Praise be to the Gibson ES-125

**Little Jay** · 01-21-2018, 02:13 PM

The ES-125 can't be praised enough!

At the moment it's serving me perfectly well in my new Grant Green project and it pretty much nails Grant's early years tone when he played the ES-330. P90s all the way baby !

**Marty Grass** · 01-21-2018, 02:52 PM

This reinforces my world view that good music comes from the musician. The tools have a very small part in the equation.

Centuries have passed since the days of Michelangelo. Does anyone ascribe the beauty of his work to the brands of chisels and brushes?

**AlsoRan** · 01-21-2018, 09:35 PM

Originally Posted by Little Jay

The ES-125 can't be praised enough!

At the moment it's serving me perfectly well in my new Grant Green project and it pretty much nails Grant's early years tone when he played the ES-330. P90s all the way baby !

I agree. That 125 has that brightness that Grant Green's tone has. I wish I could think of other artists from back then who had that kind of bright tone. Seems everyone favored the darker tone, at least those that I can think of...

**jameslovestal** · 01-21-2018, 10:22 PM

I have a 60s ES 125 but it is mounted on the wall as a work of art. It is fully functional but I haven't played it in over a decade.

I mostly play an 80s ES 175 or a 50s L-7.

Looks like I need to put new strings on the ES 125 and give it some love!

Dutchbopper · 01-23-2018, 12:06 PM

Originally Posted by Marty Grass

This reinforces my world view that good music comes from the musician. The tools have a very small part in the equation. Centuries have passed since the days of Michelangelo. Does anyone ascribe the beauty of his work to the brands of chisels and brushes?

It's never the guitar. It's always the player. Here's George Benson on a guitar that was under 1000 bucks at the time. Would he sound better on an L5? Hardly ... This must be one of the hottest solos ever captured on video. Note the mistake he makes in the head. He's human after all ...

**mr. beaumont** · 01-23-2018, 12:22 PM

There's a really beautiful simplicity in the 125...everything you need, nothing you don't. All killer, no filler, as they say.

I searched for a good one for a few years, but gave up after buying a Godin Kingpin, which scratched my single P90 itch...but there's nothing like the real deal...my eyes are always peeled for one, but the right 125/right amount of spending cash hasn't serendipitously added up...yet.

**rio** · 01-23-2018, 12:29 PM

Welcome back DB. Man that guitar sounds as good as I remember when you first posted with it, maybe even better. You have single handedly convinced me (back when you first got it) to look for one of these. Of all my archtops I don’t have any with a P90 either. I have just been waiting to see one locally since the ones I see online have either had issues after messaging sellers or have been questionable. They just sound so good. What is the neck profile like? Thinner side or thicker side of Gibson necks?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Dutchbopper · 01-23-2018, 01:33 PM

Originally Posted by rio

Welcome back DB. Man that guitar sounds as good as I remember when you first posted with it, maybe even better. You have single handedly convinced me (back when you first got it) to look for one of these. Of all my archtops I don’t have any with a P90 either. I have just been waiting to see one locally since the ones I see online have either had issues after messaging sellers or have been questionable. They just sound so good. What is the neck profile like? Thinner side or thicker side of Gibson necks?

The neck on mine is a bit on the thicker side. So thicker than on my 175. I don't know if the neck profile changed much over the years. I used to own a 1951 ES 125 earlier and it was pretty similar, as far as I remember.

Let's me stir up you GAS some more with the video below

**maggles55** · 01-23-2018, 01:44 PM

Dutchbopper and MVI really can make those ES125s sing! I just love the 125 tone.

Is there any cutaway guitar with a ES125-like tone? I would expect a 1950s ES175 with a p90 to be close, but I rarely hear recordings that sound that close to a 125. If you know of one, please point it out.

Thanks

**mr. beaumont** · 01-23-2018, 01:49 PM

Well, they did make 125's with cutaways...

There's just something about a P-90 on a jazz box. Plug into a smallish tube amp and it's 1950-something right in your living room.

**AlsoRan** · 01-23-2018, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Well, they did make 125's with cutaways...

There's just something about a P-90 on a jazz box. Plug into a smallish tube amp and it's 1950-something right in your living room.

I agree with you about P-90 tone. It was one of the few guitar sounds that I can identify pretty consistently. What I hear is a "crispness" to the tone that I don't seem to hear with other pickups.

And, I like this crispness.

**rio** · 01-23-2018, 02:38 PM

Originally Posted by Dutchbopper

The neck on mine is a bit on the thicker side. So thicker than on my 175. I don't know if the neck profile changed much over the years. I used to own a 1951 ES 125 earlier and it was pretty similar, as far as I remember.

Let's me stir up you GAS some more with the video below

Wow, what a sound. And great playing. I haven’t heard him before - thanks for the link!

I think I need to get one in my hands to check out the neck. I definitely prefer when Gibson was doing the thin but not too thin necks. My 2004 es175 borders on too thick for me but it is still comfortable to play - any thicker than that and it gets to be too chunky for me.

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**gianluca** · 01-23-2018, 04:51 PM

Originally Posted by Dutchbopper

The neck on mine is a bit on the thicker side. So thicker than on my 175. I don't know if the neck profile changed much over the years. I used to own a 1951 ES 125 earlier and it was pretty similar, as far as I remember.

Let's me stir up you GAS some more with the video below

curious about which strings gauge does he use...

**Little Jay** · 01-26-2018, 04:23 AM

Originally Posted by gianluca

curious about which strings gauge does he use...

Martijn uses a .012 set with a .013 high E!

**Little Jay** · 01-26-2018, 04:54 AM

Originally Posted by gianluca

curious about which strings gauge does he use...

Martijn uses a .012 set with a .013 high E!

**Iced Tea** · 01-26-2018, 11:12 AM

I bought last year and I absolutely love it. It's just got a vibe as soon as you start playing it. The P90 is bright and articulate but you can get a surprisingly wide tonal pallet. A couple of things though, when I bought it I immediately put a set of Thomastik flat wounds on it which in hindsight were the wrong strings. I've recently swapped them to a set of Bebop round wounds and the guitar is a lot louder and more responsive. The roundwounds made the guitar sound dull.

Here's a clip of me playing it through Fender Champ 600 with Alnico speaker.

**christianm77** · 01-26-2018, 06:20 PM

Originally Posted by Dutchbopper

The neck on mine is a bit on the thicker side. So thicker than on my 175. I don't know if the neck profile changed much over the years. I used to own a 1951 ES 125 earlier and it was pretty similar, as far as I remember.

Let's me stir up you GAS some more with the video below

What a player.... I want to be him when I grow up!

His playing has been posted before... Always impresses.

Also, I do like a badass pick only player.... Fingers and hybrid are cool don't get me wrong, but there's something about a good old school strummer....

**zdub** · 01-29-2018, 06:05 PM

Originally Posted by mr. beaumont

Well, they did make 125's with cutaways...

There's just something about a P-90 on a jazz box. Plug into a smallish tube amp and it's 1950-something right in your living room.

Including this one from 1963:

Praise be to the Gibson ES-125-gibson-es-125c-k-jpg

Apparently only about 400 copies of the thick body, single pickup cutaway were made.

(One of these days I'm going to get up to Elderly to put it on consignment as I don't play it much and would rather get another acoustic or two.)

**va3ux** · 01-29-2018, 08:25 PM

And here's the venerable ES-125 when it was still a current production guitar. Likely long before any of us here had even heard of one.

**cgratham** · 01-29-2018, 09:07 PM

Wow! Thanks for sharing that. Love Lenny and I've never seen that clip before. My son studies bass with the bass player in that clip - Dave Young. At least the caption says it's Dave Young. I wouldn't recognize him from back then and have never seen him play electric before. Very cool find.