Quote Originally Posted by Herbie
I have searched a Gibson ES125 for over a decade. They are very rare here in Finland, maybe one in a public sale in 2-5 years. So some have been around now and then but then I have not had the money ro grab them.

About a month ago I found a 1958 ES-125 for sale here in Finland and I finally bought it about a week ago. Seller is better guitarist than me and he had bought it some years ago from Amsterdam.

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The guitar is in good shape. Not 100% original, the tuners are Schecter Deluxes and the tailpiece seems to be a newer one. But the bracing seems alright, lacquer is aged but not cracking, pickguard seems to be original and I can adjust it to be easy to play. The sunburst is just perfect and the neck too, in a ’50s thickness but not a baseball bat.

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When I checked the bracings I saw that the tone cap is not bumble beeish of vintage looking but branded ’WD’.

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Apparently there has been some renovation, so I checked the pots and the pickup. Pu seems old, what do You think about it in the photos?

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And then there is some numbers in the pots. Can someone date them?
Volume pot: 500K LIN 137 1823
Tone pot: A0D (?) 1(?)37 1910 63
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As always for me , the playing a new guitar is very confusing. 1 pu ES125 is more resonant that 2 pu ES175, but I have used to the ’electric guitarness’ of the ES175, so I am not sure do I like the ’acousticness’ of the ES125.


Electric sound is a good question too. It is brighter than my 2015 RI ES175D, but the vol pot seems to be 500K, which explains some of it. Maybe I’ll just take the guitar to my tech and ask him to change the pot to a 300K.
Lovely