1930's Recording King by Gibson M5 Archtop Acoustic Guitar Vintage c~ 1938-1941

This listing is for a Vintage Gibson made Recording King M-5 Archtop Acoustic Guitar from the 1930's. This guitar was made by Gibson under the Recording King brand name sometime between 1938 and 1941. The serial # is DW-1502. The guitar is in fairly good cosmetic shape for its age but does have some playing issues so please read the full description carefully.

The guitar is an ok player and has a lovely sound. The guitar came from the factory without an adjustable truss rod and the neck is bowed and just has too much relief in it which makes the action too high in the middle of the neck. The guitar is also quite buzzy in a few spots, most specifically above the 12th fret and in the upper registers and even a few frets that completely fret out.. This can be fixed by a professional luthier. The potential repair would include a neck reset, regret, and fret level to compensate. The guitar can also just be played as it is. The string height at the 12th fret on the low E string is 4mm of 1/4 of an inch. (1/8th).

The tuners on the guitar are changed and the guitar is missing the pickguard. The tailpiece is the original nickel trapeze tailpiece along with the wood archtop bridge. There is a small section of binding missing from the treble side of the headstock. The binding around the neck and body is in great shape. See pics.

The sunburst finish is original and in general is in great shape. There is a small area on the upper bout of the treble side of the guitar where the pickguard used to be where is appears the original sunburst finish wore away and has been touched up. I would assume there were some very heavy pick scratches and someone tried to cover them up with black sharpie pen or something like that. The guitar has its fair share of nicks dings and scratches but does not appear to have cracks or repairs.

The Gibson made Recording King archtop guitars are definitely worth restoring and this one if the top of line models. The guitar comes with a brown soft shell case pictured which is a vintage case but not original to the guitar.

Please only purchase this guitar if you are comfortable with the condition and are willing to take responsibility for possible future repairs. Take a look at the pictures and message with questions. The guitar will be expertly packed for safe shipping. Please message to confirm international shipping rates.

Thanks for looking,,