2006 Gibson ES-175D

[Max405]

Thank you Jim.
A 175 is like an old pair of gloves. Just right. Shaped to my hands. It's acoustic sound is strikingly good to. 175's don't get enough credit for there acoustic sound. This one came to with bronze strings on it. Just all around great guitars more than worthy of their legendary status.
JD

[vinlander]

Have to be honest, it is a gorgeous 175 and it teases my 175 envy, I can see Tally getting a smaller sister in a distant future

[Max405]

VL,
Your Tal is really a world class instrument. The feel of it, the magical neck and the look. Tals have a sound all there own. They really do. If they lack anything, its acoustic sound.
175's defy logic. That extra 1/2" thickness makes the guitar a nice sounding guitar, unplugged. Same goes for the 165 too, if not better because the 175D has one too many pickups.
I know that having 2 laminated guitars might not seem feasible, but they are different guitars and they compliment each other well.
One thing is for sure. You will ALWAYS LOVE your Tal. BooBoo will never leave me and reduces my L5 envy. For now anyway..
JD

[lawson-stone]

Nice guitar Max! I have always regretted letting go of my ES175D from the 1990's, which I picked up for $500! Can you believe it, $500! I traded it for a Heritage Golden Eagle, so I did okay, but I still miss that guitar. At the time, I was starting in jazz and really didn't know how to get the goodness from an ES175.

[Max405]

Your GREAT 165 more than made up for it..

You know how it is Lawson. When I start searching for another guitar, I always look for something that I really want and that I never had before. I actually really wanted a 165 with the floater, in light burst. I found one that I actually bought. But I (and 2b for the matter) noticed in the pictures, some crud on the guitar. In the typical under arm, body contact hangover areas. Yeah, nasty. Since the guitar was described as mint, I asked the seller to clean all that crap off the guitar, take pictures of it and confirm to me that the crud didn't eat into the finish. He called me the next day, frantically calling off the deal because he said the cleaning job he did rubbed off the lacquer. I was grateful for his honesty. But, I've noticed that the guitar is back on the market, same pictures and no mention of the finish mishap.. Mmmm..

Buying used is a crapshoot. Luck, Diligence and being wise all play a role in not getting something you will regret having. If I had the money, I would buy new. But, I'm always behind the 8-Ball a little bit and I rely HEAVILY on luck. I've been lucky and I am grateful for it.

Thanks, Joe D.

Nice guitar Max! I have always regretted letting go of my ES175D from the 1990's, which I picked up for $500! Can you believe it, $500! I traded it for a Heritage Golden Eagle, so I did okay, but I still miss that guitar. At the time, I was starting in jazz and really didn't know how to get the goodness from an ES175.

[lawson-stone]

Your GREAT 165 more than made up for it..

You know how it is Lawson. When I start searching for another guitar, I always look for something that I really want and that I never had before. I actually really wanted a 165 with the floater, in light burst. I found one that I actually bought. But I (and 2b for the matter) noticed in the pictures, some crud on the guitar. In the typical under arm, body contact hangover areas. Yeah, nasty. Since the guitar was described as mint, I asked the seller to clean all that crap off the guitar, take pictures of it and confirm to me that the crud didn't eat into the finish. He called me the next day, frantically calling off the deal because he said the cleaning job he did rubbed off the lacquer. I was grateful for his honesty. But, I've noticed that the guitar is back on the market, same pictures and no mention of the finish mishap.. Mmmm..

Buying used is a crapshoot. Luck, Diligence and being wise all play a role in not getting something you will regret having. If I had the money, I would buy new. But, I'm always behind the 8-Ball a little bit and I rely HEAVILY on luck. I've been lucky and I am grateful for it.

Thanks, Joe D.

I have been reasonably lucky buying used "blind" but more and more, I think the only blind purchases I'd make would be from folks whose reputation I knew, like a few folks on this forum and a few dealers with long track records.

The 165 is still amazing to me. It really has a strange combination of sweetness and "snap," that tight, compressed feeling on the front end of a note, that I just love.

[Max405]

I really don't have that many guitars. Only 4.
Usually, they bump each other off so that's why It seems like I go through a lot of different ones.
I think I only have one more move to make and it wont be for at least 6 months.
Then, unless Gibson miraculously discovers some labels that had Joe Pass sign when he was alive and then made the official Joe Pass Es175 signature model, then I would say I'm done.
JD

[medblues]

You are down to four (including solid bodies and the ovation) ? How many did you have max at one time ?

[Max405]

You are down to four (including solid bodies and the ovation) ? How many did you have max at one time ?

Down to 4 archtops. That's perfect. The most I ever had at one time was 8.
See. I'm not that bad.
Joe D

[Stringswinger]

Down to 4 archtops. That's perfect. The most I ever had at one time was 8.
See. I'm not that bad.
Joe D

I am down to 11 archtops. Unless you count my 335 as an archtop. If you do, it is an even dozen. A 12 step program of a sort. No more (at least that is what I keep telling myself).

Why do I see an L-5 in your future (making it 5)?

Yep, I am just as bad as Vinny.

Cheers,

Mr. D'Angelico

[QAman]

I am down to 11 archtops. Unless you count my 335 as an archtop. If you do, it is an even dozen. A 12 step program of a sort. No more (at least that is what I keep telling myself).

Why do I see an L-5 in your future (making it 5)?

Yep, I am just as bad as Vinny.

Cheers,

Mr. D'Angelico

Max does need the L5. I knew if he played my L5 while he was buying the GJS he would have wanted both (no doubt about it).

[JazzNote]

I always enjoy to look at all the nice guitar pics in detail.
Max, maybe your beauty could benefit from a:

[Max405]

Yes, regarding the cap nut.. I reached out to Gibson. It's been a week, no response.
there guitars are great and I will always be a fan. There customer service, well, I'll give them one more week before I say how I feel.
Thanks for pointing out a flaw on my guitar.
There are other imperfections on the guitar. Have fun.
Joe D

[JazzNote]

Yes, regarding the cap nut.. I reached out to Gibson. It's been a week, no response.
there guitars are great and I will always be a fan. There customer service, well, I'll give them one more week before I say how I feel.
Thanks for pointing out a flaw on my guitar.
There are other imperfections on the guitar. Have fun.
Joe D

Joe i don't consider this to be a flaw. It can be replaced so easily ... . On my ES335 i lost the cap nut some years ago, temporarily i put a nylon nut and have been wondering since where i could buy a replacement. Maybe i'll try a hardware store or buy a whole bracket. I'm sure though that it does not diminish the value of the guitar at all if the cap nut is missing ;-).

[Max405]

Had a problem with the 175 when I tried to adjust the truss rod.

Notice the nut is sheared and stripped to hell. This is after I specifically asked the dirty creep bastard who sold me this guitar if the truss rod worked. Of course he said it worked..
So got my trusty tech involved and now the nut is free'd up. A new one is installed and now i got the bow out.

It made me love the guitar even more.
It is appropriate that the guitar is red. Because it's like a Swiss Army knife. It can play anything, to a level of excellence I've come to expect from 175's.
Its no mystery why this is the most prolific jazz guitar in history and I am so glad I got this one.. it's becoming special to me like BooBoo and me GJS..

by the way, the lying, piece of garbage previous owner and Reverb heard all this (and other things) directly from me.
Do your homework. I will not mention any names online, because he probably has some good family members. But you can easily find out who it is by looking up the ad on Reverb.

[icr]

That is too bad for the truss rod nut, but it seems as if the rod is OK, yes? Horrible feeling when you buy something and find stuff like that.

I had the other experience. I bought mine as a refinishing project as I still had some dye and nitrocellulose from another refinish I had done a few years ago. The seller indicated a "blemish" on the back and it was priced accordingly. Looked to me like a repair gone wrong with a bad clearcoat feather. Turns out that was just a reflection. The "blemish" and white haze did just "buff right out!"

[aboutIt]

It's a drag to discover an undisclosed flaw, along with the feeling that you've been had. Interestingly, as long as those things don't render the object useless-- sounds like the truss rod was rescuable here-- I sometimes find a good feeling in making it work, where the other guy failed. It's like the stray dog with the nasty attitude and the missing eye lost to the previous abusive 'owner', the dog who turns out to be the coolest companion and the one everybody loves wherever you go. I love to hear Ella sing. She wasn't exactly the traditional beauty pageant contestant. Something about that makes her voice turn me on all the more. It reminds me what's really valuable.

[QAman]

Joe,
Just read this .....wow , could have been a lot worse. I'm glad it worked out for you. These are the perils of buying used. Even though we both ask lots of questions - the risk of undisclosed or disingenuous information is always lurking.

Buying guitars should be fun , and not filled with stress. That is why it's always best to conduct business among a circle of friends who can trust each other.

Of course that's not always possible - and that's when the anxiety sets in - which I'm experiencing at the present.

[Max405]

Joe,
Sorry you had difficulty with your purchase of a 175. The wine red, by the way, looks terrific.
Everybody should have an ES-175, at some point. That guitar is THE classic, laminated archtop jazz guitar. And, yes, they are so effortless to play that you simply don't even think about them when you are playing...you just follow your muse.

GT,
thanks. I couldn't agree more on the 175. I could easily see it being the only guitar I own. Hey what am I crazy? What the heck am I saying..

That is too bad for the truss rod nut, but it seems as if the rod is OK, yes? Horrible feeling when you buy something and find stuff like that.
I had the other experience. I bought mine as a refinishing project as I still had some dye and nitrocellulose from another refinish I had done a few years ago. The seller indicated a "blemish" on the back and it was priced accordingly. Looked to me like a repair gone wrong with a bad clearcoat feather. Turns out that was just a reflection. The "blemish" and white haze did just "buff right out!"

icr, lucky you. The seller deserves a pat on the back. Beautiful wine red guitar ya got there..

Wine Gibsons are getting pretty popular around here these days.
Joe....looks like that moron used vise grips on the truss rod nut. Glad it is now a happy ending.

yeah Vin. I think you started a trend. And they should be popular. They are so classy and beautiful. The 1st one I saw was a wine red les Paul custom years ago. I was hooked immediately. Thanks for being there for the whole thing with me..

It's a drag to discover an undisclosed flaw, along with the feeling that you've been had. Interestingly, as long as those things don't render the object useless-- sounds like the truss rod was rescuable here-- I sometimes find a good feeling in making it work, where the other guy failed. It's like the stray dog with the nasty attitude and the missing eye lost to the previous abusive 'owner', the dog who turns out to be the coolest companion and the one everybody loves wherever you go. I love to hear Ella sing. She wasn't exactly the traditional beauty pageant contestant. Something about that makes her voice turn me on all the more. It reminds me what's really valuable.

the problem with this one was I asked specifically about the truss rod. He told me it worked. And I trusted him. My tech said the guitar is fine. There isn't enough room in the pocket for the regular trussrod wrench. So I bought a longer one the works fine with the new nut.
Ella's style, class and grace made her look like a beauty queen.. Having Joe Pass on the stage next to her didn't hurt either..

Joe,
Just read this .....wow , could have been a lot worse. I'm glad it worked out for you. These are the perils of buying used. Even though we both ask lots of questions - the risk of undisclosed or disingenuous information is always lurking.
Buying guitars should be fun , and not filled with stress. That is why it's always best to conduct business among a circle of friends who can trust each other.
Of course that's not always possible - and that's when the anxiety sets in - which I'm experiencing at the present.

thanks QA. A while ago, I think it was JZ posted a list questions to ask a seller. It sensitized me to the truss rod issue for sure.
Yeah im on eggshells for you too..

[Stringswinger]

While I love my L-5 and my DA's, at the end of the day, my 175's are the ones I play the most on gigs.

Gibson hit a grand slam with that guitar.

Congrats JD on getting a 175 back in the stable. That needed to happen.