Making an entrance with this beauty - 1960 GIBSON ES-175 (59 FON)

Hello all!

I am a very long time lurker, made my account some years ago (but been reading long before doing so) but never posted anything...

I am very happy to share a dream come true... This guitar is something else. I owned and tried many modern ES 175s. Some were dead, some were very good, but this one is really something else (as every other 50´s hollow body i´ve tried)

It´s in great condition given it´s age, with her original case. Everything is original except for knobs and unfortunately both paf´s. Still to me on a hollowbody, I prefer old wood and construction with antiquities than a modern one with pafs...

It sounds like those old records and it´s a blast to play... I am very happy... here she is!

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https://youtu.be/n2JxOL1ez3s

Glorious! The guitar, the tone, and your wonderful playing. I rarely hear that tune played by anyone other than PM and it was a delight.

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Originally Posted by lawson-stone

Glorious! The guitar, the tone, and your wonderful playing. I rarely hear that tune played by anyone other than PM and it was a delight.

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Hey, that’s very kind of you! I love that tune and it’s a must with a 175! Thank you for listening and for chiming in!

Welcome and congrats on the purchase! I'm sure it's an outstanding instrument. I'm a believer in "old wood".

Your choice of the word "unfortunately" in the context of "unfortunately it doesn't have the original PAFs" is interesting. There are two sides to that coin. I know what you're saying (that it's a shame to have had them robbed so someone could put them in their Les Paul), but on the flip side, that makes the guitar much more affordable and something that you'll be less worried about bringing out and playing (the way it was intended to be). These old archtops with some repro parts are some of the best values out there for truly fantastic playing/sounding guitars.

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Originally Posted by andrew

Welcome and congrats on the purchase! I'm sure it's an outstanding instrument. I'm a believer in "old wood".

Your choice of the word "unfortunately" in the context of "unfortunately it doesn't have the original PAFs" is interesting. There are two sides to that coin. I know what you're saying (that it's a shame to have had them robbed so someone could put them in their Les Paul), but on the flip side, that makes the guitar much more affordable and something that you'll be less worried about bringing out and playing (the way it was intended to be). These old archtops with some repro parts are some of the best values out there for truly fantastic playing/sounding guitars.

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yeah!!! I completely agree! As a matter of fact i wouldn’t have been able to buy it if it wasn’t for that!! So yeah, so lucky in a way!

Fabulous! You and your 175 are a great match - you both sound wonderful. But you’re making me feel bad. I got the same guitar in natural 64 years ago. It was well used in the 18 months or so it spent with its original owner. But it was fine once my dealer cleaned it up, did a level / crown / polish, and set it up for flats.

I played it lovingly for a decade before foolishly selling it to buy a new L5CN that was a victim of Gibson’s cost cutting and so bad that I subsequently returned it for a refund. But the buyer wouldn’t sell my 175 back. He was an old friend who always told me how much he loved it and how he’d learn to play if I sold it to him. The creep never took a lesson, never played it, and moved far away within a few years. I have no idea where my baby grew up.

This is the origin of my screen name and a perpetual thorn in my side!

It's all about the wood! The pickups are almost secondary if the wood don't speak. It appears that you have found something inspirational. That's the most any of us can hope for. Congrats!

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Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit

Fabulous! You and your 175 are a great match - you both sound wonderful. But you’re making me feel bad. I got the same guitar in natural 64 years ago. It was well used in the 18 months or so it spent with its original owner. But it was fine once my dealer cleaned it up, did a level / crown / polish, and set it up for flats.

I played it lovingly for a decade before foolishly selling it to buy a new L5CN that was a victim of Gibson’s cost cutting and so bad that I subsequently returned it for a refund. But the buyer wouldn’t sell my 175 back. He was an old friend who always told me how much he loved it and how he’d learn to play if I sold it to him. The creep never took a lesson, never played it, and moved far away within a few years. I have no idea where my baby grew up.

This is the origin of my screen name and a perpetual thorn in my side!

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ohhh, so very sad to hear that man….
what a pity when instruments end up on the wrong hands…. It’s a shame some guitars live on their case forever… so sad. I hope one day to you can get it back. That would be what’s fair!!

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Originally Posted by skiboyny

It's all about the wood! The pickups are almost secondary if the wood don't speak. It appears that you have found something inspirational. That's the most any of us can hope for. Congrats!

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yeah, that’s the truth. I even remember telling to someone before buying or even imagining buying this guitar “if there”s any guitar in which i wouldn’t mind the absence of pafs is a 175”

Sweet axe and playing! A nice introduction to the forum! Welcome!!!

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Originally Posted by DawgBone

Sweet axe and playing! A nice introduction to the forum! Welcome!!!

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Thanks! Really appreciate it!

May she inspire your playing for many years to come (and that video proves that she already has!).

I always say that a good 175 is really all the guitar a jazz guitarist needs.

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Originally Posted by Stringswinger

May she inspire your playing for many years to come (and that video proves that she already has!).

I always say that a good 175 is really all the guitar a jazz guitarist needs.

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I love fancier guitars or real archtops… but isn’t the 175 the jazz telecaster??? it’s simpler, lovely, and has everything you need. And it has an attitude! Love that!
thank you for listening!

Congrats on your new guitar! Looking good sounding good! I'm hoping to land one in a year or so! Hopefully they're still relatively affordable then! Play on!

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Originally Posted by ClassyTouch

Congrats on your new guitar! Looking good sounding good! I'm hoping to land one in a year or so! Hopefully they're still relatively affordable then! Play on!

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i hope you snug one soon!!!

Welcome - nice playing, nice tone, nice axe!

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Originally Posted by starjasmine

Welcome - nice playing, nice tone, nice axe!

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Thank you!!!

Very nice guitar. I have a ‘59 ES-175 too. They are fantastic guitars. The light weight and the ‘59 neck make it one of the most comfortable guitars ever. Enjoy your new guitar.
Keith
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Originally Posted by floatingpickup

Very nice guitar. I have a ‘59 ES-175 too. They are fantastic guitars. The light weight and the ‘59 neck make it one of the most comfortable guitars ever. Enjoy your new guitar.
Keith
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Keith, that looks AMAZING. Love Natural Gibsons!!! Enjoy it in good health

That's a beauty.
Not meaning to be picky but did some original Gibson BRW bridge saddles not have the threaded rods showing at the top like yours? Thanks

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Originally Posted by floatingpickup

Very nice guitar. I have a ‘59 ES-175 too. They are fantastic guitars. The light weight and the ‘59 neck make it one of the most comfortable guitars ever. Enjoy your new guitar.
Keith
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That's the exact model I had !! I was always a bit upset that the truss rod cover had no binding. Interestingly, the OP's guitar has a bound replacement cover. I always wanted to add one to mine.

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Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit

That's the exact model I had !! I was always a bit upset that the truss rod cover had no binding. Interestingly, the OP's guitar has a bound replacement cover. I always wanted to add one to mine.

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You HAVE to get that back....

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Originally Posted by Baldoza

You HAVE to get that back....

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I'd love to have it because it was my first jazz guitar. I was in high school, and I earned the money for it by gigging with an LG-1 that had a DeArmond soundhole pickup in it. But as much as I'd like to get it back, I've been playing 7 strings exclusively for 30 years and would never play it if I had it. I have no idea what the serial number was, and I couldn't identify it if it were in my hands. So there's simply no way I could ever find it (unless it's still in the grey 17" Gretsch case in which I got it).

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Originally Posted by garybaldy

That's a beauty.
Not meaning to be picky but did some original Gibson BRW bridge saddles not have the threaded rods showing at the top like yours? Thanks

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I have never seen an original saddle that doesn’t have the holes drilled all the way through the top. Also, Gibson saddles are flat on the bottom, without cutouts for the adjustment wheels. I can’t tell in the OP’s pictures if the saddle has those cutouts or not.
Keith

Echoing what everybody has said...great guitar, great playing! You have a really a nice touch!

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Originally Posted by Flat

Echoing what everybody has said...great guitar, great playing! You have a really a nice touch!

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Thanks so much for the kind words!