Gibson ES-175DN Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1959)
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Item # 11855
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Gibson ES-175DN Model Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1959), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # A-30085, natural lacquer finish, laminated maple body, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, original brown hard shell case.
This is a truly superb, nearly perfectly preserved blonde double-pickup ES-175D from Gibson's finest era, completely original with amazingly little wear. This guitar represents the design apex of Gibson's 16" electric Jazz guitar perennial, fitted with a pair of the original classic '59 "PAF" humbucking pickups. These are controlled by the four knob/one switch wiring rig that has become the classic Gibson electric layout. Over the years many of these very fine instruments have been stripped of this complete electronic package, much sought after for Les Paul "Burst" re-creations. A complete and unaltered ES-175D from 1959, considered perhaps Gibson's single most classic electric year, is now unfortunately fairly rare.
This guitar features a natural finish 16" wide laminated maple body with triple-bound top and single-bound back. The mahogany neck is topped with a single-bound rosewood fingerboard inset with pearloid double parallelogram inlays. This guitar has the classic round-profile '59 neck and is extremely comfortable to play. The nickel-plated tailpiece is a special design used only on the ES-175, the bridge is the standard rosewood adjustable style. The unbound headstock features a pearl Gibson logo and crown inlay, and carries Kluson Deluxe tuners with "single line" keystone buttons, another part often poached for other guitars.
The "A" Artist serial number on the white label under the bass soundhole indicates this guitar was shipped in May 1959. The list price was $325 in November 1959 plus another $47 for the plush-lined case; that was considerably higher than the cost of a sunburst Les Paul Standard! A surprisingly small total of only 129 double pickup natural finish 175's left Kalamazoo that year, under half the number sold in Sunburst and way under the total of "burst" Les Pauls: 643. Few of these blonde beauties will have survived as brilliantly as this one, which looks little used. The instrument is completely original with no alterations and shows only very light wear, still housed in the original pink plush-lined brown HSC.
Overall length is 41 in. (104.1 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 3/8 in. (8.6 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 simply one of the cleanest 1950s Gibsons we have had recently and the nicest 1950s PAF ES-175D we have ever seen, a gleaming blonde beauty with the maximum of grace and style. The finish shows some VERY light checking and scuffing but only minimal play wear. The headstock edges have a couple of tiny chips and there is a ding just above the A tuner bushing. The body finish shows a few very small dings and scuffs; the back of the neck is very clean.
All hardware is complete and original, including of course the magnificent untouched set of '59 PAF's and the full wiring rig. The nickel plating on the pickup covers and tailpiece shows some minimal tarnish. The original frets and fingerboard show only very light wear and this is an exceptionally fine playing and sounding guitar. While long considered a classic "Jazz Box" the double pickup ES-175D is a very versatile instrument with a range of classic tones. This one is ready to go in the original brown plush-lined HSC, in very good shape overall with some typical light wear. Excellent + Condition.
This is a truly superb, nearly perfectly preserved blonde double-pickup ES-175D from Gibson's finest era, completely original with amazingly little wear. This guitar represents the design apex of Gibson's 16" electric Jazz guitar perennial, fitted with a pair of the original classic '59 "PAF" humbucking pickups. These are controlled by the four knob/one switch wiring rig that has become the classic Gibson electric layout. Over the years many of these very fine instruments have been stripped of this complete electronic package, much sought after for Les Paul "Burst" re-creations. A complete and unaltered ES-175D from 1959, considered perhaps Gibson's single most classic electric year, is now unfortunately fairly rare.
This guitar features a natural finish 16" wide laminated maple body with triple-bound top and single-bound back. The mahogany neck is topped with a single-bound rosewood fingerboard inset with pearloid double parallelogram inlays. This guitar has the classic round-profile '59 neck and is extremely comfortable to play. The nickel-plated tailpiece is a special design used only on the ES-175, the bridge is the standard rosewood adjustable style. The unbound headstock features a pearl Gibson logo and crown inlay, and carries Kluson Deluxe tuners with "single line" keystone buttons, another part often poached for other guitars.
The "A" Artist serial number on the white label under the bass soundhole indicates this guitar was shipped in May 1959. The list price was $325 in November 1959 plus another $47 for the plush-lined case; that was considerably higher than the cost of a sunburst Les Paul Standard! A surprisingly small total of only 129 double pickup natural finish 175's left Kalamazoo that year, under half the number sold in Sunburst and way under the total of "burst" Les Pauls: 643. Few of these blonde beauties will have survived as brilliantly as this one, which looks little used. The instrument is completely original with no alterations and shows only very light wear, still housed in the original pink plush-lined brown HSC.
Overall length is 41 in. (104.1 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 3/8 in. (8.6 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 simply one of the cleanest 1950s Gibsons we have had recently and the nicest 1950s PAF ES-175D we have ever seen, a gleaming blonde beauty with the maximum of grace and style. The finish shows some VERY light checking and scuffing but only minimal play wear. The headstock edges have a couple of tiny chips and there is a ding just above the A tuner bushing. The body finish shows a few very small dings and scuffs; the back of the neck is very clean.
All hardware is complete and original, including of course the magnificent untouched set of '59 PAF's and the full wiring rig. The nickel plating on the pickup covers and tailpiece shows some minimal tarnish. The original frets and fingerboard show only very light wear and this is an exceptionally fine playing and sounding guitar. While long considered a classic "Jazz Box" the double pickup ES-175D is a very versatile instrument with a range of classic tones. This one is ready to go in the original brown plush-lined HSC, in very good shape overall with some typical light wear. Excellent + Condition.