1970s Carlo Robelli (Japan-made) Model 855 Hollowbody Electric Guitar

Clearly, this guitar is positioning itself as an ES-175 clone -- and doing quite a good job of it. Tonewise it's very close to a '60s or early '70s ES-175 and it has a very Gibby feel to the neck as well. While it's not quite as refined or stylish as the vaunted Ibanez 175 copies (click here to see one), it gets most of the way there.

Like the Ibanez copies, it's heavier than an actual 175 and the ply is thicker. Unlike them, though, it has a soundpost on the inside which gives this particular guitar a little bit more sustain and more of an aggressive sound. What's nice is that it can flit between retro jazz and straight into rockabilly, Western swing, or '50s rock-n-roll sounds depending on strings and amp. It's versatile.

Carlo Robelli is a Sam Ash-sold moniker slapped on instruments they imported from elsewhere. This one happens to be a Japanese-made model but over the years there have been similar Korean-made models, too. I wish I knew which factory built this one -- there are rumors on the net but I'm not sure which to believe. Let me know if you know!

Repairs included: a light setup and restring.

Setup notes: action is bang-on at 1/16" overall at the 12th fret, strung with 50w-11 nickel strings with a wound G. Saddle is adjustable so plain-G stringing would be just fine, too. Frets are in good order and essentially unplayed.

Scale length: 24 3/4"

Nut width: 1 11/16"

String spacing at nut: 1 7/16"

String spacing at bridge: 2"

Body length: 19 3/4"

Lower bout width: 15 3/4"

Waist width: 9"

Upper bout width: 11 3/8"
Side depth at endpin: 3 1/4"

Top wood: ply maple

Back/sides wood: ply maple

Bracing type: soundpost

Fretboard: rosewood

Bridge: adjustable ABR-style

Neck feel: slim C-shape, ~12" board radius

Condition notes: overall it's very clean but there are minor marks here and there and one flaked-chip of finish at the back of the headstock/neck. It's entirely original, too.

It comes with: its original hard case.