The Byrdland retains the traditional carved solid-spruce arched top and wide dimensions (17") of big-bodied jazzers like its predecessor the L-5CES, but is considerably thinner, at only 2 1/4" deep.

Although the Byrdland debuted in 1955 with a rounded Venetian cutaway, Gibson updated the body in 1960 in keeping with the style of the times and gave it the deep, pointed Florentine cutaway. The Byrdland's super-comfortable 23 1/2" scale lenth neck was intended purely for speed and playing ease, and its five-ply binding, ebony fingerboard with pearl block inlay, gold-plated hardware, and triple-loop Byrdland trapeze tailpiece all single it out as a top-shelf guitar.