Is peerless the closest we have to a Gibson ES-175 clone?

**agentsmith** · 08-12-2016, 09:40 AM

Never been much of a fan of peerless but given the poor gibson 175 style guitars from eastman, heritage, d'angelico, etc., i was listening to some peerless 175 style guitars and I think they are the closest I've heard.

Can anyone recommend some good clips that perhaps I have not seen/heard?

**Groyniad** · 08-12-2016, 09:54 AM

edit - take out inappropriate rant

**Groyniad** · 08-12-2016, 09:55 AM

and i should say - sorry for not answering the question

i bet peerless are great

**BigMikeinNJ** · 08-12-2016, 10:05 AM

The Eastman AR380 JP is pretty doggone nice.

**Beanctr** · 08-12-2016, 10:14 AM

The Epiphone premium isn't bad. R

**agentsmith** · 08-12-2016, 10:14 AM

Originally Posted by Groyniad

and i should say - sorry for not answering the question

i bet peerless are great

I have a great 175. Looking for a cheeper substitute for traveling. Don't like putting my vintage 175 through baggage handling.

**agentsmith** · 08-12-2016, 10:15 AM

Originally Posted by Beanctr

The Epiphone premium isn't bad. R

I thought it was awful. The eastmans sound nothing like a 175. The tops are too thin and they are nasally. They don't cop any 175 vibe. The clips of the peerless sound much closer.

**BigMikeinNJ** · 08-12-2016, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by agentsmith

I thought it was awful. The eastmans sound nothing like a 175. The tops are too thin and they are nasally. They don't cop any 175 vibe. The clips of the peerless sound much closer.

If you listen to Rich he talks about the 380 having a thinner top, just like the older 175s, Eastman really touts that. Hey, if it doesn't float YOUR boat so be it.

**Groyniad** · 08-12-2016, 10:29 AM

best archtop i know that isn't a 175 and is typically cheaper is a gb10

in production since 78 because it works so well.

**rabbit** · 08-12-2016, 10:53 AM

docdosco , a player and a member here endorses & sells a few Peerless and you may not yet have tumbled to his site:

https://www.youtube.com/user/docdosc...f_id=0&sort=dd

By the way, try any(Korean, probably Peerless) Guilds?

**agentsmith** · 08-12-2016, 10:58 AM

Originally Posted by BigMikeinNJ

If you listen to Rich he talks about the 380 having a thinner top, just like the older 175s, Eastman really touts that. Hey, if it doesn't float YOUR boat so be it.

i have an older 175. The eastman does not cop that vibe at all. It's not a matter of floating my boat. I'm talking about a guitar that cops the 175 vibe. The eastman does not.

**agentsmith** · 08-12-2016, 10:59 AM

Originally Posted by Groyniad

best archtop i know that isn't a 175 and is typically cheaper is a gb10

in production since 78 because it works so well.

sounds nothing like a 175 at all though. Not interested in the gb10.

**agentsmith** · 08-12-2016, 11:00 AM

Originally Posted by rabbit

docdosco , a player and a member here endorses & sells a few Peerless and you may not yet have tumbled to his site:

https://www.youtube.com/user/docdosc...f_id=0&sort=dd

By the way, try any(Korean, probably Peerless) Guilds?

i have tried some of the korean guilds and thought they sounded amazing.

**rabbit** · 08-12-2016, 11:10 AM

I've a new Guild Savoy A150 & love it for many reasons but I doubt it can be recommended as a '175 clone.'

You might like one ultimately because it's good and provides something different.

I regret that I just don't know enough about ES-175's having never owned one and generally always
preferring single coils, 'probably because I'm a little deaf.

Good luck & keep us posted, please.

**lawson-stone** · 08-12-2016, 11:17 AM

There are Japanese made (Matsumoku and Terada) under several brands, Aria Pro II, Memphis, Bradley, etc. that are very, very close to the ES175. Currently one is in the for-sale section of this forum and it's a jewel. I have no connection of any kind with the seller, btw.

If the Japanese made ES175 copies are as good as their L5ces copies, that would be a very nice guitar indeed. The Aria Pro II PE180 is an incredible copy of the L5ces, just phenomenally good.

We actually have two for sale on the forum. A Tokai FA245VN that looks and sounds great (a video is posted). Also, the Ibanez "Pre-Lawsuit" model 2355 from the 1970's is widely regarded as a splendid copy of the ES175. In fact, you might pay more for a pristine Ibanez 2355 than for some nice ES175s out there!

**agentsmith** · 08-12-2016, 11:41 AM

The tokai is a little expensive for a clone IMO considering you can get a real gibson for about $500 more. For my purposes, I'm looking for something closer to the $1000 range for travel. I don't want $2k into a travel guitar.

The herb ellis is very nice. They don't come up very often. The ibanez copy is a couple steps down from the aria and the tokai IMO. I've owned a couple of them. They are nice but are slightly under the Ibanez FG100 in terms of quality and the FG100 is about a step below the 175.

Originally Posted by lawson-stone

There are Japanese made (Matsumoku and Terada) under several brands, Aria Pro II, Memphis, Bradley, etc. that are very, very close to the ES175. Currently one is in the for-sale section of this forum and it's a jewel. I have no connection of any kind with the seller, btw.

If the Japanese made ES175 copies are as good as their L5ces copies, that would be a very nice guitar indeed. The Aria Pro II PE180 is an incredible copy of the L5ces, just phenomenally good.

We actually have two for sale on the forum. A Tokai FA245VN that looks and sounds great (a video is posted). Also, the Ibanez "Pre-Lawsuit" model 2355 from the 1970's is widely regarded as a splendid copy of the ES175. In fact, you might pay more for a pristine Ibanez 2355 than for some nice ES175s out there!

**2bornot2bop** · 08-12-2016, 11:42 AM

Plus 1 on the PE-180's goodness, sound, craftsmanship, playability! If a '175 interested me I'd be giving a very hard look at that Tokai fa245 in the FS section!

**Groyniad** · 08-12-2016, 11:46 AM

i wonder if you could get a project-175 from the 70s for 1k - do it up.

**jazzimprov** · 08-12-2016, 11:46 AM

Disagree, Epiphone Premium is the closest IMO--it's got the same kind of "thunk" the 175 Gibson has...

Great Guitar!

**agentsmith** · 08-12-2016, 11:59 AM

Originally Posted by jazzimprov

Disagree, Epiphone Premium is the closest IMO--it's got the same kind of "thunk" the 175 Gibson has...

Great Guitar!

I disagree totally. You can hear in this clip that it doesn't have the thunk of a real 175. (And this is one of the best of nearly a dozen clips I listened to)

Whereas this peerless does.

**Naquat** · 08-12-2016, 12:01 PM

Originally Posted by agentsmith

I thought it was awful. The eastmans sound nothing like a 175. The tops are too thin and they are nasally. They don't cop any 175 vibe. The clips of the peerless sound much closer.

Agentsmith, is that a Peerless Sunset?

**agentsmith** · 08-12-2016, 12:04 PM

Originally Posted by Naquat

Agentsmith, is that a Peerless Sunset?

yes, i'm wondering if one of their thicker models would sound even more like a 175. Not familiar with their product line and there seems to be a lot of misinformation about them. For example, gng says this is a spruce top when clearly it's maple.

**Naquat** · 08-12-2016, 12:11 PM

There's a Sunset and a few Gigmasters (deeper body - ES-175 like) on feebay. I've never played either.

**ESCC** · 08-12-2016, 12:17 PM

To my ears the Sunset does not have the 175 thunk, it just has a turned down tone knob. I thought the Epi was closer, anyways, too many unknown variables in amp, strings, recording path to make an informed, just my $.02