Gibson ES-175DN Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1959)
LOADING IMAGES
This item has been sold.
Item # 9049
Prices subject to change without notice.
Gibson ES-175DN Model Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1959), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, natural laquer re- finish, laminated maple body, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, original brown tolex hard shell case.
Sometimes we get a guitar with a story...this one seems to have a couple of good ones! It is a Gibson ES-175DN shipped in October 1959, the year some consider Gibson's shining moment of all their long history...as far as electrics are concerned, anyway. The guitar was a one-owner instrument for decades, but is not all original. In the early 1980s it was sent back to Gibson for a factory refinish, which was perfectly done and remains in very clean condition. Around the same time the owner asked Gibson for information about replacing the pickups, tuners, and tailpiece, which Gibson duly sent. Either the price was too high, or the owner stuck to his insistence on "original" parts, as stated in his letter. Thankfully the pickups were NOT replaced; this guitar still carries a stunning set of original untampered with nickel-plated PAFs with some corrosion to the covers and untouched solder joints.
Aside from this, the guitar is a superb-playing and sounding example of a double-PAF ES-175DN from Gibson's finest era, played but with very little wear accumulated since the factory refinish. This guitar represents the apex of Gibson's 16" electric Jazz guitar perennial, popular since its introduction. With two "Patent Applied For" humbucking pickups and the four knob/one switch wiring rig that has become the standard Gibson electric layout, this is a truly classic Gibson creation. Over the years, many of these have been stripped of their electronics (material for all the "extra" 1950s Sunburst Les Pauls floating around had to come from something!), so finding a fine one with the pickups and wiring rig intact that has had other major work done is fairly unusual.
The ES-175 features a natural-finish laminated maple body with triple-bound top and single-bound back. The mahogany neck is topped with a bound rosewood fingerboard inset with pearloid double parallelogram inlays. The unbound headstock features a pearl Gibson logo and crown inlay, and carries repro Kluson Deluxe tuners with "single line" keystone buttons. The nickel-plated tailpiece is gone; the guitar currently is fitted with a 1960s Hofner-made German tailpiece that was the standard part sold wholesale to music stores all over the world for replacement purposes. This guitar still has the original bridge, the standard Gibson rosewood adjustable piece.
The original case contains a plethora of interesting materials relating to the original owner. He had a couple of instrumental bands in the late 1950s and early '60s with guitar, accordion, and sax. One called the Criterions was signed to Roulette Records (run by the notorious Morris Levy). An original 45 on Roulette is included: "Choo Choo Rock" B/W "Softie" and there is an older local pressing of the same sides on TAP records as well. The owner of this guitar had writing credits on both tunes. There are two fantastic 8X10s of the band taken before this guitar was purchased showing him with a Gretsch Electromatic, a newspaper article, and a priceless fan club card.
There is also correspondence with Gibson concerning the availability of "Original" parts; the company sent a polite response with the 1980 parts list and prices...fortunately for the instrument and history this overture was not followed through. The pickups were not replaced and much of the guitar's current value is based on these PAFs and the attendant wiring rig, all correct for 1959. In its current state this remains a lovely, fine-playing, and spectacular-sounding instrument, ready to roll out the "Choo Choo Rock" one more time...or just about anything else one might want to play!
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 guitar is a fine-playing and spectacular-sounding instrument, and although not entirely original still true to its original look and intentions. The factory re-finish is a bit thicker than the original 1959 lacquer, but not obnoxiously so and has a nicely aged patina but not checked the way it likely would have. What appear to be the original frets show only some fairly minor wear. The tuners are older repro Kluson-style of the correct style for the guitar, but are not marked "Kluson".
There is some corrosion and loss to the nickel plating on the PAF pickup covers, which is probably why the original owner thought about replacing them. The tailpiece is replaced and the strap buttons are not original, but the other hardware is and the guitar still appears as it would have in 1959. Comes in the original brown HSC with the aforementioned passel of memorabilia. If you want to strip this guitar of its pickups and wiring for a Les Paul, just don't tell us about it...we're quite fond of her as is! Overall Excellent Condition.
Sometimes we get a guitar with a story...this one seems to have a couple of good ones! It is a Gibson ES-175DN shipped in October 1959, the year some consider Gibson's shining moment of all their long history...as far as electrics are concerned, anyway. The guitar was a one-owner instrument for decades, but is not all original. In the early 1980s it was sent back to Gibson for a factory refinish, which was perfectly done and remains in very clean condition. Around the same time the owner asked Gibson for information about replacing the pickups, tuners, and tailpiece, which Gibson duly sent. Either the price was too high, or the owner stuck to his insistence on "original" parts, as stated in his letter. Thankfully the pickups were NOT replaced; this guitar still carries a stunning set of original untampered with nickel-plated PAFs with some corrosion to the covers and untouched solder joints.
Aside from this, the guitar is a superb-playing and sounding example of a double-PAF ES-175DN from Gibson's finest era, played but with very little wear accumulated since the factory refinish. This guitar represents the apex of Gibson's 16" electric Jazz guitar perennial, popular since its introduction. With two "Patent Applied For" humbucking pickups and the four knob/one switch wiring rig that has become the standard Gibson electric layout, this is a truly classic Gibson creation. Over the years, many of these have been stripped of their electronics (material for all the "extra" 1950s Sunburst Les Pauls floating around had to come from something!), so finding a fine one with the pickups and wiring rig intact that has had other major work done is fairly unusual.
The ES-175 features a natural-finish laminated maple body with triple-bound top and single-bound back. The mahogany neck is topped with a bound rosewood fingerboard inset with pearloid double parallelogram inlays. The unbound headstock features a pearl Gibson logo and crown inlay, and carries repro Kluson Deluxe tuners with "single line" keystone buttons. The nickel-plated tailpiece is gone; the guitar currently is fitted with a 1960s Hofner-made German tailpiece that was the standard part sold wholesale to music stores all over the world for replacement purposes. This guitar still has the original bridge, the standard Gibson rosewood adjustable piece.
The original case contains a plethora of interesting materials relating to the original owner. He had a couple of instrumental bands in the late 1950s and early '60s with guitar, accordion, and sax. One called the Criterions was signed to Roulette Records (run by the notorious Morris Levy). An original 45 on Roulette is included: "Choo Choo Rock" B/W "Softie" and there is an older local pressing of the same sides on TAP records as well. The owner of this guitar had writing credits on both tunes. There are two fantastic 8X10s of the band taken before this guitar was purchased showing him with a Gretsch Electromatic, a newspaper article, and a priceless fan club card.
There is also correspondence with Gibson concerning the availability of "Original" parts; the company sent a polite response with the 1980 parts list and prices...fortunately for the instrument and history this overture was not followed through. The pickups were not replaced and much of the guitar's current value is based on these PAFs and the attendant wiring rig, all correct for 1959. In its current state this remains a lovely, fine-playing, and spectacular-sounding instrument, ready to roll out the "Choo Choo Rock" one more time...or just about anything else one might want to play!
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 guitar is a fine-playing and spectacular-sounding instrument, and although not entirely original still true to its original look and intentions. The factory re-finish is a bit thicker than the original 1959 lacquer, but not obnoxiously so and has a nicely aged patina but not checked the way it likely would have. What appear to be the original frets show only some fairly minor wear. The tuners are older repro Kluson-style of the correct style for the guitar, but are not marked "Kluson".
There is some corrosion and loss to the nickel plating on the PAF pickup covers, which is probably why the original owner thought about replacing them. The tailpiece is replaced and the strap buttons are not original, but the other hardware is and the guitar still appears as it would have in 1959. Comes in the original brown HSC with the aforementioned passel of memorabilia. If you want to strip this guitar of its pickups and wiring for a Les Paul, just don't tell us about it...we're quite fond of her as is! Overall Excellent Condition.