Gibson archtops The History of the Gibson L-5 As the L-5 celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, we take a look back at the evolution of Gibson’s seminal f-hole jazzbox with archtop historian Thomas Van Hoose and examine how this watershed design set benchmarks in guitar building Listen to Jazz Innovator Charlie Christian Bringing Electric Guitar to the Forefront of Music This 1941 “Solo Flight” cut with the Benny Goodman Orchestra demonstrates the groundbreaking guitarist at the top of his game. Get The Pick NewsletterAll the latest guitar news, interviews, lessons, reviews, deals and more, direct to your inbox!Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors LATEST ARTICLES1Mark Knopfler on why he’s ditched the pick in favor of fingerpicking 2Eddie Van Halen talks guitar solos, playing fast, and the music teacher who slapped his face when he made a mistake 3Pink Floyd's Echoes marked David Gilmour's emergence as a guitar hero – and its surreal tonal highlight was created by accident4“They had strippers and crabs everywhere... People would get pissed and start shooting at the stage. You had to duck and keep playing!” Stevie Ray Vaughan talks his Number One Strat, Dumbles, and his craziest gigs in classic GP interview5“The guitar allows me to switch my brain off from trying to understand the music... The mistakes make it interesting.” Crowded House's Neil Finn on his trial-and-error approach to playing and songwriting