1962 Gibson ES-120T Hollowbody Electric Guitar

A friend of mine is cleaning-house and this beaut wandered-up here for sale. I will not argue with having this in my house for a while! The ES-120T is the thinline little brother of the venerable ES-125. It has only one f-hole on the top on the bass side while the treble side of the instrument is fit with a combined pickguard/pickup mount/control panel assembly. It's a cool look that's very retro.

The pickup used is also a single-coil, Melody Maker-style pickup that reminds me of the tone of '40s Gibson lap steel pickups or maybe a bit like DeArmonds -- it's bright and fairly aggressive but mellows-up and cleans-up nicely for a jazzy/bluesy sound with a bit of tone roll-off at the guitar or amp. I like it straight-up and bright, though, where it reminds me of the "monkey on a stick" DeArmond sound of the '40s and '50s.

Work was very minimal on this guitar but now that it's done it plays the biz. I mean -- this has that perfect early-'60s Gibson neck profile -- 1 11/16" nut width, slim-medium C rear profile, ~10" board radius. Who can argue? It feels superb and at home all at once. While the original bridge topper/saddle is stowed in the case (it's compensated for wound G), it's currently wearing one I made for it that's compensated for modern stringing (unwound G). An ES that plays in tune with modern strings? What!? Small luxuries, I know...

Repairs included: a fret level/dress, minor reinforcements/repairs to cracked sections of the pickguard, new bridge saddle/topper, mild cleaning, setup.

Body wood: ply maple

Bridge: rosewood

Fretboard: rosewood

Neck wood: mahogany

Pickups: 1x Gibson Melody Maker-style

Action height at 12th fret: 1/16" overall (fast)
String gauges: 46w-10 lights

Neck shape: slim-medium C

Board radius: ~10"

Truss rod: adjustable

Neck relief: straight

Fret style: medium-wide

Scale length: 24 5/8"

Nut width: 1 11/16"

Body width: 16 1/8"

Body depth: 1 7/8" + arching

Weight: 5 lbs 9 oz

Condition notes: it's all-original with the exception of a replacement saddle (original one is in the case) and the neck-area strap button. Said strap button was moved-around a few times and you can see filled holes in that area (I've pictured that). The pickguard has a couple of cracked sections and while I didn't picture it when I had it off, I did add some reinforcement to the back of the damaged areas. They're not posing any issues and a lot of these have little cracks in the same places. The frets have almost all of their original height (my level/dress job was light) and are in good order. The finish shows weather-check throughout but is a lot cleaner than your average old Gibson.

It comes with: its original chip case in OK shape.