geoff_lebowski Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 My local classifieds has this ES-125C for sale for $600. I've been looking for a cool, odd vintage guitar for a while, and if this is legitimate I might take a chance on it. The guy says it's a 1965, but the serial number says it's from a few years earlier. I suppose he could either be wrong or it could be a Gibson serial number from the 60s :). In addition, I thought they only made the 125 in sunburst, but he says this is "brunette rootbeer brown." Is there any chance it's not a refinish job? Also, anything else that stands out that indicates whether it'd be a decent piece for $600? Thanks for any help y'all can give. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clidebarrow Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Hi! Nice price! What's the owner explanation for the 2 tone knobs? One should be a volume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holmis Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Looks like a refin to me, but a litle hard to tell for sure from pics. And the p90 looks a litle to shiny and straight, the pool screews looks almost new and the plastic cover usually colaps a bit if it´s that old, but again, hard to tell from pics. But for that price and if it´s structualy in good condition it would be worth to buy anyway! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 I'll go with "body only" refinished but what's with the bound f-holes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksdaddy Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 And for a lousy $600 I'd be all over that like a cheap suit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff_lebowski Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 I'll go with "body only" refinished but what's with the bound f-holes? Yeah, they look weird to me too. It looks to me like it could just be a product of the refinish, but I'm not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff_lebowski Posted April 20, 2015 Author Share Posted April 20, 2015 Anybody have any idea what the green things on the back of the headstock are? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 '61 model with refinish to body I'd say. nice something to stick picks to? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR56 Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 Interesting find. 125C's are kind of an under the radar model. Introduced around '65, but I don't think they appeared in a Gibson catalog until 1970 (not long before they were discontinued). It's kind of hard to find info on them. According to Duchossoir's book, they only made 87 of the one-pickup version in 1965. That's a pretty low number (lower than the 2-pickup version), and you really don't see this model come up for sale all that often. Unfortunately, this one appears like it may have had a rough road. Definitely looks refinned, and yes it's odd to see bound (or painted?) f-holes on a budget model like that. Pickguard doesn't look original. Jack plate added (probably due to a crack). The green things are hard to figure out, but when I was looking at them, I thought I might be seeing signs of a headstock repair in that area (I could be wrong, but it looks like a darker stain kind of arching across to the left and right of those green things). You're right that the serial number looks earlier (1961). I suppose it's possible that the guitar was re-necked with a 1961 neck from a different model. Then again, Gibsons from that era are notorious for having serial number confusion. If it's local, I'd say definitely go check it out. At that price, it could be a very nice player's guitar, and since it's already been modified, you could make any changes you want to with a good conscience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
'Scales Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 I had it as a 'TC' rather than 'C' at first glance Jim. If its a C then yes the # seems odd. I agree - looks a potential nice player guitar for the $. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retrorod Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 I would hop on it for $500-600! If it 'suited me'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR56 Posted April 21, 2015 Share Posted April 21, 2015 I had it as a 'TC' rather than 'C' at first glance Jim. If its a C... Okay, now I'm officially confused. I've been staring at these photos and comparing them to online photos of other 125's (thin and full depth), and for the life of me I can't convince myself whether this is a thinline 'TC' or a full depth 'C'. As far as I know, the 125C would have been a standard "full" depth of 3 3/8", but this one doesn't look that deep. It also doesn't look thin enough to be a thinline 'TC'. The main thing that's puzzling me is the photo showing the close-up of the jack plate. The back binding looks thinner than the top binding; the jack itself doesn't look centered perfectly between the top and back; and it almost looks like the binding on the back could have been partially painted over (making the binding look thinner and the guitar deeper). Plus it has that jack plate which is distracting to the eye. These things combine to throw off my sense of how deep the guitar is. Anybody else puzzled? I'm leaning toward a full depth 125C, but who knows... Gibson did make other body depths, and this guitar has been modified, so... ??? If it IS a thinline 125TC, then that would help to explain the 1961 serial number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cam in alberta Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Looks as if both the front and back binding have been partially painted over to me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimR56 Posted April 22, 2015 Share Posted April 22, 2015 Looks as if both the front and back binding have been partially painted over to me I wondered the same thing. If that's the case, then we may be looking at a 1961 ES125TC. Big Lebowski? Any updates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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