1965 Gibson ES-125 TC

Gibson ES-125 TC Description

Stunningly good condition, 100% original single pickup Gibson ES-125 TC thinline cutaway. The cherry has barely faded from this cherry sunburst collectible.

With the warmest tones and just lovely to handle and play, this P-90 equipped thinline hollowbody is gorgeous for jazz. The single coil is warm and clear – the trebles sing out and the bass has proper depth – you just can’t get this tone with humbuckers. Yes, you could probably play all sorts of styles and sound fabulous, but I like them for jazz, and so did Emily Remler.

Played acoustically (and we implore people to listen to electric guitars without an amp first) this guitar is bright and vibrant.

There is just one ding, it’s on the back of the neck at the 8th fret position behind the b string. Supplied in a modern vintage style hard case with combination lock, they just dont get any better than this one.

If you are looking to buy a 60s 125 thinline for investment, collecting and/or playing, then this is the one it should be.

Gibson ES-125 TC Details

Here’s something you don’t see very often. An unfaded cherry sunburst vintage electric guitar with virtually no player wear. Nothing, nada, zip. There are no belt buckle marks, no fret wear, no corrosion from sweaty hands, not even any marks from the pick. Too good to be true? A mystery? Let’s be vintage guitar detectives and see if we can work out the story of this guitar.

We start with the evidence. There is just one ding and it’s on the back of the neck behind the seventh fret and the B string. Of course we don’t know how it got there, but it wasn’t through playing, that’s for certain. Then there are the marks on the pickup cover, which show moderate wear – far more than anything else on this guitar. The pickguard is very clean, there aren’t even any surface scratches such as you would expect from somebody playing the guitar with a pick. The chrome (tailpiece and pickguard bracket) is bright and perfect – chrome is correct on a 1965 Gibson.

The most likely explanation for the lack of player wear is the most obvious – the guitar was never played. Was it bought and placed under somebody’s bed? An example of the notorious “under the bed” guitar. It doesn’t explain how a used pickup got in there or why the guitar wasn’t in its original case.

And what about that unscratched scratchplate? It could be new, but it could also have been taken off immediately, before anyone played it. Here’s my theory (only a theory until proved right or wrong). The new guitar was in store in the music shop, no case assigned yet, and waiting to be brought forward for customers to see. They urgently needed a P-90 for another guitar and, removing the pickuard and pickup from this one, left it in store, unplayable and unsellable. Eventually, they cleared out the store, or sold out, it got put back together with a ‘spare’ pickup from the parts drawer, the pickguard, or a new one was put back on and, hey presto, the New Old Stock Gibson ES-125 TC that you see before you.

Gibson ES-125 TC features

• 16” maple laminate body with sharp Venetian cutaway
• Mahogany neck
• Rosewood fretboard with perloid dot markers
• 1-5/8” width at nut
• 3 on a plate nickel Kluson deluxe tuners
• Single P-90 pickup
• Gold volume and tone knobs
• Rosewood compensated bridge
• Chrome plated trapeze tailpiece
• Modern vintage style hard case

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