This 1929 Gibson HG-24 Prototype represents a fascinating glimpse into Gibson's experimentation during the late 1920s, a period when the company was actively refining its flat-top guitar designs. Surviving prototype instruments from this era are uncommon, and this example carries a particularly layered history through both its original construction and subsequent factory work. Most notably, the guitar received a factory retop between 1956 and 1959, fitted with a Sitka spruce top and scalloped X-bracing that includes additional tuning relief cuts not typically encountered on standard production models. Over the decades, the instrument has undergone maintenance and restoration to keep it afloat. Repairs and updates include a reglued belly-up bridge, reglued late-1950s batwing pickguard, replacement pins, replacement G-string ferrule, strap button installation, and a recent in-house refret on a potentially replaced rosewood fingerboard. Additional work includes repair of a center seam crack, two minor shrinkage cracks adjacent to the pickguard, and a light overall overspray and touch-up, including the replacement top. The result is a historically significant Gibson that tells a complex story spanning multiple eras of the company's development, from its original prototype origins through its mid-century factory alterations and continued preservation into the present day. Includes 80s hard shell case.