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Feature: The Delta Snake Vintage Guitar Scrapbook
I’m starting this new regular feature, which can be read in parallel with the lists of vintage instruments used in our music. Some of the guitars that will be covered in this installment and in future ones have already been reviewed and some are forthcoming and will be published once I get those out of note/rough draft form.
This first installment covers three guitars; each will have some commentary and excerpts about the specs added on with a little extra data to fill out the picture. However, the point of this feature is the pictures and more specifically, how the guitars were used. Some guitars, for example, were only used for promo pictures and featured my dearly departed Shitzu, RIP.
I didn’t always include Ivy in the pictures, but in some cases, I would’ve had to cut too much of the guitar out (which in some cases were already a partial view, so consider it an extra mark of authenticity of ownership. In this scrapbook, I’ll only feature guitars in my possession when the picture was taken and used in graphic layouts, etc.
Al Handa
Aug. 13, 2026
The Delta Snake Vintage Guitar Scrapbook
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1973 Cherryburst L6-S
This was the subject of a dual review (it’s on this blog site) of this guitar and its later modern issue, which had a different configuration. I’ve quoted a part of that 2014 review here. I played for a few months and found a lot of virtues to it. For one thing, a lot of the settings didn’t sound very different from the other (to me), at least at higher gain settings, but it did a great job of sounding like a slightly fatter sounding Strat.
However, I never could get used to switching in so I traded it in at my favorite neighborhood used guitar store and got a mid 70s Tele with string bender. That one I didn’t keep for another reason, although it sounded magnificent; the thing felt like two bowling balls on my thighs. It was the heaviest guitar I’ve ever played.
“The actual design that Lawrence created didn't make it to market, but a reasonable compromise did. He felt the L6 (at least with the early models) was a great performance guitar. It was designated the L6-S (with a dash) and it was an all maple guitar with a six position switch that varied the combination of sounds made by two Lawrence designed high output ceramic humbuckers, augmented by a standard tone knob and mid-range boost. These were probably one of the first, if not the first of the high output pickups that later became a staple of the boutique PUP market.
The new guitar came out of the gate fast, with endorsements by Carlos Santana and others, but sales tailed off and it was discontinued later in the 70s. If one reads comments about it on the internet, you can see the main objection was that it didn't sound like a Gibson (it's worded in many ways, but that's essentially the objection). Later opinions by the actual owners vary, but most liked it.
I should note, for the sake of disclosure, that I own a 1973 cherry burst model, and love it. However, that's because I like Fenders and was as a result attracted to this guitar, and am not so exclusive about Gibsons for various reasons (at least with the electrics).
The thing about an all maple guitar is that it's bright, and certainly so for the early 70s when the vast assortment of amps and pedals we now have weren't available. Add to that, it's a guitar that takes at least a month or two to really get to know. It's not a Les Paul and will sound really weird to someone who expects it to sound like one.
In short, it was not a real success, and it languished for decades as a Gibson you could easily get for less than 500.00 (or had a hard time selling for that price). Which has changed of course. Now a good condition L6-S runs more in the 900.00 to 1600.00 depending on if it has the original Bill Lawrence hardware, etc, and the fact that it's a Gibson (add 500.00 for the headstock....).
The one opinion about the guitar that did emerge over the years is that it was a superb blues machine. Which it is. On one setting for example, it can sound exactly like old Muddy Waters on slide, and its response to finger style jazz and blues is outstanding. It can also reproduce the ZZ Top sound to a T.
Gibson reissued it with a vastly different configuration, so that all that's really left of Lawrence's conception is the maple body and single cut L-5 jazz guitar body shape.”
To save a lot of explanation, I'll just list the two sets of knob settings (which is at the heart of both guitars):
Original Gibson L6-S:
Both pickups, in series
Neck pickup, alone
Both pickups, in parallel
Both pickups, parallel out of phase, with the neck pickup's bass response restricted thought a series capacitor.
Bridge pickup, alone
Both pickups, series out of phase
Mid-range boost knob
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60s Kapa Challenger Semi Hollow:
I bought this in 2013 from a guy who didn’t want to cover repairs done on it, including a complete refret. I fixed all the other problems but traded it in as part of another guitar purchase. I will say it had an excellent sound, the neck played beautifully, except for the fact that due to the worn frets, the guitar simply didn’t play in tune well enough to record with, although at regular volume live, one could barely notice. Its one role during its stay was to be pictured on the cover for a Wes Montgomery cover, Bumpin’ On Sunset” done by Handa-McGraw International. Ironically, the actual guitar used was a gold top Les Paul Reissue (by Mark McGraw). The cut is on YouTube and music sites.
Series "500" model thin line hollow body fitted with Hofner style "staple" pickups.
Neck: Slender profile, bolt-on maple neck with variegated rosewood fingerboard with 3-ply binding & pearloid dot inlays.
4-ply black headstock overlay with Kapa Series "500" large truss rod cover.
Sealed-back tuners
1 5/8" nut width; 25" scale length.
Body: Double-cutaway, hollow maple body with dual F-holes.
5-ply top binding & single-ply back binding.
Art deco, nickel trapeze tailpiece with Kapa engraved in the crossbar.
Tune-O-Matic style bridge on a floating rosewood base.
4-ply black pickguard.
Weight: 6 lb, 6.8 oz
Electronics: Hofner style "staple" single coils with black bezels. Dual volume & tone controls with black "witch hat" knobs; 3-way toggle switch.
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60s Crown Professional
Juke Joint Medley
https://youtu.be/3cskdFwHbZI?is=NKOZ_-5ZpAhsltOD
I got this one around 2015 and liked it a great deal. As you can see it was featured in group promo and is the guitar used on two Handa-McGraw International cuts on YouTube and other music sites. The few reviews on this guitar were not positive, particularly about the microphonic pick ups. However, it reproduced a late 60s Rolling Stones sound as well as any guitar I’ve ever heard.
Most of the feedback and squealing was probably by players who tried to play it at very high gain. However, the old style pick ups frankly didn’t need a lot of juice and it wasn’t necessary to play it high volume to get distortion.
Crown Professional (Teisco or Kawai)
Chrome or aluminum lower pickguard plate
Single-coil pickups
Slide switches used to toggle individual pickups on and off.
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