1965 ES-125CD -- "Poor-Man's 50s ES-175"

**Sam Sherry** · 08-21-2022, 09:49 AM

Across decades of gear-hounding I've never owned an ES-175. Now, I still don't . . . but this sure is the next-door neighbor.

Gibson built the ES-125C in the 1960s using a standard ES-175 body (which has maple-ply sides instead of the ES-125's mahogany-ply sides). It has the ES-125's single-stripe body binding, unbound neck and plain decal logo.

And P90s, just like the original pre-1957 ES-125. Which is just fine at my house.

This came from EBay as a husk and I fitted it up using some new parts and some from the basement archive. We've got a GFS A5 on the neck and an Asian Kent Armstrong A5 on the bridge, set up for hum-cancellation in the middle position. The pickguard was another cost-saver; I could picture investing in an authentic single-layer tortoise guard but not today. I will invest the full $12.95 in a set of those lovely 60s repro knobs from Philadelphia Luthier Supply but in the meantime these black knobs are totally knobular.

1965 was the year that Gibson shifted from Brazilian rosewood to Indian. This board is a tough call, but after a couple hours of enjoyable scrutiny I'm going with BRW based on the red-brown under bright light and a couple of characteristic BRW grain beauty-marks. That would make this one of the last BRW boards out the door.

The sweet broad flaming shows clearly on one side of the pics. It's actually on both in person. A gearhead could get lost in that stuff . . .

It's a pleasure to have and a pleasure to play. The Tele-width nut is not an issue for me. The slightly-shallow carve at the first fret is not my all-time favorite but it quickly reverts to normal depth. Between the robust P90 sound and the intact 60s red-burst finish, it's a perfect instrument for summer concerts and tough enough for Maine weather.

Catch you later -- gotta play!

**citizenk74** · 08-21-2022, 07:44 PM

Sweet! Congratulations, and play it in good health!

**2bornot2bop** · 08-21-2022, 08:28 PM

Quite the history lesson too. Enjoy!

**skykomishone** · 08-21-2022, 09:22 PM

I've heard some of my best jazz guitar memories played on a 125! It's not the meat, it's the motion, according to Maria Muldaur!
In other words, doesn't matter what you play, it's how you play it.
The 125 is a solid jazz guitar, capable of making serious music.
Yours looks awesome!

Enjoy!

**Sleeko** · 08-21-2022, 11:22 PM

Beautiful!

**wintermoon** · 08-22-2022, 12:18 AM

Nice job restoring it, enjoy that one Sam

**Gitterbug** · 08-22-2022, 02:12 AM

A great find and a great job! I bet this guitar is substantially lighter than recent 175s. Probably less costly to build, too, in all its austerity. Wonder what would happen if Gibson were to re-introduce this and/or ES-150 made in USA. Or stamp them out in Asia under the Epiphone banner, probably for 1.5-2K less.

**Jabberwocky** · 08-22-2022, 09:25 AM

Hubba! Hubba!

**Sam Sherry** · 08-22-2022, 12:56 PM

Thank you folks! Yessah!

Originally Posted by skykomishone

I've heard some of my best jazz guitar memories played on a 125! It's not the meat, it's the motion, according to Maria Muldaur!
In other words, doesn't matter what you play, it's how you play it.
The 125 is a solid jazz guitar, capable of making serious music.
Yours looks awesome!

Enjoy!

Thank you maestro!
The 125 can play a lot more than I can! And yes, the cutaway was worth the wait.
My old teacher, Michael Moore, played bass with Maria Muldaur in the 70s & 80s. She had a great voice and an authentic musical approach.

+ + +

I brought it Saturday for an outdoor stage show with a singer-songwriter friend. It was great:
-- Big sound through outdoor-concert PA
-- No feedback thank you
-- Bold enough to watch
-- Built to not worry about

Happy operator here!

**Jim Soloway** · 08-22-2022, 02:25 PM

One of my bigger mistakes was not pulling the trigger on one of these in 1992 or 93. It sat in the shop in Hollywood for over a month and I probably played it 5 or 6 times. I think it was $1200 and I probably could have had it for $1000. But $1000 seemed like a lot of money to me at the time. I dithered too long and it eventually found another home before I could make a decision. Oh well. Considering my history I probably would have sold it anyway.

**mr. beaumont** · 08-22-2022, 02:52 PM

What a beauty! Such cool guitars...underrated gems.

**Gladders** · 08-22-2022, 02:53 PM

Beautiful. Do you find you play a little better on a guitar you really love?

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

**Sam Sherry** · 08-22-2022, 03:55 PM

Originally Posted by Gladders

Beautiful.

Thanks -- I agree. It's a classic 50s look AND a classic 60s red-burst too. It really does it's thing, as it was meant to.

Originally Posted by Gladders

Do you find you play a little better on a guitar you really love?

You've touched on one of the key questions in my life as a gearhead (which is adjacent to, but separate from, my guitar-player life). I'll try to be as succinct as I can.

I've owned a lot of guitars over the decades -- not as many as some folks here but my full share.
It's not that any of them makes me play better. It's that each has something to teach me about gear and and about playing.
Today I am lucky to own half a dozen cool guitars ranging from cheap to spiffy. They cover a lot of ground although none of them is a mint collector's piece.
I'm not done learning from any of them.
I hope to rest with this bunch for a while, however long or short that turns out to be. The lure of gear is deep, but lately I have been playing a lot and the more I play the less gear I buy.