<p>Gibson L-5 (1928), Maybelle Carter, CMHF
</p>
<dl><dt>Quotation of description panel</dt></dl><div style="text-align:left;width:33em;letter-spacing:0.05em;">
<pre><span style="font-size:350%;">MAYBELLE CARTER</span>
          <span style="font-size:300%;">GIBSON L-5</span>
<span style="letter-spacing:+0.050em;">In 1928, with money from the Carter Family's successful</span>
<span style="letter-spacing:+0.040em;">first recordings, nineteen-year-old Maybelle Carter paid</span>
<span style="letter-spacing:+0.010em;">$275 for the finest guitar she could find, this 1928 Gibson</span>
<span style="letter-spacing:+0.070em;">L-5 model. Until her death in 1978, “Mother Maybelle”</span>
<span style="letter-spacing:+0.050em;">used it on hundreds of recordings, radio and television</span>
<span style="letter-spacing:+0.000em;">programs, and live appearances.</span>

<span style="letter-spacing:-0.000em;">As the first f-hole, arch-top guitar, the L-5 was designed to</span>
<span style="letter-spacing:-0.000em;">be twice as loud as any flat-top guitar of the period. Carter</span>
<span style="letter-spacing:-0.030em;">used it to revolutionize the role of the guitar, transforming the</span>
<span style="letter-spacing:-0.005em;">rhythm instrument into a distinctive lead void. Her signature</span>
<span style="letter-spacing:+0.045em;">“Carter scratch”——heard on classics such as “Keep on the</span>
<span style="letter-spacing:+0.015em;">Sunny Side” and “Wildwood Flower”——became the most imitated</span>
<span style="letter-spacing:+0.000em;">guitar style in America during the 1920s and 1930s.</span>
</pre>
</div>
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/28567825@N03">Cliff</a>
CC BY 2.0
<a href="//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Flickr" class="mw-redirect" title="Flickr">Flickr</a>: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/28567825@N03/2885667109">Country Music Hall of Fame</a>