Gibson ES-150 possible solid top?

**DMgolf66** · 04-22-2021, 02:00 PM

Was just answering some questions about my 1950 Gibson ES-150 i have for sale. Buyer was curious if it might be possible for the top to be solid as he has heard of rare occasions this be true (i have not). The top is very thin, literally half the thickness of my 1954 ES-125, but im not sure that means anything. So.....

*Has anyone heard of solid top es-150s?

* How can i find out if it is? I dont know the methods of determining this.

Thanks, Folks!!!

Dutchbopper · 04-22-2021, 04:15 PM

Originally Posted by DMgolf66

Was just answering some questions about my 1950 Gibson ES-150 i have for sale. Buyer was curious if it might be possible for the top to be solid as he has heard of rare occasions this be true (i have not). The top is very thin, literally half the thickness of my 1954 ES-125, but im not sure that means anything. So.....

*Has anyone heard of solid top es-150s?

* How can i find out if it is? I dont know the methods of determining this.

Thanks, Folks!!!

The pre war ES 150 (1936-1941) had a solid top. The postwar ES 150 was of a laminated construction. Yours is surely laminated. The way to determine this is to remove the pup and see what the top looks like where the pup was routed (are there layers of wood or not). But save yourself the trouble. I am pretty sure the top on yours is laminate. The buyer is probably confusing the pre and post war ES 150 models. They were very different guitars construction wise.

DB

**omphalopsychos** · 04-22-2021, 05:03 PM

DB is right. The probability that it's solid is extremely small. I don't know where the misconception comes from but it's apparently more common than I would expect. Here's a listing for a post war ES 150 with a spruce top, obviously wrong. I know that Gibson made some ES 125s with laminate mahogany tops and possibly some ES 150s with the same, but that's the only variant I know of. The only spruce-top 150s were the pre-war ones.

Here's a mahogany top ES 125:

Btw, the other way to check is the f holes. If there's a spot that lacks finish you will be able to see if there is more than one ply.

**Filmosound 621** · 04-23-2021, 01:21 AM

so, who has played one of the 'hog topped 125's ?

what are they like ?

**oldane** · 04-23-2021, 05:07 AM

Actually, according to George Gruhn, the first 2 or 3 postwar ES150 guitars had solid/carved maple tops (most likely carved as they were already tooled up for carving non cutaway 17" tops). After that they have been laminate. It is not known why the first few were carved, but likely, those with carved tops were some kind of prototypes made before the factory was tooled up to make then laminated. Heck, it could even have been a mistake made by the production line (you imagine the scene: "You fools. I said you should use the laminated maple tops over there, not that you should begin to carve maple tops."). Laminated tops was something all new at that time while carved tops had been standard procedure for many years.

**6v6ster** · 05-04-2021, 02:07 PM

Also Gibson was very inconsistent. Yours might be!
you can also get your cell inside with the light on and see if the grain below matches the grain on top.