Gibson ES-150 Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1955)

Gibson  ES-150 Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar  (1955)
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Item # 10847
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Gibson ES-150 Model Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1955), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, sunburst top, dark back and sides finish, laminated maple body, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, molded plastic hard shell case.

This early 1955 ES-150 is a fantastic example of this venerable arch-top Gibson, the model where the Kalamazoo company's professional-grade line of electric guitars began. The 1950's version is not a flashy guitar but simply a solidly classy instrument, with typical Gibson features for the era. The post-war ES-150 is built on a full-depth 17" non-cutaway all-maple body with a dark sunburst top. Besides the inch-wider body, the long 25 1/2" scale bound fingerboard with pearloid block markers and beveled-edge black pickguard also set it above the generally similar but "amateur" grade ES-125. The mahogany neck has the lovely round-backed profile typical of '50's Gibsons, with the older style 1 3/4" wide nut.

The single P-90 pickup is controlled with numbered gold-knob tone and volume controls and offers that classic 1950's warm Gibson sound that made (and still makes) for a very fine electric archtop at a (relatively) moderate price. Full-body, non cutaway instruments lost favor in the increasingly loud 1960's but many modern players have rediscovered their charms in today's lower-volume playing environments. This is not an exceptionally rare model but only 193 were shipped in 1955 (the next to last year for the model) so examples as clean as this are far from common. This is a truly lovely instrument, looking not much used and very well cared for over the last nearly 70 years.
 
Overall length is 42 in. (106.7 cm.), 17 in. (43.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 3/8 in. (8.6 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.).

This is an extremely well preserved guitar, they do not come too much nicer from the mid-1950s unless they were put away immediately. The finish and plating still shine like they did under Eisenhower, showing only some light general wear. There is typical checking, mostly to the top and dings, scrapes and dents, most notably on the headstock edges and the back, with a few on the back of the neck. There is one deeper feelable mark into the wood on the back of the neck behind the nut on the bass side.

There are no repairs on the instrument. The only alteration is the plastic-button individual Kluson Deluxe tuners which are the correct type but from a slightly period than the instrument, around the mid-1960s. It also has a newer endpin; both of these situations are likely related to shrinking/crumbling of the original plastic. The frets show only the most minimal wear. The instrument plays and sounds pretty much as it did in 1955; this is a lovely period piece and a great guitar of its type. It is housed in a recent molded plastic HSC. Excellent + Condition.