The Delta Snake Review: Musical Gear Review and Music Article Archive: Review: 2013 Gibson L6-S

Review: 2013 Gibson L6S

The Gibson L6S Limited Edition electric guitar is a reissue of an early and mid-70s guitar that was the first collaboration between Gibson and guitar genius Bill Lawrence. The original intention was to create a lower cost guitar that could produce a multitude of tones and compete with the then very popular Fender Telecasters and Strats.

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 it didn't sound like a Gibson (it's worded in many ways, but that's essentially the objection). Later opinions by actual owner 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 run 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 it's 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

Gibson Limited Run L6S:

1-Bridge humbucker

2-Bridge single-coil

3- Bridge and neck single-coil

4- Bridge and neck humbucker

5- Neck single-coil

6- Neck humbucker

Tone push/pull tone control for treble cut

Tone push/pull tone control for bass cut

As you can see, the Limited Edition is still configured to give the player the option of a Fender-like sound, but the 490 series humbuckers will also give you more of a Gibson-like tone. Coil splitting is a concept most modern guitarists understand, as with push/pull knobs, so it does more or less do what Bill Lawrence was asked to do with the original but in a more conventional way.

One big difference is that many guitarists are now less divided into Gibson or Fender camps, and back then, concepts like running pickups in parallel or in series was hard to conceptualize. The idea that a Gibson can also sound like a Fender isn't so heretical these days. Go into a Guitar Center on a Friday night, and you'll see that many guitarists can achieve the feat of making any guitar sound the same.

The new Gibson plays as well as the original, which was one of the few things most agreed on back then, that it was a great player. The coil splitting is the modern conventional way to achieve a single coil sound like the Fender, but it does sound different than the original Bill Lawrence setup, and with the wrong amp or setting, can sound a bit dull and thin. Nonetheless, it's the single coil sound that most people who play guitars with humbuckers will be familiar with.

Both have 24 fret necks, which will strike some as feeling similar to a Telecaster, which I find to my liking. The maple fretboard used here was present on some of the originals, which generally produces a love it or leave it reaction with the guitarist. My original has an ebony fretboard, which doesn't influence the sound all that much (I prefer my Fenders with maple necks anyway) so this Gibson sounded just fine to me

Its clean tone is very good, the maple body creates a sparkling sustain, that's bright, but easily adjustable. One thing that was surprising in the original (and you'll find in this one) is that it can also sound very much like a Rickenbacker or Gretsch.

Its full powered rock sound veers more towards head banging or Rage Against The Machine than Black Sabbath, but even that can be adjusted. With the variety of amps and pedals these days, the guitar is just one part of a system now. If it fits your sound and setup, this is as good a guitar as any.

This review will be more relevant to those who might buy one used, as this version was a limited edition, and discontinued. It's new price was in the same range as a new Les Paul Studio or used Standard, so it's definitely a try before you buy type guitar. Also, if you want a Fender sound, it's simply better to just get a Fender.

The reason I liked the original, and I think this one is close, is that while it did do a great job of getting a single coil sound, it was a bit different than a Fender. It's twang is harder, and darker, and its blues sound more like early 50s Chicago than Eric Johnson or Joe Bonnamassa.

If you want a classic Gibson sound, try a Les Paul or SG first. If you want a Fender sound, get a tele or Strat.

But...if you want to sound different than the other guys, this one is more than worth a look. Bill Lawrence created a concept that has seemingly survived modern industry compromise, and could separate you from the pack.

- Al Handa

2013

Note: This review first appeared on the ePinions.com site in 2013. This and other reviews were short takes that accompanied the link to a business that sold the guitar. As a rule, the guitar had to be at least examined and played by the reviewer (and ideally owned). In my case, a severe case of GAS made it possible to have at least owned the reviewed instrument for a short while. I'm reprinting these as having another source on a guitar never hurts, even if the reviews aren't definitive. Other than minor corrections, these short takes are unchanged from the original text. I figure that it might be helpful to keep the older perspective.

The Quitturz by Al Handa