Gibson ES-125TD Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1961)

Gibson  ES-125TD Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar  (1961)
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Item # 10771
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Gibson ES-125TD Model Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1961), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 5166, sunburst top, dark back and sides finish, laminated maple body, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, original black tolex hard shell case.

This instrument is an early 1960s ES-125TD, one of Gibson's lesser known 1950-60s archtop guitars. It offers the full twin-pickup Gibson P-90 wiring rig on a thinline NON-cutaway F-hole body, a fairly unusual configuration that never really caught on. A single-cutaway version (the ES-125TDC) was a very successful guitar for much of the decade but the same features on a non-cutaway body had limited appeal to most players. All of 118 shipped out of Kalamazoo this year, and the model faded into oblivion after 1963.

This example dates to early 1961,with a low 4-digit serial number impressed on the back of the headstock in the new series just introduced that year. Despite lacking the familiar cutaway it is a slim and handy hollowbody electric guitar offering two great-sounding P-90 pickups on its laminated maple body with a dark sunburst finish top.

The hardware is typical for the period with two black plastic covered P-90 pickups, four gold metal capped knobs, a switch still with a '50s style amber plastic tip, nickel plated trapeze tailpiece and an adjustable wooden bridge. This one has the slim and fairly flat profile neck typical of 1960-61. The appointments are simple but the sound is great; with the typical rip-roaring twin-P90 attack. With its non cutaway body this makes a GREAT electric slide guitar (it stops your hand right in that perfect Elmore James 12th fret spot) but is a nice roots-oriented machine for a variety of styles.
 
Overall length is 40 1/4 in. (102.2 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 7/8 in. (4.8 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.).

This is a nice, clean, and original guitar overall; the finish shows some light checking, scuffing, dings, dents and chips but no major loss. The headstock face has some edge chips and the top back edge of the headstock is worn down a bit from moving about in the case. There are some dings in the back of the neck but nothing too heavy.

All hardware is original and in excellent condition. The original frets have been crowned down a bit and still play fine. The guitar is an excellent player generally, with a particularly rich and crunchy P-90 tone on all pickup selections. This is an odd looking instrument at first, but once picked up proves a very light and handy 1960s Gibson hollow-body -- an excellent gigging guitar still with its original yellow-lined thinline hardshell case, which has some substantial mojo in itself! Overall Excellent - Condition.