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ES-295 Help :D


Morregan

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Hello there. I recently just signed up to your forums :D. Im joining to inquire about a guitar that I inherited from my Grandfather. Its (from what I can tell) a 1953 ES-295. Ive tried to do some research online about it and I came up with only a few examples and I am trying to get verification of the instrument. Ill attach pictures below. The question is, its got a Les Paul bridge. Standard ES-295's dont have a Les Paul bridge (that im aware of). This guitar has never been modified, but Its obviously not a standard Les Paul as its a hollow body. Its beautiful, plays like a dream.

 

It was purchased best we can tell in Indianapolis Indiana by my great grand father around 1952-53, we are not exactly sure. The serial numbers are located on the left side under the right F vent. There is also another number located under the left F vent. There is no number on the back of the head stock. Numbers are as follows:

 

Serial: A-13993 it was built in Kalamazoo MI

right vent number: Y4612 18 (no idea what that means)

 

Any information you can supply to the family would be fantastic. According to my piers, this guitar doesn't exist lol. The Les Paul bridge is a mystery indeed. Id like to see if this was a option at the time (special model or something) or why its on this guitar. I havnt taken it into town to guitar stores yet or anything. I figured Id come to Gibson first.

 

Thank you for your time.

post-84101-029760000 1487888502_thumb.jpg

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The trapeze tailpiece/bridge is completely normal for early ES-295s, and there has been a recent reissue finished in red with the same bridge.

ES-295 is basically a fancy Gibson ES-175, nearly always finished in gold.

The gold finish can degrade and change colour over the years but it looks like the one in your pics is in very good condition. Lovely guitar.

 

I googled for images - some are just like yours -

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=gibson+es+295+images&client=firefox-b&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwic5MHgwKfSAhVMKMAKHUqiBUAQsAQIGw&biw=1920&bih=1091

 

Best wishes.

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Serial: A-13993 it was built in Kalamazoo MI

right vent number: Y4612 18 (no idea what that means)

 

This guitar has both a serial number (SN) and a "factory order number" (FON), which was somewhat typical of higher grade models of the period. Both your numbers date to 1953.

 

SN - dates between January and July 1953.

 

FON - The "Y" is the letter code for 1953. The other numbers are just production numbers used for accounting purposes by Gibson.

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