A great vintage guitar for the tone seeker. Indeed, the original cherry sunburst has faded to a golden hue of honey (even though some of the original red remains in a few places), and the maple top has some gorgeous light flames.
All those mods add up to a great player ES-125 for a fair price, especially for such a beautiful guitar.
The Grover tuners are perfect to stay in tune but the originals are also in the case, the pickguard and the bridge have been replaced, the neck has been removed and put back on, plus there has been a black stinger added at the back of the headstock. The pre-war model, discontinued in 1942, had a smaller 14.5' body. It had one P-90 single-coil pickup in the neck position, a single volume control and a single tone control. The extra bridge P90 has been made by French pickup expert Hep Cat, which also means that two of the four knobs have been added. Introduced in 1941 as the successor to the ES-100, the ES-125 was an entry-level archtop electric guitar. That one belongs to that latter category, and it used to be a ES-125 TC, meaning “thinline” and “cutaway” (with a nice sharp Florentine cutaway), but it has been converted into a TDC, in which the D stands for “dual”, as in two pickups instead of one. The early ES-125 was a big jazz box, not so easy to handle for smaller players, but the latter-day thinline version of the sixties is a great way to approach the legendary ES-125.
There is a repaired crack inside the cutaway. Modifications/Repairs: The guitar has had a recent neck reset. Playability: The strings are nice and low, play great, and ring out clearly across the board. This ES-125 is looking incredible for its age! The headstock has some light wear around the edges as well as some tarnishing on the tuning machines but no cracks or repairs to be found. The neck has some light dings and dents as well as some minor finish wear but still feels nice and smooth. The back and sides also looks nice with just some minor finish wear and no signs of structural damage. Pickups/Hardware: Kluson Deluxe tuners, two P-90’s (Rated at 9.1kOhms in the neck and 9.0k in the bridge), three-way pickup selector switch, independent volume and tone controls (Electronics all original)Ĭosmetic Condition: The body is very clean for its age with some light checking lines in the lacquer and just some minor scratches and scuffs. It feels fantastic and is easy to get around on, playing great all the way up and down. Neck: Mahogany neck with a medium-round profile, 1 9/16” wide nut, rosewood fretboard, 12” radius, and dot inlays Vintage circa 1953 Gibson ES-125.A great playing vintage Gibson Hollowbody for a reasonable price.The neck has a profile that is on the slim side for vintage Gibsons, but still pretty chunky by todays standards. Body: Hollow maple laminate, lower bout 16” wide, upper bout 11 1/4” wide and 3 3/8” deep