Gibson ES-125C Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1965)
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Item # 13451
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Gibson ES-125C Model Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1965), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 329795, sunburst top, dark back and sides finish, laminated maple body, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, brown tolex hard shell case.
This is a nice example of a 1965 ES-125C, one of Gibson's less flashy and more obscure 1960s archtop guitars. This is actually a surprisingly rare model, introduced in 1965 (which seems like 10 years too late!) and then discontinued after 1970. Only 87 of these shipped in 1965 out of just 475 total. That is a *miniscule* production number for Gibson in the mid-late '60s period, especially for a budget-oriented model.
The ES-125CD offers the classic single-pickup Gibson P-90 experience on a fully hollow, full depth single-cutaway F-hole body. It is essentially the same layout as the earlier (and far more common) thinline ES-125TC but with a full-depth body, appearing years later in a reverse of the development history of every other Gibson archtop! This model was cataloged as a low/midline electric but offers essentially the same sound and feel as the much more exalted ES-175 but with plainer cosmetics. Of course by 1965 that guitar had long moved on to a Humbucking pickup, but this model has all the same functional features as the 1950s version. In 1965 it listed at $245 (plus case) an even $50 more than the non-cutaway ES-125 but $70 less than the ES-175.
This full-depth 16" guitar is built on a laminated, fully hollow maple body. The layout and hardware are typical for the period, with a black plastic covered P-90 pickups and the standard tone and volume controls with metal-capped gold knobs. The neck is the slim round profile typical of the mid/late 1960s, with the noticeably narrower nut width characteristic of the period. This one is marked as a factory second; 60 years on it is hard to say why but there are a couple of laminate checks to the top. It is a very good player, a chunky-sounding P-90 guitar that makes for a nice roots-oriented machine for a variety of styles, including everything from straight jazz to swamp rock grooves!
Overall length is 40 1/4 in. (102.2 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 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 9/16 in. (40 mm.).
This is a very clean, all original and fine playing original example of this obscure budget Gibson archtop classic. The finish retains an nice rich color to the sunburst with minimal fade and shows only some very light checking, small dings, dents and scrapes but really no major wear. The back of the neck has a few small feelable dinks in the lower positions. There are no notable repairs or damage, just a very small laminate check through the jack area, not a full crack, a couple off the bass side F-hole and another on the top near the upper waist. If any of these were present upon completion that would account for the factory second status.
All hardware is original and complete with only very light wear, the chrome plating is very clean, the nickel pickguard bracket shows some corrosion. The original frets were recrowned lightly and this is a very good player, with a range of sound identical to the far more celebrated ES-175, just less flash. For a relative budget-model Gibson archtop this is a very nice instrument. It lives in a later brown Tolex HSC. Overall Excellent - Condition.
This is a nice example of a 1965 ES-125C, one of Gibson's less flashy and more obscure 1960s archtop guitars. This is actually a surprisingly rare model, introduced in 1965 (which seems like 10 years too late!) and then discontinued after 1970. Only 87 of these shipped in 1965 out of just 475 total. That is a *miniscule* production number for Gibson in the mid-late '60s period, especially for a budget-oriented model.
The ES-125CD offers the classic single-pickup Gibson P-90 experience on a fully hollow, full depth single-cutaway F-hole body. It is essentially the same layout as the earlier (and far more common) thinline ES-125TC but with a full-depth body, appearing years later in a reverse of the development history of every other Gibson archtop! This model was cataloged as a low/midline electric but offers essentially the same sound and feel as the much more exalted ES-175 but with plainer cosmetics. Of course by 1965 that guitar had long moved on to a Humbucking pickup, but this model has all the same functional features as the 1950s version. In 1965 it listed at $245 (plus case) an even $50 more than the non-cutaway ES-125 but $70 less than the ES-175.
This full-depth 16" guitar is built on a laminated, fully hollow maple body. The layout and hardware are typical for the period, with a black plastic covered P-90 pickups and the standard tone and volume controls with metal-capped gold knobs. The neck is the slim round profile typical of the mid/late 1960s, with the noticeably narrower nut width characteristic of the period. This one is marked as a factory second; 60 years on it is hard to say why but there are a couple of laminate checks to the top. It is a very good player, a chunky-sounding P-90 guitar that makes for a nice roots-oriented machine for a variety of styles, including everything from straight jazz to swamp rock grooves!
Overall length is 40 1/4 in. (102.2 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 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 9/16 in. (40 mm.).
This is a very clean, all original and fine playing original example of this obscure budget Gibson archtop classic. The finish retains an nice rich color to the sunburst with minimal fade and shows only some very light checking, small dings, dents and scrapes but really no major wear. The back of the neck has a few small feelable dinks in the lower positions. There are no notable repairs or damage, just a very small laminate check through the jack area, not a full crack, a couple off the bass side F-hole and another on the top near the upper waist. If any of these were present upon completion that would account for the factory second status.
All hardware is original and complete with only very light wear, the chrome plating is very clean, the nickel pickguard bracket shows some corrosion. The original frets were recrowned lightly and this is a very good player, with a range of sound identical to the far more celebrated ES-175, just less flash. For a relative budget-model Gibson archtop this is a very nice instrument. It lives in a later brown Tolex HSC. Overall Excellent - Condition.