Description
Here we’re looking at a Gibson ES-125 Archtop Electric in Cherry Sunburst, built during 1966 at the historic Parsons Street plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It is in overall very good and largely complete and original condition, with just the tuners and trapeze tailpiece changed.
The ES-125 in all versions was offered in two sunburst finishes, Tobacco or brown, and Cherry or red. The tints usesd in both have tended to fade over the years.
These are great guitars for jazz and blues rhythm. P-90 pickups can sound fantastic, though subject to single-coil hum. This example plays well and is strung with a Thomastic Jazz Swing flat-wounds set.
Sold with a modern black flat top TKL hard shell case. Many of these guitars were originally sold with fibre (faux-gator cardboard) cases which have not survived well.
Construction and Materials
Like most of their other electrified arch top guitars, the Gibson ES-125 is built using laminate maple for the body, which resists feedback compared to solid Spruce and Maple. The body blocks, linings and neck are Mahogany, with Rosewood for the bridge and fingerboard. At this time, Brazilian Rosewood was used for these components.
The single layer faux-tortoise pickguard is original and in very good condition, as are the P-90 pickup, volume and tone controls, and gold 'top-hat' knobs. The installed gold-coloured Gibson Deluxe tuners with plastic keystone buttons replace the original Kluson strip tuners, which had oval creme buttons. The chromed trapeze tailpiece plating is in very good condition, indicating that it is a replacement - the original part would have been the same style. Fret wear is light, with matching fingerboard wear, likely caused by overly long fingernails, in the lower positions.
The red in the nitrocellulose lacquer cherry sunburst finish has faded, but is in very good condition considering its age, with light wear, primarily on the lower treble side near the output jack.
There’s no evidence of structural damage or repairs. The finish does have natural and expected lacquer checking. There are a few small dings and dents in the finish from real use. The frets appear to be original with moderate to heavy play wear particularly in the lower positions.
Gibson ES-125 Model History Notes
Introduced in 1941 and offered until 1970 with production suspended between 1943 and 1946, the ES-125 was an ideal guitar for many genres. The prewar models had slightly smaller bodies - 14.5 inches across, compared to 16.25 in 1946. In 1956, Gibson began introducing thin body archtop electrics, and in 1957 added a second pickup to the both the thin and full body versions - the ES-125D (double pickup) and ES-125TD (thinline double pickup).
However, the Gibson ES-125D was built in such small quantities that it didn’t even appear in catalogs, and was dropped the next year. Only the thinline versions kept the second pickup.
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There are no refunds or returns on used items unless authorized in advance by a Twelfth Fret Sales Associate at time of sale. View Our Full Terms Here |
DETAILS:
- Instrument Model: ES-125
- Instrument Manufacturer: Gibson
- Instrument year: 1966
- Instrument Finish: Cherry Sunburst Nitrocellulose Lacquer
- Instrument Class: Archtop Electric Guitars
- Instrument serial number: 425383, built during 1966 at Kalamazoo, Michigan
- Country of Origin: USA
- Instrument Condition: Very Good
- Right-handed
- Instrument Weight Imperial: 5.5 lbs
- Instrument Weight Metric: 2.5 kgs
- Scale Length Imperial: 24.7 in
- Scale Length Metric: 627.5 mm
- Nut Width Imperial: 1.574 in
- Nut Width Metric: 40.0 mm
- CITIES Documentation Required: Yes
- Case included: Yes
- Case original: No
- Items in Case: String package for Thomastik Jazz Swing Flats
- Case Type: Hard Shell Flat top by TKL
- Consignment: Yes
- Product ID: 190766
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There are no refunds or returns on used items unless authorized in advance by a Twelfth Fret Sales Associate at time of sale. View Our Full Terms Here |