1968 Gibson ES-175 Hollowbody Electric Guitar

Oh man! Sometimes the best stuff just walks-in off the street, as this consignor's guitar did the other day. This '68 ES-175 was the last year for the single-neck-pickup configuration -- or, as I know it, a real ES-175 format. It also has all the bits you could want -- a 1 11/16" nut width, slim-C neck profile, tobacco/ruddy sunburst, and originality throughout except for one replacement tuner.

Does it sound good? Yeah, of course! Does it play like the bee's knees? Yes, dang it! For a Gibson fan like myself, something like guitar is just too cool. It's sort of the epitome of "vintage jazzbox style." The sharp cutaway, shortened pickguard, and clean-sounding full-sized bucker. It's just... yum... and it's clean.

Did I mention all the usual good stuff about ES-175s? The parallelogram position markers? The killer, fancy tailpiece? The "stinger" on the back of the headstock? Oh me, oh my...

Repairs included: very mild fret-seating and a light fret level/dress, cleaning, and setup.

Setup notes: it plays perfectly with hair-above 1/16" EA and 1/16" DGBE action at the 12th fret. The neck is straight, the truss rod works, and the frets have good life left in them. They were "original full height" when it came in (wider and lower, as is the usual style for this period), with just a tiny bit of wear. Strings are 52w-11 with a wound G in nickel roundwound. There's a set of D'Addario Chromes (flatwound) coiled in the case pocket, too.

Condition notes: this is about as clean as they get. There are only a few small scratches and tiny nicks here and there on the sides, and some light scratches and use-wear on the back of the neck, but it's otherwise pretty-much blemish-free. The finish has the usual weather-checking throughout as you'd want to see on an old Gibson, but it's clean and not flaking anywhere.

It comes with: a 1990s Gibson USA brown/pink arched-lid hard case with dust cover. These are pretty expensive just on their own and it fits the guitar like a glove. It's also in great shape.

The G-string tuner is a replacement but it's very well-matched with the others.

Right where the strap is there's a little "strap stick" on the back that was hard to photograph -- that slight disturbance in the finish from a strap laying against it in the case on a warmer day (or simply over time).