Gibson ES-125 Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1951)
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Item # 10116
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Gibson ES-125 Model Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1951), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 8831-72, sunburst top, dark back and sides finish, laminated maple body, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, black hard shell case.
This is a lovely and amazingly well preserved example of the Gibson ES-125, the company's "bread and butter" electric guitar during the late 1940s and early '50s. It features a 16" wide, non-cutaway, full depth hollow-body of laminated maple with a mahogany neck and dot-inlaid rosewood fingerboard. The single black-covered P-90 pickup is mounted in the neck position, with tone and volume controls capped with numbered amber "hatbox" knobs. The tailpiece is the "off the shelf" unit seen early in the model's run, while the rosewood bridge is the typical Gibson piece with the older style full-contact base.
Although originally marketed mostly as a student model, the ES-125 is a fully professional quality instrument, with a sound equal to any single pickup laminated wood guitar ever made. With their combination of great sound and lower price ES-125s were popular from the start and are often seen in period photographs; the model is still a favorite today. Just under 2400 of these were shipped out of Kalamazoo in 1951, but not too many will have weathered the decades this well. This Es-125 is a fantastic survivor and still a great playing and sounding instrument exactly 70 years on.
Overall length is 40 7/16 in. (102.7 cm.), 16 1/4 in. (41.3 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
Overall this is a superb example, very clean and all original except for newer buttons on the original Kluson tuners and a strap button added at the heel. The finish shows just light checking with some very minor scuffs, dings and dents, but really we don't expect to see 70 year old guitars in much better shape than this. The original frets show virtually no wear and this is simply a great-playing and sounding example of this modest but delightful Gibson classic. Excellent + Condition.
This is a lovely and amazingly well preserved example of the Gibson ES-125, the company's "bread and butter" electric guitar during the late 1940s and early '50s. It features a 16" wide, non-cutaway, full depth hollow-body of laminated maple with a mahogany neck and dot-inlaid rosewood fingerboard. The single black-covered P-90 pickup is mounted in the neck position, with tone and volume controls capped with numbered amber "hatbox" knobs. The tailpiece is the "off the shelf" unit seen early in the model's run, while the rosewood bridge is the typical Gibson piece with the older style full-contact base.
Although originally marketed mostly as a student model, the ES-125 is a fully professional quality instrument, with a sound equal to any single pickup laminated wood guitar ever made. With their combination of great sound and lower price ES-125s were popular from the start and are often seen in period photographs; the model is still a favorite today. Just under 2400 of these were shipped out of Kalamazoo in 1951, but not too many will have weathered the decades this well. This Es-125 is a fantastic survivor and still a great playing and sounding instrument exactly 70 years on.
Overall length is 40 7/16 in. (102.7 cm.), 16 1/4 in. (41.3 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 1/4 in. (8.3 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
Overall this is a superb example, very clean and all original except for newer buttons on the original Kluson tuners and a strap button added at the heel. The finish shows just light checking with some very minor scuffs, dings and dents, but really we don't expect to see 70 year old guitars in much better shape than this. The original frets show virtually no wear and this is simply a great-playing and sounding example of this modest but delightful Gibson classic. Excellent + Condition.