acoustic’s Robert Johnson L-1 guitar captures the haunting, timeless sound of the man whose legacy and contributions to the blues are unmatched. Though he died tragically in 1938 at the age of 27, Johnson’s historic blues recordings have inspired countless generations of blues artists and guitarists. The Robert Johnson L-1 guitar is tribute to his instrument of choice. It features Gibson’s traditional L-1 body design, exactly as it was on the first L-1 in 1926.


LG-3

Top 10 Reasons to Play Guitar
Ref: Guitar World

10) Mating
Boys, admit it. Whatever your purportedly purist goals were, you had visions of female affection racing through your mind when you figured out the riff to “Enter Sandman.” After all, it pays off when the fairer sex sees how well you can use your hands. Conversely, girls, though you often don’t get proper recognition as players, you automatically have the rapt attention of every male music-nerd who dreams of dating a guitar heroine.

9) Piss off Your Parents
Rebellion is a natural expression of individuality. Since several generations of adults were raised on rock music, it takes a bit of creativity to get under the folks’ skin. A gentle, new-age acoustic interlude could drive Slayer-loving parents bonkers. And if you want to get artsy, assembling a dozen friends to rehearse an atonal Glen Branca guitar symphony should do the trick.

8) An Alternative to the Sporting Life
Too short and skinny to play football? Pick up an axe. The average jock’s self-esteem—not to his mention knees—collapses shortly after high school. For guitarists, life just gets better, as there are years of gigs, jam sessions, and musical explorations ahead.

7) Improve Your Vocabulary
Learn the arcane meanings of common words like action, bridge, gauge, stack, shred, and pickup. Using their secret meanings around the square crowd might lead to embarrassing and potentially dangerous situations, but when you speak them around another guitarist, he will recognize you as one of the club and doors will open.

6) Be the Life of the Party
People are drawn toward guitarists in social situations—as long as those guitarists play (rather than talk about gear). It’s the guitarist’s responsibility to lead the campfire sing-alongs as well as make night club audiences gasp at ripping-good riffs or solos. Lamp shades and chicken buckets are optional.

5) Form a Band and Join the Circus
It’s a great way to meet friends and gain attention. If the combo is good, you could stay away from home for weeks at a time, eat a steady diet of fast food, associate with mentally unbalanced characters, get ripped off by club owners, and then return to a lousy job so you can save up money to do it all again.

4) Head start on a Psychology or Management Degree
You’ve seen This Is Spinal Tap and The Commitments. Once in a band, you get to observe the twisted little minds of musicians. If you figure out how to make the insane drummer, egomaniacal singer, absent bassist, (ahem) insecure guitarist, and redundant yet snobbish keyboardist get along and show up for gigs on time, document it and put it on your college application. Dammit, sociologists get published for writing about musician subculture.

3) Versatility
You can’t play chords on a violin. You can’t slur notes on a piano. You can’t play counterpoint harmonies on a sax. Pete Townshend couldn’t have beaten up Abbie Hoffman at Woodstock if he had played bagpipes now, could he? It ain’t perfect, but the guitar has a vast range of musical possibilities for those who take the time to learn it well.

2) Slay Your Idols
OK, Nietzsche, once you master “Eruption,” the next step is proving you’re faster than Yngwie, more inventive than Hendrix, and more athletic than Angus. You will dominate the guitar universe and lay your heroes to waste! Good luck. Don’t attempt to be a god. Strive for guru status, develop a cult of followers, and sell them instructional videos.

1) Enlightenment
If you wade though all the other reasons for playing and make it a lifelong activity, the realization will hit that you possess the gift of communicating with people through the sublime language of music. Ever walk away from a gig or a jam session and felt as if you had just been in another world because your playing was so good? That’s the ticket to nirvana, brah.



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Web Refs
The Story of the Gibson Acoustics
Vintage Guitars Blogspot
1937 L-00 Legend New Replica

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Hillman Guitar Contents Page


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BILL and SUE-ON HILLMAN:
A 50-YEAR MUSICAL ODYSSEY
READ THE BOOK
CONTENTS
1. Gig Notes: 1-10
2. Album Notes
3. Guitar Tales
4. Prairie Saga
5. Roots
6. Photos
7. Media
8. 100 Songs

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