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I've agreed to help a friend by surveying his dearly departed uncle's guitars, which includes an old ES-125. The others are a cheap dime store variety classical, and a Korean Les Paul knockoff. I doubt the latter ones have much value, but, being an archtop aficionado, the 125 is in my zone, so I thought I'd throw it out there for some thoughts from my esteemed colleagues. Here are some pics that I was able to snag yesterday. Please forgive the picture quality and the crusty nature of the guitar, It hasn't been cleaned or otherwise played for years. The back top and sides seem to be hogny plywood. The back seems to be flat. tuners replaced. The old gears in the case had seriously decomposed buttons, and the pickguard is missing, probably gassed off. Haven't check the electronics, but the P90 does not appear to have adjustable poles. The mounted tailpiece looks like the cheesy WWII era (when metal was rationed) type that was on my '44 L7, and there is what looked to be a planned upgrade in the case. Those pesky Gibson serial numbers sometimes make it hard to accurately date some of these things. Thanks!
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01-01-2019 02:47 PM
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Based on the headstock logo and the FON, I think it’s about a 1948. I’d like to hear what others think though.
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She needs someone to give her some love and TLC.
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that has what appears to be the alnico-rod magnet P-90
A very cool sounding pickup! A bit more crisp than a normal P-90 but still very fat sounding
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Exciting! I have the same! It’s an early postwar one! In 1946-48 they had trapezoid fretmarkers. This is 1948-1950. FON according to Duchossoir’s book is 1949:
Back is flat and braced like an acoustic. Mahogany ply also for the top indeed (at least the top layer).
It has al the early characteristics:
- hog ply
- 19 fret neck
- flat back
- flat pole piece P90
- clear perspex barrel knobs
- just a tad thinner body
- tapered headstock
- earlier trapeze tailpiece (not the raised diamond one)
If you look inside you’ll probably also see black cloth reinforcement strips of the sides, Gibson ditched that on their later guitars.
Actually it should have open tuners, so those might be changed or maybe it’s one of the first with the 3 on a plate Klusons.
IMHO this is the holy grail of the ES-125! They do sound a little different from the later ES-125. Unfortunately mine was lacking the original flat pole P90, but the 1947 adjustable pole P90 I found for it sounds great as well.
Check out my Gibson ES-125 page on Facebook!
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Here’s mine. Based on the FON it’s 1950.
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Thanks Little Jay!
Originally Posted by Little Jay
This is really helpful. I'm encouraged, and might ultimately end up with the guitar. It could be a great guitar, worthy of some love and affection (and moderate expenditure for repair if needed). I'm not keen on the white buttons, the original gears are there in the case, minus the buttons. I'd need a vintage pickguard and flange, which I'm sure are available, and the fretboard might need some leveling. These are minor things, and I love old gibsons. I've made an offer, and will wait to see what they decide. They also have an old fender Champ amp.
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How long were the non-raised-diamond tailpieces used?
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From what I’ve seen to about 1950, maybe ‘51 and early ‘52. Originally Posted by wzpgsr
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Interesting. I thought I had a 1954 with a replacement tailpiece but maybe it’s older but with the original tailpiece. Originally Posted by Little Jay
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Well, I don’t know if there are any ‘hard’ data on that and it’s just my own estimation, so I could be wrong! Can you still read the FON in yours? Originally Posted by wzpgsr
*edit: went through my picture files and before ‘52 I see various low budget tailpieces. After that the raised diamond appears but until ‘55/56 or so I also see this tailpiece rather often:
So there appears to be a transition period before they settled for the raised diamond tailpiece ;-)Last edited by Little Jay; 01-03-2019 at 06:37 AM.
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That’s mine! Nice to know it appears original thanks!
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Little Jay, thanks for your great knowledge contributions. I'm a huge fan of ES 125s. skykomishone, hope you get this guitar. These are killer instruments, and that particular specimen seems to be one of the killingest ES 125s I've seen. That dark burst, the pickup, the mahogany body - so much freaking mojo here.
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I’m no expert by any means, but happy to share the little knowledge I have!
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That fretboard is sexy, OP.
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I did eventually manage to date this to '46, making it one of the early ones. I thought I'd update this thread, given a contemporaneous thread regarding a mid-40's PSA about an ES-300 with similar p/u.
Oh, and I did buy the guitar. It's fantastic. I'm not sure I ever did a NGD on it.
Also, I wonder if LittleJay could please point to his facebook page on his 125. I'd like to read it. Thanks!
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'46 with that FON and that logo?????
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Definitely a 1948.
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I made two: Originally Posted by skykomishone
- The Gibson ES-125 page
- The Gibson ES-125 group
For some reason I can’t find in my FB-app on my iPhone how to share the url of those anymore (something has changed?!?)..... but if you search from within FB for “Gibson ES-125” they wil be among the first hits!
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I don’t think you did a NGD on it! Shame on you!
:-D
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Try this. Originally Posted by Little Jay
The Gibson Es-125 Page - Home | Facebook
https://m.facebook.com/groups/244096...rofile_browser
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Thanks! Originally Posted by ThatRhythmMan
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