{"id":148156,"date":"2025-07-23T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-23T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/?p=148156"},"modified":"2025-07-23T14:45:14","modified_gmt":"2025-07-23T21:45:14","slug":"great-acoustics-barney-kessels-well-worn-1931-gibson-l-5-helped-score-hits-by-ella-fitzgerald-elvis-and-others","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/great-acoustics-barney-kessels-well-worn-1931-gibson-l-5-helped-score-hits-by-ella-fitzgerald-elvis-and-others\/","title":{"rendered":"Great Acoustics: Barney Kessel\u2019s Well-Worn 1931 Gibson L-5 Helped Score Hits by Ella Fitzgerald, Elvis, and Others\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

If you look at photos from the Los Angeles studio scene of the 1950s and \u201960s, it\u2019s intriguing to note how many of the acoustic guitars used for recording were early 16-inch Gibson L-5s\u2014the models built before 1935, when Gibson introduced the larger \u201cAdvanced\u201d 17-inch version. While many of the guitarists in these photos spent their entire professional lives in the studio, the steady work and good pay also attracted high-profile jazz artists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kessel-L-5-hi-res-front-photo-Tony
Photo: Tony Marcus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Barney Kessel, originally from Muskogee, Oklahoma, was one of them. After getting his start in the swing-era big bands of Charlie Barnet and Artie Shaw, Kessel made a series of acclaimed LPs and became a perennial winner in jazz magazine polls. Though best known for his electric playing, he was also a sought-after acoustic guitarist in the studio. He had a close friendship with George M. Smith, a prominent studio guitarist and author of a well-regarded book on guitar technique.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Ke4ssel-L-5-hi-res-back-photo-Tony
Photo: Tony Marcus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In July 1948, Kessel purchased this early Gibson L-5 from Smith and went on to use it for two decades of studio sessions. The guitar appears on recordings by Sarah Vaughan, the Righteous Brothers, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sonny and Cher, and the Beach Boys; in four Elvis Presley films; in the Barbra Streisand comedy On a Clear Day You Can See Forever<\/em>; and on TV shows like The Hollywood Palace<\/em> and The Judy Garland Show<\/em>. At some point, Kessel engraved his Social Security number on the back of the headstock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kessel-L-5-hi-res-peghead-photo-Tony
Photo: Tony Marcus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Though the instrument shows its age\u2014with finish wear and a few repaired cracks\u2014it remains the finest-sounding example of this model that I and many other players have encountered. Its balance from string to string is exceptional, and its tone has little in common with the more metallic quality of many later archtops. Highly responsive and beautifully voiced even with light-gauge strings (despite being built for heavier ones), it retains its original spirit-varnish finish\u2014Gibson switched to lacquer in the 1930s\u2014and its Master Model label, a feature introduced during Lloyd Loar\u2019s tenure and phased out around 1930.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kessel-L-5-hi-res-gears-photo-Tony
Photo: Tony Marcus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The older serial number lists would date this L-5 to 1928, but historian Joe Spann\u2019s more thoroughly researched reference places it in 1931. Either way, it\u2019s a transitional instrument that carries many of the earlier (though post-Loar) design features beloved by vintage enthusiasts: dot inlays, three-on-a-plate Waverly tuners with pearl buttons, a shorter pickguard, and the distinctive \u201cunder and over\u201d tailpiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Kessel-L-5-label-photo-Tony
Photo: Tony Marcus<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Playing this guitar, you can\u2019t help but feel the weight\u2014and the warmth\u2014of the music it helped bring to life in Kessel\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\"Acoustic<\/a>\n

This article originally appeared in the September\/October 2025<\/a> issue of Acoustic Guitar<\/em> magazine.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In July 1948, Kessel purchased this early Gibson L-5 from Smith and went on to use it for two decades of studio sessions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":148160,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"In July 1948, Kessel purchased this early Gibson L-5 from Smith and went on to use it for two decades of studio sessions.","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1146],"tags":[1971],"ppma_author":[1724],"class_list":["post-148156","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-vintage-and-collectible-guitars","tag-september-october-2025"],"blocksy_meta":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Kessel-L-5-top-AG-photo-Tony-Marcus.jpg?fit=1200%2C906&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"authors":[{"term_id":1724,"user_id":0,"is_guest":1,"slug":"tony-marcus","display_name":"Tony Marcus","avatar_url":{"url":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/author_fallback.png","url2x":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/12\/author_fallback.png"},"author_category":"","user_url":"","last_name":"","first_name":"","job_title":"","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=148156"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":148348,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/148156\/revisions\/148348"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/148160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=148156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=148156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=148156"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/acousticguitar.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=148156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}