1938 Gibson Recording King M5 Hollowbody Archtop Acoustic Guitar Excellent Original Condition Sunburst w/ HSC
 
1938 Gibson Recording King M5.
 
Excellent Overall Condition, No Cracks, Repairs, Or Issues Of Any Kind.
 
Recording King Instruments Were Entirely Gibson-Made At This Point In History And Marketed By Montgomery Ward. The Top-Of-The-Line M5 Was The Flagship of The Fleet And Modeled After The Gibson L-5. This Was Not At All A Low-End “Catalog” Guitar.
 
The Construction Was Truly High-End With Solid Carved Bookmatched Spruce Top, Highly Flamed Maple Back And Sides, Ornate Headstock And Fingerboard Inlays, And Checkerboard Binding (Like An L-10 Of The Era).
 
Original Finish Is In Beautiful Well Conserved Condition- Were It Not For A Bit Of Wear On The Side Of The Neck It Would Be Near-Mint (See Photos).
 
All Original Parts Including Unique Fancy Open-Back Grover Tuners, The Single-Bound “Charlie Christian” Style Pickguard, And The Tailpiece And Bridge Both Used On Gibson Guitars Of The Pre-War Era.
 
The Original Small Frets Are In Excellent Condition (See Photos).
 
The Neck is Perfectly Straight And The Profile Is Chunky With A Slight “V” Measuring .95” Deep At The 1st Fret And 1.10 At The 10th.
 
Nut Width Is A Full 1&3/4”.
 
Weighs 5.0 lbs.
 
Lower Bout Measures 16” And The Body Depth Is Unique At A Full 4” (A Good Deal Deeper Than Any Other Gibson Archtop). The Resulting Sound Is Deep And Clear With Excellent Projection And With The Solid Carved Top Very Precise.
 
Set Up With .13’s And Very Low Action Measuring 3mm Bass Side And 2mm Treble Side At The 12th Fret, It Plays Absolutely Flawlessly With A Perfectly Straight Neck- A Truly Great Playing And Sounding Guitar!
 
Comes With The High Quality Custom-Made Tweed Hard Case In Excellent Condition That’s Shown In The Photos And Has All Hinges And Latches Intact And Working.