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Recently acquired this 2017 es275 . It was setup (NOT) with ultra light strings, they were very crusty , I measured .08 on the high E. Neck was very wonky too. I actually had to put the neck in a heating jig to straighten it out. Came out good after several rounds of heat and pressure. Next I put a set of used Flatwounds on and did an initial setup. I set the action pretty low under 3/64" on both the treble and bass side, neck almost straight. It played pretty good but a few notes bugged me especially on the G string. Well, I broke the G string and decided it was time for a real setup.
Off with the strings, lowered and protected the pickups and top. Leveled the frets, I was surprised it needed so much leveling especially in the upper register. Recrowned and polished. Strung it up with Thomastik JS112's. Decided to try an old ABR 1 with Nylon saddles. The titanium ones were kind of irritating on the higher notes. Tuned it all up , was able to lower the action to just over 2/64" on both the treble and bass side. No buzzing at all. Plays like butter and all the notes are very strong , clear and well balanced. The Nylon saddles seem to work and sound well. I was jamming along with Eric Gale on Mr Magic and got reasonably close to his sound .
The more I work on this instrument the more like it. At some point I will change the ceramic caps for some oil types , not that it will be super noticeable. But I have experienced that even with the Tone control fully up the cap type and value seem to affect to tone. Larger values seem to thicken up the tone a smidge even when on 10.Last edited by Billy Z; 07-14-2023 at 04:46 PM.
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07-14-2023 04:09 PM
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2/64 action is mighty low and no issues congratulations on your fret work!. Nice looking guitar I might say and a winner that is can play a lot of different things.
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Yes, It is extremely low. Could never play that low for blues or rock with lighter wound strings . But for the way I play jazzy things, it works well.
To be clear, I measure with the string fretted at the first fret, and top of the 12th fret to bottom of the string. I also re-cut the nut a bit lower than factory. I read somewhere that these were PLEKed ? If so this one slipped . I did the blueprint fret leveling. It had a couple of low frets in a few different areas, which caused some fret kissing just after the low fret if play a touch too hard. Most probably would have been happy as it was but the tonal improvement and play ability are superb now.
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I also own a 2017 ES 275 montreux burst. The nylon saddles on my '64 ES 335 Reissue made me wonder whether they would take a little bit of top end off the 275. I'm not a fan of the titanium saddles. Thanks for your post.
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Yes, in my experience they did . Initially, I installed an Ebony wood top and that was very nice too. But I thought I would try the old ABR 1 with Nylon saddles I had in my parts bin. The intonation was off just a little with the solid wood top and perhaps a little too dark sounding. So, I tried the ABR with Nylon and I think I like it the best. I did put Thomastik JS112's on at the same time, so that may have a little to do with the sound as well. And I was able to dial in the intonation . Getting the Neck pickup a little more parallel to the strings warmed things up a bit too.
I am liking the es 275 more and more as I dial it in. I really want to change out the Ceramic tone capacitors next. Most of the reviews I have read say the ES 275 has Orange Drop tone caps but mine has ceramic disc.
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If you do that, many of us would appreciate it if you could make pre and post recordings of the same passage(s) with the same control settings at the same volume. I’ve never been able to hear a difference between caps of different types that both test to be the same value.
Originally Posted by Billy Z
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Thank you for bringing this beautiful instrument back to life.
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Love the concept of this guitar, but it didn’t meet my expectations when I tried several different variations. I’m not sure if the neck angle was the issue. It felt as though it was aimed at someone who played Les Pauls and wanted a hollow ES-330 version of one.
I did like the one with P90’s and the old Gibson logo best of all of the variations. Hope it meets your needs and congratulations
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I know this is a hotly debated topic. I only know what I have experienced working on 100's + Guitars and Amplifiers. Originally Posted by nevershouldhavesoldit
I am in the camp of capacitors do have a sound beyond just the value. Sometimes it is subtle, sometimes not. I like ceramics for certain parts of an amplifier circuit, they can have a grit to the sound.
I also doubt that a recording would convey the change . It can take very sophisticated measurement instruments to actually show the difference. So, I trust my ears. And then there is the feel different caps impart that the player detects but is not readily heard.
Would the listener know the difference ? In a live band setting , no. When practicing quietly at home , most probably.
When I get around to doing it I will report my experience here. For now, I am really enjoying the ES 275 I have.
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Congratulations, this ES275 looks gorgeous! Originally Posted by Billy Z
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Ishibashi was selling a nice looking "cherry cola" version of this guitar a while back when I was kicking around online. What a beautiful instrument you have there. Play it often!
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I had one just the same, awesome guitar. Unfortunately ig suffered from the dreaded neck/body hump around 12-15. Sold it with full disclosure, buyer was still happy with it. Too bad, other than the neck defect, it was the perfect guitar for me. Shorter Gibson scale, 16" laminate & feedback resistant, nice appointments.
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Finally got around to finishing the upgrades to the ES 275.
Replaced the tone caps on the neck and bridge pickups. Was not too difficult. I used surgical tubing on the tone controls only and the output jack. I was concerned the ground wire would pull out so I attached a looped high E string to the ground wire to pull it back. But, I did not need too. the wire is long enough to not pull out when pulling the tone controls out the bridge pickup hole.
I used Mojo tone vitamin T caps, .02. I measured them and found one at .022+ and one at .020 uf. I put the .020 on the neck. The original caps were .015 on the neck and .022 on the bridge.
I actually do hear an improvement, mostly it is more liquid sounding , smoother but somehow more clarity. The ceramics are just a bit harsh and gritty sounding. Also it was bit muddier when rolling down the control pot with the ceramics. It remains very clear even rolled down quite a bit with the Vitamin T caps.
Oops , forgot to take pics of the Vitamin T caps. getting too oldt.
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Thought I would break up this topic a bit.
I also, bought a tall Humbucker mounting ring. Had to sand it flat and lower to the height I wanted for the neck pu to sit parallel to the strings. Again not too difficult. I bought the Mounting ring from allpart, a set of two.
I like it much better now.
I have read some posts about the sloppy bracing and poor glue job. I did not see any of that, typical Gibson since the 50's .
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Now for the really difficult job. Replacing the nut with a Nylon nut much like Gibson used in the 50's 60's and 70's . Also have a nylon on my 59 RI es 330 .
Next time I will buy one of the $25 pre made nylon nuts on Ebay. There is a lot of work and sanding needed for Nylon.
I am not totally happy with the looks but, The performance is a huge upgrade over the stock bone nut.
I had previously re cut the stock bone nut and did notice it was very soft. I had lots of issues with tuning more so before I re cut it and greased it up with Pencil lead. But even after re cutting and lubing it was not easy to get in tune nor stay in tune.
The Nylon has made tuning a breeze and the tuning stability is great now. Highly recommended . Please excuse the ugly blackness on the old Bone nut. I made no effort to clean it. I was just trying to get it to tune up with out binding.
It was surprisingly difficult to get the old nut out , but no wood was lost, just took a lot of tapping and even slightly more aggressive tapping.
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