The Gibson ES-125

[DMgolf66]

Jazzerman sold me on the Tal Farlow around 2005-6 with his youtube videos...I could only make it happen in 2015!
MVI pretty much did the same with his 125...fortunately it was much cheaper
Both are now keepers and in my book, best Gibson value in their own respective way!

What do you personally feel about their differences in sound between the 2? I know they are very different, but was just wanted to hear your account if their tonal differences?

[ruger9]

I'm a bit surprised MVI still causes a stir. I thought every jazz guitar enthusiast would know his name by now. He's not just a decent player (there are a great many of those). Or even a good one. He's among the best of the best.

I recorded these myself many years ago at the Crow. Been following him since the mid 90s.

DB

This thread is the 1st I've heard of him, but will definitely be looking him up! What I've sampled this AM is fantastic! Reminds me of Johnny Smith a bit....

[vinlander]

What do you personally feel about their differences in sound between the 2? I know they are very different, but was just wanted to hear your account if their tonal differences?

Both are setup with TI JS112, my go to strings since 2015.
Acoustically the 125 is more resonant as the Tal Farlow is clearly more an electric instrument.
Strangely though, I could immediately hear the distinct Tal voice even unplugged when I strummed the first chords and notes just after receiving it. It really to me and even my wife sounded like Tal (the tone I mean not the chops )
With its 25.5 scale and heavier/stiffer construction the Tal has a very distinct lower mid focus tone with percussive attack.
I hear more compression on the Tal than on the 125 maybe in part due to the presence of the classic 57 over the P90.
What I love about the 125 is the way it responds so much to playing dynamics, you feel like you can dig in it.
Sounds more open and a bit looser on the bass strings than the Tal probably due to the scale.
Still both instrument deliver a nice thunky woody tone with the Tal a bit more assertive and on the dry side and the 125 being more airy.
The 125 has also much more mojo being a 1959 and is so much lighter with its 5.3 pounds versus the Tal's 7.8
I could easily live with only either of them but since I don't need to choose both are gonna stay

[vinlander]

I know I probably posted that video more than once

A cell phone from that distance and we can still hear what a 125 can do in the right hands...

[DB's Jazz Guitar Blog]

Jazzerman sold me on the Tal Farlow around 2005-6 with his youtube videos...I could only make it happen in 2015!
MVI pretty much did the same with his 125...fortunately it was much cheaper
Both are now keepers and in my book, best Gibson value in their own respective way!

Hehe .... Jazzerman, my old Youtube name. I have sold quite a few guitars for Gibson over the years. When I told them that they sent me a T shirt. Ah well ....

DB

[DB's Jazz Guitar Blog]

What do you personally feel about their differences in sound between the 2? I know they are very different, but was just wanted to hear your account if their tonal differences?

I have about 10,000 clips on my Youtube page with both a Tal Farlow and a 125. A number are in the showcase section right here.

DB

[Marty Grass]

This won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I'm impressed at how pretty the sounds are coming from this guy's playing.

Note the lacquer checking.

[citizenk74]

Guitar sounds great, except for the hum. Loose wire? Bad ground? Would a Hum De-Bugger take care of this? Basic tone is scrumptious!

[John A.]

Guitar sounds great, except for the hum. Loose wire? Bad ground? Would a Hum De-Bugger take care of this? Basic tone is scrumptious!

You mean at the beginning? Sounds like 60hz hum to me. A Hum De-bugger would indeed take care of that (IME, it works well with P90s). Sounds like there may also be some feedback there, too, though.

[feet]

any old noise gate should clear that up. did i read $15xx on the price tag? i suppose that's reasonable nowadays.

for what it's worth, it sounds like my elitist casino with the tone at about 4. except mine doesn't have the period correct hum. but i've always loved the single cut look of these, and the epiphone cordobas especially. the longer headstock really works on that body.

[Marty Grass]

I like the tone alright. But I also like the simplicity of his droning tune.

[Phil59]

That actually looks like a 125T to me. T for thin. At $1,549, that is a very good deal. Surprisingly so considering it's Norman's.

[John A.]

any old noise gate should clear that up. did i read $15xx on the price tag? i suppose that's reasonable nowadays.

for what it's worth, it sounds like my elitist casino with the tone at about 4. except mine doesn't have the period correct hum. but i've always loved the single cut look of these, and the epiphone cordobas especially. the longer headstock really works on that body.

Noise gates don't really help much with 60hz hum if it's bad enough to be heard while you're playing. While you're not playing, the gate shuts down the noise, but once you start the gate opens, and it can't separate the hum from the rest of the signal. The Hum De-bugger works via a different principle and can.

[ruger9]

That actually looks like a 125T to me. T for thin. At $1,549, that is a very good deal. Surprisingly so considering it's Norman's.

Definitely a "T"

[feet]

1133172[/URL]]I like the tone alright. But I also like the simplicity of his droning tune.

I appreciated something unexpected, too.

My thing with the casino is that it sounds very direct to me. Very accurate, I guess. As in, if you strum away with the volume off, then turn it on, it sounds the same. Just louder. I'm getting that from this one, too.

That's not a bad thing, but it's not a tone I sit and dream about. But it's useful and records well, so I don't do anything about it.

1133251[/URL]]Noise gates don't really help much with 60hz hum if it's bad enough to be heard while you're playing. While you're not playing, the gate shuts down the noise, but once you start the gate opens, and it can't separate the hum from the rest of the signal. The Hum De-bugger works via a different principle and can.

I didn't notice an unmanageable amount of noise. never looked into the hum debugger. For noise that can be hard with the playing, I generally use an insanely narrow notch filter to trim out enough that I can bring the noise gate down to where neither the tone or attack is ruined.

If it's bad, I'd use an active noise reducing vst, but those add a bunch of latency and tend to alter the tone a bit, so it's a last resort.

Never really considered an analog solution. My empress buffer plus had a little flippy switch that was a two stage noise reduction filter and I thought that was pretty neat, but it did shave off the tiniest bit of highs.

[alteklampfe]

Always love to listen to that kind of guitar sellers expertly talk: "wood aging gives that vintage tone.."
Didn't he forget to mention that the copper of the wires and the magnets in the pick ups are aged too and that this adds to the tone as well?

For those who did not know: that is the reason why the violin makers in Cremona back in the days used this superb Italian plywood...

And BTW: could one of the experts around here please explain me: what exactly is this sought-after "vintage tone" exactly?
How does it sound compared to new instruments? Can you play modern music on an instrument with vintage sound or is only good for playing vintage music? Looking forward to hear some knowledgeable explanation.