Gibson ES-150 vs ES-125

[Steve Z]

for any '50s - 60's guitars, try and play as many different years as possible as the neck profile changes several times between mid 50's - mid 60's. Also starting late '64 / ear'y '65 the nut width decreases from 1 11/16" to 1 9/16"... that's a big difference that may affect how comfortable the guitar is to play to different players.

[wintermoon]

ES-300s generally sell n the 3-4k range, just check completed/sold listings, not asking prices.

[ThatRhythmMan]

I own a 1947 ES 300. At the time the 300 was the top of the line laminate Gibson. They are NOT in 2-3k realm. Not by far unless it has serious issues. I have seen the rare blonde ES 300s go for over 7k on reverb.

DB

They definitely do not command anywhere near 7k in the US. They sell for somewhat more in the EU and in Japan.

[DB's Jazz Guitar Blog]

ES-300s generally sell n the 3-4k range, just check completed/sold listings, not asking prices.

Not in Europe. I have seen only a handful come by in 20 years on the internet and the 3-4k ones were all beat up with horrible repairs. I went out to play some. You'd really have to add a grand for an excellent one. The blonde ones are even more expensive. That is when you can find one because usually there aren't any for sale. Sometimes not for years. Importing one from the US will add 25% in import taxes and duties and European sellers know this so you have to add 1-2 K on USA prices. Sometimes more.

DB

[DB's Jazz Guitar Blog]

They definitely do not command anywhere near 7k in the US. They sell for somewhat more in the EU and in Japan.

Somewhat more? You don't want to know what I paid for mine.

The point is, there simply aren't any for sale over here usually. The vintage market in Europe is very different from the US.

DB

[pingu]

The post war ES 150 is laminated, just like the ES 125. Same guitar, only bigger body and neck scale.

Potential pitfall for both are worn frets, tail rise and cracks (of course)

DB

What is tail rise please ?

[AlohaJoe]

Some may have seen this before but Tim's comments and playing are worth repeating.

[wintermoon]

What is tail rise please ?

Fingerboard pulling up over the body like a ski slope.

[pingu]

Fingerboard pulling up over the body like a ski slope.

thanks , it’s difficult for me to imagine
how that would happen ....

[wintermoon]

A lot of old archtops w raised fingerboard extension suffer from this issue.

[citizenk74]

Check out forum member's Little Jay's videos for what an ES-125 can do.

[m_d]

Yep. The fun begins, exploring the options, one of them being having it built by Maurice Dupont (the Saint-Louis model).

[oldane]

thanks , it’s difficult for me to imagine
how that would happen ....

In classic archtops, the truss rod only goes as far as the neck-body joint. The strings pull up the neck until about the 14'th fret while the freboard extension stays where it is. The result is the "nose up" problem as it's called - but it really is a "neck up" problem. Some makers design their guitars with a "nose down" to compensate for it when the neck is under string pull.

Sendt fra min SM-T810 med Tapatalk

[MikeTT]

I recently played one of the new Guild T-50 and it was very, very nice. They should do a version with full body depth.
I'd probably replace the PU with a Fralin noiseless P90. All the recent Korea made Guilds I played are great value for the price IMO.
(I have one of the new Bluesbirds.)

[Little Jay]

thanks , it’s difficult for me to imagine
how that would happen ....

I don't think I've ever seen or heard of a (full bodied) ES-125 with tail-rise, since the end of the fretboard is flush to the body.

The ES-125 is a great guitar and you can get tones very similar to the ES-150 and ES-300 for less money

[Little Jay]

Check out forum member's Little Jay's videos for what an ES-125 can do.

Thanks K

Yes, it's a versatile guitar, you can even make it howl:

[voxsss]

I BOUGHT THAT SONG FROM TIM AGES AGO...LOOKING FOR IT RIGHT NOW

[garybaldy]

Tim Lerch Loves his... and plays the hell out of it.

So, after much cogitation, I put a set of Chrome 12s on my newly acquired 125. They had briefly been on another guitar and I was anxious to replace what I think were D'Ad Nickel wound 10s. Now I learn Tim uses roundwound 11s but recommends roundwound 12s. I have a set of Martin Monel 12s. Should I put them on instead? The Chromes sound nice and Tim doesn't sound like he's using roundwounds.

[Little Jay]

So, after much cogitation, I put a set of Chrome 12s on my newly acquired 125. They had briefly been on another guitar and I was anxious to replace what I think were D'Ad Nickel wound 10s. Now I learn Tim uses roundwound 11s but recommends roundwound 12s. I have a set of Martin Monel 12s. Should I put them on instead? The Chromes sound nice and Tim doesn't sound like he's using roundwounds.

I settled for Thomastik .012 Swings (flatwound) for my ES-125 a long time ago and switched to Thomastik flatwounds on all my guitars after that, even the Strats and Tele’s.

To me they sound and feel best, thay have something other strings lack, hard to explain.

I buy plain Pyramids for the B and high E strings btw, so I can change those when they go flat (usually after 6-12 months). The wound strings stay on forever, haven’t changed those in years on my 125.

[garybaldy]

I settled for Thomastik .012 Swings (flatwound) for my ES-125 a long time ago and switched to Thomastik flatwounds on all my guitars after that, even the Strats and Tele’s.

To me they sound and feel best, thay have something other strings lack, hard to explain.

I buy plain Pyramids for the B and high E strings btw, so I can change those when they go flat (usually after 6-12 months). The wound strings stay on forever, haven’t changed those in years on my 125.

I guess you don't find the TI bass strings a bit loose. I didn't like them on my Loar 700 but probably because of the style of jazz. I did put them on my L5CES and I play pretty gently on that. My 175 has LaBella 12 to 52s. The bass string seems really chunky but the tone is very 175!

[Mick-7]

I have a set of Martin Monel 12s. Should I put them on instead?

I just ordered a set of these, haven't received them yet. I haven't used them before. We shall see....

[garybaldy]

I just ordered a set of these, haven't received them yet. I haven't used them before. We shall see....

I have them on my Loar 700. Started with 12s in it but I'm sticking with 13s now. They are great strings for that (fully carved) guitar both acoustic or electric. (I have a neck mount on it).

[Mick-7]

I have them on my Loar 700. Started with 12s in it but I'm sticking with 13s now. They are great strings for that (fully carved) guitar both acoustic or electric. (I have a neck mount on it).

Actually, I ordered the 11's, plan to put them on my old Washburn Korean made acoustic-electric, which sounds great acoustically (better than any archtop I've played). It has 12's on it now (forget what they are, some sort of round-wound) and I wanted to try a lighter set because the action is a bit difficult.

This thing:




P.S. - The Martin Monels sound good on this guitar, the bronze 80/20 strings they replaced sounded too bright.

[garybaldy]

Actually, I ordered the 11's, plan to put them on my old Washburn Korean made acoustic-electric, which sounds great acoustically (better than any archtop I've played). It has 12's on it now (forget what they are, some sort of round-wound) and I wanted to try a lighter set because the action is a bit difficult.

This thing:

I don't expect many people think to put monels on their flattops. I have only one flattop. It's a Seagull - with PB 11s I think!

[Mick-7]

I don't expect many people think to put monels on their flattops. I have only one flattop. It's a Seagull - with PB 11s I think!

I heard that Martin created the Monels at the behest of Tony Rice, i.e., they were designed for flattops.