The Jazz Guitar Chord Dictionary
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  1. #1

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    Has anybody of You more experienced veterans had a possibility to compare thinline Gibson ES-175T vs ES-175?
    Tried to search but I did not find any first hand experiences about differences and similarities.
    I know they were made 2-3 years in 70's and they are a bit rarity.
    But what about sound? Thinner? Less bass? Less depth? More middy? Just like ES-137?
    Thanks for the input already!

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  3. #2

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    Quote Originally Posted by Herbie
    But what about sound? Thinner? Less bass? Less depth? More middy? Just like ES-137? Thanks for the input already!
    Quite rare. Yes to thinner, less bass, less depth, not sure about more middy.
    These have maple necks, not mahogany.
    No to similarities with the ES-137 - very different guitars that share the same body shape.
    I played a few of them and thought they were great for blues and rock, less so for jazz.
    IMO they'd be fine for jazz in the neck position, with some nice flatwound strings.
    Last edited by Hammertone; 05-22-2015 at 11:25 AM.

  4. #3

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    Thanks Hammertone for the input!
    Apparently there is a strong reason for stop making them.

  5. #4

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    I think they are super-cool guitars, but I don't think the 1970s were kind to archtop guitars in general and Gibson certainly didn't distinguish itself during that decade.
    It's a dressed-up version of Gibson's ES-125TDC of the 1960s, or the Epiphone Sorrento of the 1960's
    Similar to the Guild Starfire II.
    To me, this is the ideal setup for blues playing - thinline, hollow, single cutaway.
    I played a single pickup 1960 Epiphone Sorrento for a few years and it was a great guitar for jazz, blues, and rock.
    Gibson tipped its hat to the idea with the recent Custom Shop ES-195 - a thinline ES-175 with Trini headstock & inlays, maple neck, Bigsby B-6 and P-94 pickups. Easy enough to convert to standard tailpiece/humbucking pickups.
    Last edited by Hammertone; 05-23-2015 at 04:48 PM.

  6. #5

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    I played and almost bought a blonde T in 74. I thought it was a good guitar. It was a thin 175, not a tricked up 125T...which I owned. I would have preferred a mahogany neck, but Gibson wasn't doing that.

  7. #6

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    I bought a ES-335 in the 70s but I remember trying out a couple other guitars I didn't like, back then. One was a thinline Tele. And another was a blonde Gibson, thinner body, single cut (Florentine), fully hollow. I wonder if it could have been a ES-175T. I remember the salesman saying it normally came in a deeper body. After all these years, I remember it had neck dive!

  8. #7

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    i have the feeling it's going to be neck heavy based on the specs...

  9. #8

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    Nice lobster bib. Goes well with the wine red.

  10. #9

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    Ha! All of us who did society gigs in the 70s wore fat ties like that. I'm just glad that there are no incriminating photos of me from that period on the 'net wearing the derned ruffled shirts and other-than-black tuxedos on gigs.

  11. #10

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    Interesting thread! I'm also a fan of slim jazz boxes and never knew about the ES175T model until recently.

    These are two of my favorite 'Thinline' jazz gits...Heritage 525 Custom (Triburst) and Gibson ES137 (Natural).
    They are very similar looking, but the Heritage is exceptionally loud acoustically, and has tone for days.


  12. #11

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    I used to have an early-60s ('61-'62) ES-125T that was LOUD acoustically and had a fantastic tone when plugged in. Honestly, it had a more pure jazz tone than my much fancier ES-175. I sold it when I bought the 175. Now, I have the opportunity, more than 30 years later, to buy it back...I believe I will. It doesn't appear to have done the neck joint kerflooey that so many 125Ts did over the years.

    Instead, though, I could get a Heritage like yours. It looks great. Who does a better finish than Heritage?

  13. #12

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    Quote Originally Posted by Hammertone
    I think they are super-cool guitars, but I don't think the 1970s were kind to archtop guitars in general and Gibson certainly didn't distinguish itself during that decade.
    It's a dressed-up version of Gibson's ES-125TDC of the 1960s, or the Epiphone Sorrento of the 1960's
    Similar to the Guild Starfire II.
    To me, this is the ideal setup for blues playing - thinline, hollow, single cutaway.
    I played a single pickup 1960 Epiphone Sorrento for a few years and it was a great guitar for jazz, blues, and rock.
    Gibson tipped its hat to the idea with the recent Custom Shop ES-195 - a thinline ES-175 with Trini headstock & inlays, maple neck, Bigsby B-6 and P-94 pickups. Easy enough to convert to standard tailpiece/humbucking pickups.
    my Sorrento was light weight and LOUD acousticaly ....
    i didn't dig the sound for me

  14. #13

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gitfiddler
    Interesting thread! I'm also a fan of slim jazz boxes and never knew about the ES175T model until recently.

    These are two of my favorite 'Thinline' jazz gits...Heritage 525 Custom (Triburst) and Gibson ES137 (Natural).
    They are very similar looking, but the Heritage is exceptionally loud acoustically, and has tone for days.

    I can hear the unusually deep resonance ( for a thinline hollow ) on the 525 and wonder if it would be even better with a great pair of humbuckers ..

    And I may get a quote for a Seventy Seven Jazz Hawk ( thinline ) with the neck pickup
    moved right next to the Fingerboard.

    I wonder what it is about the H525 that gives it the extra Resonance ?

    I noticed it in Video Clips...but they seem to have P 90s....

    On the 175T ( thinline ) - do you feel ot would benefit from having the Pickup close to the Fingerboard - maybe needing
    less Treble roll off ( or none at all for some things ).

    Some say the difference would be slight on the full ES 175 but I wonder if Thinline versions including the Seventy Seven Hawk would benefit more.

    Even on a full body ES 175 I could probably get the 'tighter' sound by picking slightly closer to bridge but get the even smoother sound of the against the neck location.

    I know I hear a difference on 24 Fret Solidbodies versus 22 ..this would be the 20th or 21st Fret Location versus 23 or 24th fret location.

    Again merely talking about warmer ( especially on higher strings ) due to more distance from Bridge...and Thinlines probably would benefit even more ( ? ) .

    I also played an ES 137 recently and can not think of a single thing a 335 does better than a 137 other than look cooler .
    Last edited by Robertkoa; 11-15-2017 at 06:56 AM.

  15. #14

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    Quote Originally Posted by Gitfiddler
    Interesting thread! I'm also a fan of slim jazz boxes and never knew about the ES175T model until recently.

    These are two of my favorite 'Thinline' jazz gits...Heritage 525 Custom (Triburst) and Gibson ES137 (Natural).
    They are very similar looking, but the Heritage is exceptionally loud acoustically, and has tone for days.

    I noticed the Heritage has unusual Resonance and Sustain on a few Demos and wonder why do they
    NOT offer that Particular Model with Humbuckers to
    ( as an acoustic engineer would say )
    Bring out the Phatness ?

    Ok I am familiar with the ES 137 ( you may have a 135 though ) and for ME it is a good Benchmark because on the Neck Pickup AND Unplugged - it goes clearly beyond the ES 335 and similar Guitars ( except the Sadowsky Semi Hollow - ).

    Since you own Both - I suspect that that Heritage Model with Humbuckers would sound Phatter and More Archtop than the ES 137 (?)

    And that H 525 is probably the most Acoustically Rich and full sounding Thinline. (?)

    I noticed this in each Demo I heard but the P90s are obviously going the other way.

    I am talking about deep low end here.

    What about the H525 this way ? Is it as deep as an Archtop on Neck PU ?

    Also are these about $3000 or higher ?
    Last edited by Robertkoa; 11-30-2017 at 10:16 AM.