At two or three
times the price, does the Gibson
sound two or three times better? Not to me. Will some folks prefer the sound of the L5? Sure... it's a great guitar! Do other folks like the X-700 better? Yes again. Each guitar is different as is each player.
To me an X-700 or a laminate X-500 is the preferable
gigging guitar since it's more readily replaceable cost wise and I like the neck much better. It doesn't matter how wonderful or expensive a guitar is to me, if the neck doesn't feel great in my hand it's going to end up living in the case until I sell it. I learned that one the hard way.
To be honest, after 40 years of gigging, taking a 6 or 7 thousand dollar guitar out of the house seems foolish to me unless you're rich and don't care. Most of the pro players I know are not rich and don't take their best instruments out... they get functional but replaceable guitars for gigging and put in better pups and maybe tuners. The nice guitars come out for special occasions.
I have some beautiful vintage carved guitars I
love playing, but it's generally the tailored X-150 that goes to work. It's about sound, feel and function. With the laminate top for feedback resistance and a great custom pickup it's perfect for medium to bigger gigs. It sounds and plays just right for me and I could replace it in a heartbeat for $12-1400 (including the pickup) if damaged or stolen. Carved top guitars are a pain in bigger venues. For acoustic playing or smaller rooms with a
floating pickup they're fine, but really, once you've cut a few holes in the top of a carved guitar and screwed some mass to it you've stiffened the top enough to lose 75% of the overtones gained by carving it.
If you're not playing out and you want (and can afford) an L5, get the L5 (or an L4 CES)... it's a great guitar, no question. So is the X-700, but do yourself a favor and
play it first.
I've posted this before but here it is again... the best archtop advice I've seen.
Seattle Guitarist Rik Wright explains it all:
http://www.rikwright.com/Content/Content.aspx?page=custom&pgid=622
Just my 2 cents... oops, maybe that was 3 cents! :lol: