1957 Gibson ES-125

**Iced Tea** · 08-15-2017, 08:27 AM

Hello,

Today got this little beauty in the post! It's a '57 ES 125 in very good condition. It's got some light finish checking here and there and some dings but it's pretty clean.

The neck is perfection, not too big, not too thin. The P90 is full, warm and clear as a bell.

There some setup issues, there's no relief at all. Looking down the fingerboard from the headstock it's as flat as a pancake. That's normally how I like it but there's some noticeable fret buzz in places. Also for some reason the previous owner had 10 gauge neon green strings (!). I'm going to put some heavier gauge Thomastik Swing strings which may help as I reckoned they'll pull the neck forward a touch.

ive been after one of these for a while and played quite a few. The last one I played was near mint condition but it was very difficult to play with super high action but was still fretting out near the 12th fret so I'm very happy with this.

There's one other issue - the smell! It really smells like some kind of parafin or something m. It's quite pungent - don't know what I can do about it. Maybe if I fit some car fresheners inside the f holes...

**TOMMO** · 08-15-2017, 09:15 AM

Beauty! Congratulations and enjoy it in good health!

**Archtop Guy** · 08-15-2017, 10:22 AM

Very nice! The thirteens are a good idea. You could try a couple of tea bags inside. I've heard it works for shoes. But, I've haven't tried it myself yet. These are amazing little guitars.

**vinnyv1k** · 08-15-2017, 10:34 AM

Very nice example. May it bring you many years of musical joy. Congrats !

**Greentone** · 08-15-2017, 10:53 AM

Now that's a jazz guitar! My 125 actually sounded better than most 175s that I played. They just have a tremendous, clear, thunky tone.

Yeah, just about all of us went through the ten-gauge phase. You _can_ play those deedly-dee strings in jazz, but it's a chore--right amp, right touch, right pick (5mm). Get some TI Jazz Swings on there.

**Little Jay** · 08-15-2017, 11:19 AM

Congratz! I'm still madly in love with mine :-)

I use a set of Thomstiks 0.012 (flats, Jazz Swings I believe) with a 0.013 high e-string.

Enjoy it!

**diminix** · 08-15-2017, 11:27 AM

Originally Posted by Iced Tea

There's one other issue - the smell! It really smells like some kind of parafin or something m. It's quite pungent - don't know what I can do about it. Maybe if I fit some car fresheners inside the f holes...

Some years ago I bought a used Epiphone Sorrento, which was stinking like an ashtray. It was actually used as an ashtray, as cigarette ashes and a filter dropped out of the f-holes when I emptied it upside down. To fight the smell I put half a pound of ground coffee powder through the f-holes into the body and distributed it on the inner side of the back by shaking lightly (first attempt was uncooked rice, which didn't work that well). Left it in for three days, then used a vacuum cleaner with adapted aquarium tube to get the coffee out. Worked great, only a bit of the cigarette smell was still there, which was gone after a few months.

Invite the pre-owner of your ES-125 and use the sucked out powder to make a coffee for him!-)

Robert

**pilotony** · 08-15-2017, 11:38 AM

Congratulations. Play it in good health.

**Greentone** · 08-15-2017, 12:09 PM

Say, one thing I didn't mention above: it's rare to find a 125 that hasn't been raped for parts. Yours appears to have all its original parts intact. Yes!

Enjoy.

**Cavalier** · 08-15-2017, 01:46 PM

It's in great shape, that one is a keeper.

**mad dog** · 08-15-2017, 02:00 PM

Nice guitar! I'd love to have one like that.
MD

**Iced Tea** · 08-15-2017, 02:33 PM

Thanks for everyone's comments!

Yes it's a keeper for sure.

I must say that I had to try out about 5 before this one. Some of them were in worse condition but a lot of them had setup issues with high action with little room to adjust. I'm guessing that players were happy back then to with these more "old school" setups.

Also in the U.K. and also in Europe prices have really gone up for these, they're getting quite hard to find in good condition.

**Fred Archtop** · 08-15-2017, 03:16 PM

Great guitar! P90s rule !

Congrats for this acquisition.

**furtom** · 08-16-2017, 01:10 PM

When you say room to adjust, does that include the truss rod?

I've always heard it's good standard operating procedure to check that the truss rod works before buying a used guitar (or probably new for that matter), but like many, I'm sure, I never remembered at the time.

Well, I had a scare recently to remind me of the importance of this. I got a Hagstrom that was probably about 8 years old in near mint condition. I snapped it up in a deal I couldn't refuse and never gave a thought to the truss rod.

When I finally started setting it up, man, was it stuck! Total heart attack. Fortunately, I got it unstuck without breaking anything and lubed it a bit and now it's working fine. But imagine if it wasn't...

HOpe yours is OK.

**Little Jay** · 08-16-2017, 02:12 PM

A drop of fine machine oil on the truss rod bolt works wonders!

My experience with Gibson truss rods is that they are very reliable and I have not come across a faulty one.

Originally Posted by Iced Tea

I must say that I had to try out about 5 before this one. Some of them were in worse condition but a lot of them had setup issues with high action with little room to adjust. I'm guessing that players were happy back then to with these more "old school" setups.

Sinking tops! They do suffer from it, I've seen severe cases!

When I went out to buy my ES-125 I forgot to take my dentist mirror and light to inspect the tone bars. When I saw the guitar the arch of the top looked fine and bridge had a healthy adjustment room up and down so I figured I'd be fine... can you imagine the shock I experienced when I found out a couple of days later the tone bars had completely disappeared?!?

(It worked out fine: it has a sound post now and the top shows no sign of sinking after two years).

**Easy2grasp** · 08-16-2017, 05:51 PM

I will always regret trading my ES-125 about 40 years ago for a funky green 1961 Gretsch Silver Anniversary model. Although the Gretsch was a sweet sounding guitar in the studio, the ES-125 had more mojo. Now I have neither and miss both guitars. I traded the Gretsch for a 1914 Martin acoustic that winded up getting stolen. I guess now it is three guitars I miss. I could of avoided all of this by just keeping the ES-125.

Congrats and enjoy and keep.
Ted

**skykomishone** · 08-16-2017, 08:30 PM

Very nice. Congrats. One of the coolest sounds I can recall as a youth (about 20) was listening to a jazz head guitar player in a trio doing incredible things on the guitar, in a very small club. Absolutely astounding to listen to. It left an indelible memory. Something about the 125 from that era.

**AlohaJoe** · 08-17-2017, 12:11 AM

Congratulations, that looks so nice.. a classic jazz guitar! Nice, clean 125s in good shape like that are getting hard to find. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.

Others guitars may come and go but my 125 stays. I like the size and love the P90. It's like a 175 in workingman's clothes... simple, but with everything I need and nothing I don't.

**citizenk74** · 08-17-2017, 12:59 AM

Congratulations on a great find, and play it in good health!

On the odor front, I have found sodium bicarbonate useful. I would put a copious amount inside, to be vacuumed out later. I would keep it away from the electronics. I have a Les Paul Junior Special that had so much tar on it I used up three old shirts getting it off, and two pounds of Arm & Hammer to de-stink the case, but it worked. Good luck!

**Iced Tea** · 08-17-2017, 05:20 AM

Update:

So I put some 12 guage Thomastik Swings on her and raised the action a hair and now it's playing and sounding great, with only a touch of fret buzz in one place. I'll see how it goes over the next two days. The fingerboard does feel kind of tacky though. It might need a bit of lemon oil but it looks like it was oiled fairly recently.

One thing I didn't notice at first about this is the subtle flame on the lower bout. It looks like they used a pretty good piece of maple despite it being it being a budget guitar by Gibson's standards.

I've basically been after one of these for a year and I'm very happy with this one.

Here in the UK they are getting harder and harder to find. I did see one advertised a month ago but it was gone within a week. Then some of the prices that are being quoted are getting frankly ridiculous. I've seen some in worse shape and the sellers were quoting around 2500 pounds. It's taken nearly a year to get one but they're still some relative bargains to be found.

**rabbit** · 08-17-2017, 06:50 AM

Congratulations on a wonderful guitar!

Wonderful is not going too far, I know 'cause I've got one too.

Play it in good health.

**Little Jay** · 08-17-2017, 10:59 AM

Yup, now that the demand for the lower budget Gibson is increasing, so do the prices. Here in the Netherlands they fetch between €1850 - 2300 already. I got mine 2 years ago for €1000, but condition was not too good and it had a humbucker installed. I invested another €500 for an original P90, correct tailpiece and a badly needed refret.

Can't resist to post a pic of mine: