-
snapped a couple of shots of it today
Gorgeous colour.
Thin and comfortable.
Still having some trouble putting the GAS to sleep...
-
05-23-2016 04:34 PM
-
I'd love to hear some extensive thoughts on it. My luthier has a Gibson Le Grand finger tailpiece he can put on it *if* i buy it... gulp!
Originally Posted by GNAPPI
-
Oooh, I know what I said before, but if you're still thinking about this guitar...it just might be IT.
I'm the resident Bigsby hater, so don't take my advice too seriously, but a gold finger tailpiece on that guitar would look PERFECT.
-
Tried a few tube amps that my father had in the basement; Classic 30, an old Mesa Boogie, and many others. Liked them all but still stuck with my big peavey. Originally Posted by mr. beaumont
re: tailpiece: I know right? :P I'm not into the Bigsby either.
-
Well I don't know about extensive thoughts, but... Originally Posted by Marwin Moody
I judge archtops weighed heavily by their acoustic influence to the electric sound and playability. Everything else is a smaller blip on my radar screen.
The 195 body (as I have it setup) is one of the best ES models I have or have had in that neighborhood. For comparison I have a 175, 330, 150, and a Tal Farlow, and it's as good (or better) as any of them. The body is lively, neck is not thin not fat, frets slim, not jumbo and I do not know if it's typical but I really like the dark striped rosewood fingerboard on mine. The fret markers are like my ES-137C and not ginormous monstrosities Gibson sometimes uses and I think they should ban the block markers in favor of these.
Sometimes I play it and wonder how the Benedetto B6, or Gibson PAF clone I have would sound in the neck spot, but I usually get absorbed playing it and forget what I was considering.
My criticism(s) of Gibson on it are:
The finish on the back of the head and poor binding match on the tip of the cutaway are not what I expect on a Gibson. But some others I have are afflicted in a similar way so I have come to ignore these issues.
I think it was idiotic for them to install a Bigsby and TOM. I mean... WTF? Were they going after Gretsch owners? Not gonna happen.
The tailpiece and bridge are the best improvements I have made on any git I have ever owned.
The hockey stick head only offends those that hear with their eyes, too bad.
At a slim 6lbs 10 oz its pure pleasure to play for a long time standing or sitting..
-
PS... I play through a Boss pedal with one channel setup as if it were in bypass for the natural sound of the 195 with a bit of reverb because the little Fender Champion 110 has horrible reverb.
I have a few tube amps, the 195 sounds good in most any amp tube or ss I have, not so for some other gits I have.
-
I'd like to try it with my gear. I've only tried in a silverface and a genz benz.
-
40 years ago--if the 195 existed then--I would have certainly purchased the one that looks like a Trini Lopez guitar had a child with a Honey Bun. I was all about guitars that had that sort of rockabilly flair, back then--which is why I went through a pair of Gretsch Nashvilles. I still miss those guitars.
-
Stupid questions but which need an answer
So Bigsby and few specific cosmetic details apart, is the ES195 very close to a (modern) ES175?
Does the different body thickness pay a significant role in the overall tone?
I ask this because I always dreamed about an ES175 (tone, design etc..) to play jazz, but brand new, the price to pay is hard to swallow,
And additionally, I could possibly use the bigsby whammy effect for rock, blues and pop in my regular band.Last edited by mambosun; 06-01-2016 at 04:08 AM.
-
Short answer? no to the 1st Q yes to the second. A good 175 is a 175, but I've played some that I wouldn't trade for my modded Gretsch Electromatic. Originally Posted by mambosun
Stupid questions but which need an answer
So Bigsby and few specific cosmetic details apart, is the ES195 very close to a (modern) ES175?
Does the different body thickness pay a significant role in the overall tone?
The 195 as I have mine setup is a joy to play, but the thinner body and single coil pups (which are brighter than hb's) make it a different git.
If I didn't have a 175 could I "settle" for a 195? sure.
The bottom line is you need to play a 195 to see if it satisfies your needs.Last edited by GNAPPI; 06-02-2016 at 09:18 AM.
-
I know this is an old thread but I have the ES 175 version of that guitar (bigsby, P94, ebony). I replaced the bigsby with a zig zag tailpiece and p94's with humbuckers in no time when I purchased it. It was heavily discounted because I guess the idea of bigsby and P94 on ES 175 didn't catch on. (original price was just the normal ES 175 price of the time. But it was in the store for 2 years).
What's interesting is Gibson's pricing of ES 195 significantly lower than the same black ES 175 models of the same year. Which shows how pricing is marketing oriented and not a reflection of the cost of building guitars.
Why didn't they put P90's on 195's? I think because they didn't want to create a separate jig for the ES195's and just used the humbucker 175 template for both. Yet 195 is cheaper.
-
Given I already have an ES175 the bigsby would be an attractive feature. I like the look of this a Gibson does Gretsch. Funny headstock tho lol.
-
TAL_175, so glad you resurrected this thread!
As this 195 had a factory Bigsby tensioning and slacking the strings, was the six-on-a-side headstock chosen to provide a straight string pull and improve tuning stability?
I ask because I have an ES-137 Custom. I used a Vibramate to install a Bigsby which works fine but the tuning is not as stable as with a hard tail Gibson. I am considering a String Butler (The String Butler - Guitar Tuning Improvement Device - Laplace LLC) to straighten the pull. It meets my requirement of no modification to the guitar that I cannot walk back to stock and seems like a logical solution. So, if it does not work no harm done.
Any thoughts on this?
-
I have String Butlers on some guitars, but none with Bigsbys, of which I own none. I like them on guitars with wide headstocks and thus crooked strings.
-
Thank you! I believe I will try one out on this 137. She came with gold trim so I put a gold Bigsby and gold Vibramate, so I guess a gold String Butler, too . . . Originally Posted by sgosnell
-
I generally like either black or clear, depending on the headstock. But it's entirely a matter of taste. I haven't seen gold ones, but I really haven't looked lately.
-
Do use a roller bridge? Also putting graphite power in the nut grooves also help with tuning recovery with tremolo systems. Originally Posted by Betz
-
Funny reading this thread again. I thought the ES-139 had cured me of GAS, guess I was wrong. I've matured along the way and learned about how to work amp settings enough that I don't feel limited like I suppose I must have by the semi-hollow body, but I still think that some day I'll have a big fat jazz box - even if it is redundant
-
I do use a roller bridge and Big Bends Nut Sauce. Tuning is fairly stable except for the G-String; needs an adjustment after every song. Originally Posted by Tal_175
-
I get it. Every time I buy a guitar or a pedal I think ‘Finished!’ Then I read a post like yours that mentions a guitar which I have not heard of, like that 139. And I immediately start to realize just how badly I need one to fill this obvious hole in my line-up. Originally Posted by mr quick
A journey, not a destination. Right?
-
Something like that! Funnily enough, the aforementioned bari guitar went back to the store. Because I needed a Tele with humbuckers - which I traded for a regular Tele - which I sold because a Strat seemed a smarter choice for pop - and I've stopped there. The ES has thankfully been a constant Originally Posted by Betz
Reply With Quote
A really nice pickup in a cheap guitar
Today, 09:11 PM in Guitar, Amps & Gizmos