designs (L1 to L3) introduced the arched top and increasing body sizes, but still had round or oval sound holes.

In 1922, Lloyd Loar was hired by the Gibson Company to redesign their instrument line in an effort to counter flagging sales, and in that same year the Gibson L5 was released to his design. Although the new instrument models flopped commercially and Loar left Gibson after only a couple of years, Gibson instruments signed by Loar are now prized. Perhaps the