1958 Gibson ES-125

**AlohaJoe** · 11-28-2016, 01:55 AM

Great clip here of Tim Lerch and his ES125. He talks a little about the guitar and then plays the hell out of it:

**Garnoth** · 11-28-2016, 03:52 AM

That is a great clip! The thing I love about mine is the, for lack of a better word, really dry sound. Moreover, the unplugged sound is miles above e.g. current ES-175's.

Of course I've met people who just don't like P-90's for jazz and want a humbucker. When I really crank my amp I can relate, because those old P-90's can hum like a swarm of bees. I just love the clarity on the low E compared to a humbucker!

**Little Jay** · 11-28-2016, 04:57 AM

If you talk about "thunk": the 125 has it! Acoustically and amplified!

I had a long gig with my 125 last saturday: a 4 hours diner background job in restaurant. It's easily the most comfortable guitar I have. It's strung with.012 Thomastik with the top plain strings .013 and .017 and it plays like butter. Also the 16" body is very comfortable to sit with for 4 hours.

Sounds great thru my AER Alpha well.

**Garnoth** · 11-28-2016, 06:07 AM

I play it through a Koch studiotone (20W EL84 amp), which has a great clean tone with just a tiny bit of hair on it. To me it sounds like the lovechild of a Vox and a blackface, more knowledgeable people than me have said it sounds like an old Ampeg, though I've never played one of those.

It's just a clear, thunky, bouncy sound, just great!

**Garnoth** · 12-01-2016, 05:31 AM

Hi all, I decided to restore the few parts on this guitar that are not original to their original state. I have a single ply trussrod cover and rosewood ES bridge from the same year (1958) incoming. I will also change the speed knobs for bell knobs.

Everything else seems to be original, although I have some questions about the wiring. The solder joints look untouched and wiring looks VERY old, but it has a ceramic disc cap instead of a paper-in-oil one. IIRC guitars from this era should come with PIO caps right?

Anyway, it sounds good as is. If the guitar was rewired it was done ages ago, so I won't sweat it.

**oldane** · 12-01-2016, 06:03 AM

Originally Posted by Garnoth

Hi all, I decided to restore the few parts on this guitar that are not original to their original state. I have a single ply trussrod cover and rosewood ES bridge from the same year (1958) incoming. I will also change the speed knobs for bell knobs.

Everything else seems to be original, although I have some questions about the wiring. The solder joints look untouched and wiring looks VERY old, but it has a ceramic disc cap instead of a paper-in-oil one. IIRC guitars from this era should come with PIO caps right?

Anyway, it sounds good as is. If the guitar was rewired it was done ages ago, so I won't sweat it.

My take on this is to replace "cosmetic" non original parts with original/period true parts. As for the cap and other "functional" parts, I'd leave it as is if it works well enough. To me, an OIP cap is not a holy grail. After all, caps are "wear parts" like tires on cars and they often stop working correctly after a span of years. Nobody should be surprised that it has happened with a 58 year old guitar. The 125 is very much a utility guitar, so I'd first of all set it up so it conform with my wants and playing style. But by all means, if swapping anything, keep the original parts with a possible future sale in mind.

Of course, others may beg to differ.

**Herbie** · 12-01-2016, 06:49 AM

I have been planning to get an ES-125 soon for about an decade but the one has not came across. Actually I have not seen one for sale for years here in Finland.

And while I have been waiting the prices has really risen:

Kitarakuu - Gibson ES-125 ca. 1949

**Little Jay** · 12-01-2016, 07:24 AM

Garnoth, I think a '58 ES-125 should already have a 'bumblebee' capacitor, although I am not sure if those were also used in the 125. If so, chances are that was harvested to put in a more hi-end guitar. I agree with Oldane: sound differences between different brands of caps - if any - are so minimal and subtle that I can't hear them (provided they have the same capacity-value). I'd leave yours if it sounds good.

I do hear differences between P90 puckups, but also here the differences are subtle and would probably be unnoticeable in a live situation. I tried several: a Lolar underwound 50, a Seymour Duncan Antiquity and an original '47 Gibson (complete with old cap, pots and wiring). All those sounded great, but I slightly prefered the '47, but maybe because the pots also felt very good and have a great sweep.

**Garnoth** · 12-01-2016, 08:37 AM

Yeah I have the original P-90 in there so that's covered. I think woth the correct bridge and trusscover the guitar is as original as I want it

**Little Jay** · 12-02-2016, 06:21 AM

Originally Posted by Garnoth

Yeah I have the original P-90 in there so that's covered. I think woth the correct bridge and trusscover the guitar is as original as I want it

Do post the result!

You got an original bridge coming or a period correct one? The originals are quite pricey...

**Garnoth** · 12-02-2016, 06:26 AM

An original one, got a pretty good deal on it ($80). Once I get the trusscover, bridge and knobs on there I'll snap a few pictures. Should not be a huge change but it's nice to restore it (at least visually) to the original specs.

**Hammertone** · 12-02-2016, 02:16 PM

I have an original NOS pickguard for an ES-125TDC around here somewhere if anyone wants/needs one. And a guard for an ES-225 (single pickup). I'll find them and post pix...

**pants** · 12-02-2016, 02:45 PM

I need a guard for my regular 1 -pickup 125. Some day I'll get around to sourcing one.

**Little Jay** · 12-07-2016, 02:07 AM

Do your pots have solid shafts? That would mean they're old and your 125 is probably from before '52 or so. Typically new knobs won't fit sine they are meant for split shaft pot meters. You can look for old knobs or modern ones that attach with a little screw on the side.

As for the fretboard hump: make sure it's not caused by a sinking top or loose neck-body joint.

*edit: oh wait, I remember now, somebody hollowed out the knobs on top right? I think I recall you posted that before somewhere. Your 125 is a '58, so any modern knob should click in place easily. A gold bonnet knob would be 'historically correct'.

**Garnoth** · 03-23-2017, 03:40 AM

So I finally found some original parts (bridge) and new parts of the correct 'style' (trussrod cover, knobs) to restore this one to how it should look.

Soundwise of course nothing changed (not even with the magical new brazilian rosewood bridge

). But the new bridge and trussrod cover really make it look right, the old bridge intonated great but looked off on this guitar.

The one thing that's not right but I won't change is the pickguard, I really prefer the black one that's on it over tortoise, just a matter of tast I guess.

Here it is:

1958 Gibson ES-125-img_1831-jpg