MAYBELLE CARTER
          GIBSON L-5
In 1928, with money from the Carter Family's successful
first recordings, nineteen-year-old Maybelle Carter paid
$275 for the finest guitar she could find, this 1928 Gibson
L-5 model. Until her death in 1978, “Mother Maybelle”
used it on hundreds of recordings, radio and television
programs, and live appearances.

As the first f-hole, arch-top guitar, the L-5 was designed to
be twice as loud as any flat-top guitar of the period. Carter
used it to revolutionize the role of the guitar, transforming the
rhythm instrument into a distinctive lead void. Her signature
“Carter scratch”——heard on classics such as “Keep on the
Sunny Side” and “Wildwood Flower”——became the most imitated
guitar style in America during the 1920s and 1930s.