Vintage Gibson ES-175 Restoration

**jads57** · 10-03-2016, 08:40 PM

Well maybe the home owner you got it from is underpaying you for your work also,LOL!

**Little Jay** · 10-04-2016, 01:39 AM

$60 is a steal. These guitars usually go for a lot less than the humbucker equipped ES-175s, but still worth a good $2500-3000 or so (ignore the one that they ask $6000 for on ebay - just not realistic imho). So you paid at least a factor 50 less than the market value.

And be honest guys: if any of you would find it in a garage sale for $60 would you really say "gosh, they are worth much more, I'll give you 2000, but you can maybe sell it for 3000....."?

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**Stringswinger** · 10-04-2016, 01:53 AM

If a seller asks a low price and you pay it, that is a fair bargain. Now if you lie about defects that are not there to get a better price, then you are without honor.

While this may be a 2500 dollar guitar without issues, it may need 1000 dollars worth of work to be that 2500 dollar guitar.

Econgblues, your bringing this guitar to this forum reminds me of an old joke:

A Catholic Priest was doing confession and one day a fellow came in and made the following confession: "Father forgive me for I have sinned. I am a 75 year old man and last night I met a 25 year old girl and committed fornication with her"

The Priest replied" Wow, I have never heard that before my son, but I also am not familiar with your voice" "Have you done confession here before?"

The old fellow replied "As a matter of fact, never, to tell you the truth I'm not even Catholic"

The Priest was shocked and said "You are not even Catholic???" The old Fellow said "I'm Jewish!"

The Priest asked "Why are you telling me this?"

The old fellow gleefully replied: "I'M TELLING EVERYBODY!!!"

**Flat** · 10-04-2016, 01:56 AM

Bought, stolen...or saved? rescued? resurrected?

If you can get good advice from a guitar tech or luthier and bring that guitar back to playing life, or pass it on to someone who will, you'll have saved a classic piece of American musical instrument history. And that ain't nothing in my book.

**Thumpalumpacus** · 10-04-2016, 03:13 AM

A post above mentioned neck-twist, and that may be the case. Do you have a pic taken from the nut down the length of the neck?

At any rate, it's a good buy. Hope you crank it up and enjoy it. And if the neck really is FUBAR, sell the pickup and recoup.

**Jabberwocky** · 10-04-2016, 03:25 AM

A 1950s ES-175 with unknown issues is not worth THOUSANDs of dollars automatically. It could be a fixer-upper that requires thousands to make playable. This one looks like a fixer-upper and time and money sink.

For $60, OP took a gamble and paid no more than it is worth without a thorough expert evaluation. New nut: $75. New frets: $300. Fretboard re-levelling: $300. Neck reset: $600. New truss rod plus mandatory neck re-finish: $1000. Repaired braces: $300. Replaced vintage tailpiece:$300. Book 50% loss of current market value of one in certifiable pristine condition with no issues: $2000. (Note that I am being generous with a market evaluation of $4000 for one in pristine condition. An actual transaction would be closer to $3000.)

So, sink in $2175 into a guitar to make it playable plus $60 that is worth no more than $2000 after all that work.

That is no bargain. Gawd knows if the P90 or tuning machines even work.

Congrats, OP. Worth fixing up but don't pour too much money into it.

I don't get the fooking morality play to make the OP feel bad. Where the seller is concerned a rube paid $60 for a bit of dusty old guitar fit for the skip.

**plasticpigeon** · 10-04-2016, 05:10 AM

I bet it will be fine, how can anyone tell a neck twist from a photo? I think you got the deal of the century. Change the tailpiece to something more in keeping, maybe a set up, and off you go. Don't letanyone talk you into doing any more than is necessary to get it playing nicely. I am as they say over here "well jel".

**Little Jay** · 10-04-2016, 05:12 AM

I have never seen twisted necks on these 175-oldies, so I don't think that happens too often, but it's possible of course.

Top might have sunk, that's a common issue with these, but as far as I can judge from the pictures it doesn't seem to have done so.

Chances are that with a new nut and new strings it will already be great. Frets seem a little low, so possibly a refret might be in order.

And to further elaborate on the $60 issue; don't get me wrong, if some old timer who played it all his life or a needy old lady would offer me this for $60 I could not bring myself to pay so little and I would definitely give more money (but I doubt if I would offer more than 1,000.....does that make me a bad guy?). And if I had the suspicion it is stolen I would not buy it at all, I would go to the police.

**Little Jay** · 10-04-2016, 05:27 AM

Btw, the guitar seems very legit, but the round white label does really puzzle me...... should be oval. Distorted picture as well?

**Nils** · 10-04-2016, 05:53 AM

I think OP may just have tweaked the dimensions of the pics to make them fit into one post - they're all sized differently. Judging by the lettering on the label, it could very well be a distorted image of an oval label. This could also account for the 'twisted' neck...

**Woody Sound** · 10-04-2016, 08:11 AM

Originally Posted by Little Jay

Btw, the guitar seems very legit, but the round white label does really puzzle me...... should be oval. Distorted picture as well?

Yes, it actually looks a little bit oval.

**Doctor Jeff** · 10-04-2016, 08:17 AM

Every patient I meet this week, I'm gonna ask, hey, got any old guitars lying around you're not using??

I shoulda done this years ago!

**ThatRhythmMan** · 10-04-2016, 08:38 AM

Here is the original, well aged tailpiece on my 1952 ES-175. It has the oval white label as described above.

In very good condition ES-175s from this era have regularly been selling for $3500-4000 on Reverb. On eBay one with many non-original parts, including a Bigsby went for $2400 and one with unknown playability and a broken bridge went for $2300.

That being said, I'll give you the chance to double your money today!!!

Vintage Gibson ES-175 Restoration-img_6147-jpg

**Matt Cushman** · 10-04-2016, 09:07 AM

Judging from the pics shown, I think the neck looks fine. Even the nut may still be useable if you lift it a little with a shim underneath it. You could then make the e string nut slot a little deeper and do the same with the other slots. After that you may be able to string the guitar up as it is, or better yet have a new nut installed.

**aboutIt** · 10-04-2016, 10:23 AM

I don't think that's a vintage Gibson. From the looks of it, it's brand new.

**sgosnell** · 10-04-2016, 12:30 PM

The neck may be fine, it just looked very warped to me in this photo, and I said that may just be from the picture. I can't tell one way or the other.

As for the nut, I don't see the point of shimming the old one. Nuts are cheap, and if you're going to remove it from the slot, you may as well install a new, undamaged one. I doubt the OP is interested in doing his own work anyway, and the cost with labor to fix that nut will be at least as much as a new one, IMO. But yes, it's probably possible to salvage it if one really wanted to.

I also don't see the point of paying any more money for the guitar than the owner asked, at least in this situation. The buyer didn't know how much it would take to make it playable, or how much it would be worth after the repair work. It seems to me to be an honest transaction on both sides, so I would not say anything negative about it. Even now, it might or might not be a good deal for the purchaser. It's impossible to say from a few pictures, not seeing the actual instrument and being able to check it closely.

**Econgblues** · 10-04-2016, 02:06 PM

Originally Posted by Thumpalumpacus

A post above mentioned neck-twist, and that may be the case. Do you have a pic taken from the nut down the length of the neck?

At any rate, it's a good buy. Hope you crank it up and enjoy it. And if the neck really is FUBAR, sell the pickup and recoup.

I'll try and take some pictures later.

**Matt Cushman** · 10-04-2016, 04:01 PM

I thought the neck looked ok because the strings looked even near the nut and the bridge is set very low. I suggested fixing the old nut because he may be able to do this himself and some guys do like to stay with the aged looking nut. I also suggested it was better yet to replace it.

**Doctor Jeff** · 10-04-2016, 04:30 PM

Originally Posted by aboutIt

I don't think that's a vintage Gibson. From the looks of it, it's brand new.

Vintage Gibson ES-175 Restoration-64565927-jpg

**aboutIt** · 10-04-2016, 05:20 PM

Well, I guess maybe that one's a second...

And don't call me Shirley.

**aboutIt** · 10-04-2016, 05:22 PM

But seriously, is that a real Gibson or is that a Sears Gibson?

**artdecade** · 10-04-2016, 05:34 PM

Camarillo Brillo.

**DedeBarre** · 10-05-2016, 01:41 PM

Hi..i am a new user here. As per my knowledge the nut isn't expensive to replace, and you might be able to string it up and try it first. The low E string side has been broken. You can get a nut from StewMac, or have a repair shop replace it for you. The setup is impossible to guess without working strings. It might or might not not need truss rod adjustment and/or a neck reset.

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