mfosterwa

On my 17 GT Tribute T, I have the chip under the pickguard, too. I thought of a way to prevent it with tape, and such, but the fix would probably be worse than the chip. I would think that Gibson would use a smaller screw and nut. But I suppose you need a stable surface for the guard to lay on, so the screw may be that way by design. I don't think we would want a wobbly pickguard. My ES-125 pickguard has the screw where the f-hole is. So it's a bit wobbly, and occasionally I'm afraid of damaging it when I finger pick or strum. It's surprising how it's held up for all these long 60 years. Not a crack or blemish.... fingers crossed. Man, that is an awesome guitar. I also prefer the LP look with the guard. And I always need it for my pinky when I finger pick. Now, I think the honey burst looks great without the guard. If I had them side-by-side, I would have had a tough time deciding which one. Would have come down to feel and playability........

Thanks Twang Gang (BTW I Love your LP in the LP forum) Since I put the ES back together, I haven't put it down. I play this guitar for hours each day. I love it. It's easy to play, stays in tune, sounds great acoustic and through my Blues Jr. I'm playing songs that I haven't played in 30yrs. Blues, Jazz, fingerpicking - it all sounds great on this guitar. Jim Bastian : RetroGuitarParts / IslandFunHouse : Sent out the tailpiece ASAP. And it was an Exact replacement. Little background : I learned how to play off this guitar. It actually belongs to my brother. So it's been several states apart for all this time. He was interested in checking out a Tele, and I just happened to have a MIM sitting around that I put locking tuners and Bill Lawerence pups into. I liked the Tele, but I like playing my Epi LP goldtop T better. So, we swapped - not forever ! Since its a $1500 guitar vs a $500 guitar. The ES needed a new case and the tailpiece. I was willing to get it back in playing condition since as he let me borrow it. And even though I don't own it : It was worth it to get this fine guitar the love it needs. I'm still looking into having the bracket manufactured. If I get production done, I'll offer the pieces at cost. I'm sure that there are more ES-125 deep bodies that are in need - or will need a tailpiece bracket at some point.

A totally hot Emma Stone is on the cover of this weeks Rolling Stone. I was paging through while waiting for a hair cut when I saw this : http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/inside-gary-clark-jrs-juke-joint-couture-w459173 Pretty Cool to see the ES-125 in the mainstream. Now every dentist, lawyer and doctor will have to have one. :)

PowerwagonJohn Totally agree, the tailpieces are really hard to find. I found the exact cloverleaf after 2 weeks of web searching. I stumbled upon a forum post from 2009 that was about the ES-125 tailpiece replacement. The poster mentioned Jim Bastian / Island Fun House Vintage Guitar and Parts. I sent an email to him and he had the exact piece that he was willing to part with - for a "if you really want it" - but fair - price. BTW, I've flooded every vintage guitar shop trying to find this piece ! The ES-125 will not be my daily player. But, I figured that if the opportunity is there to get an original part, I better do it. I was about to fill in the strap button hole and use the reproduction piece. Unfortunately, I had to contort the repro piece to work. So, I took it off. And I wasn't too happy with filling in the strap button hole with something that might not work in the end. Even though the guitar has been well taken care of, the wood doesn't seem to be that strong, and I know the screw holes don't have much life in them. I'm going to contact a metal fab guy about making repro cloverleaf bracket parts. Might not be cheap.... or worth the investment. But I know that the tailpiece bracket failures was an issue back in the day and I'm sure that if you have an original, it may someday fail. Good Luck !

Hey everyone I have a 1956 ES-125 that has been in the family for over 30years. The tail piece has broken - so I ordered the standard replacement. https://www.amazon.com/WD-Music-T120N-GIBSON-TAILPIECE/dp/B0006ZP9L4 The top 2 holes between the original and the replacement match. The replacement doesn't have the hole for the strap button, instead there is a 3rd hole for a screw. Which looks like it would go into the hole for the strap button. We lost the strap button decades ago, and I don't plan to replace it. So my questions are 1. Can I just use the top two holes to attach the tailpiece to the body ? And not worry about the bottom screw. OR 2. Should I insert a dowel into the strap button hole for the 3rd screw ? What would be the best way to replace the tailpiece, since I can't find an exact replacement. I tried to include pictures... THANKS ! Mark