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help on " what do i have"

slim77

By slim77
in The Gibson Lounge

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slim77

slim77

Posted
Posted

Hi everyone,

 

i am very lucky to have "found" a gibson guitar doing a clearance job a couple of years ago. i took the guitar to a local music store and was offered a good sum of cash but wanted to learn more about it first i.e. age, history and make sure i get a fair price. inside the guitar is a red oval label with STYLE/ES175D. GIBSON/A2308. NUMBER/GUITAR. GUARANTEED AGAINST FAULTY WORKMANSHIP AND MATERIALS, GIBSON INC. KALAMAZOO, MICHIGAN, USA. I no nothing about guitars but it is in almost perfect condition no marks or worping in a case and has reciepts going back to the early 70's. it also has another stamp inside the right hand gap with S406 23.

 

Any help will be appreciated.

 

Franco

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ChanMan

ChanMan

Posted
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I'm not overly familiar with the model, but if the S/N is A2308:

 

Your guitar was made at the

Kalamazoo Plant, USA

approximately in: 1948

 

 

Gratz man. Hella guitar there, if this turns out to be the case!

 

 

[thumbup]

 

 

I could be wrong... all the other combinations I tried at "Guitardater.org" just showed that it could have been made prior to 1977.

 

 

Let's hope for the best!

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pippy

pippy

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Pics would help enormously.

 

In the meantime there is one very easy thing you could do which would help (a bit) immediately.

 

Do the pickups look like chrome-metal or black plastic?

 

If the former then the instrument dates from before '57; if the latter from after that time.

 

P.

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slim77

slim77

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Pics would help enormously.

 

In the meantime there is one very easy thing you could do which would help (a bit) immediately.

 

Do the pickups look like chrome-metal or black plastic?

 

If the former then the instrument dates from before '57; if the latter from after that time.

 

P.

2 chrome pick ups

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slim77

slim77

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I don't believe the 175 came out until 1949 and the 175 came a couple years(?) later. Maybe there's a digit missing from the stamp.

 

Post some pics here and we'll have a look.

 

 

the s/n is definitely A2308, no other numbers, i,ll try get some pics up

 

thanks

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ksdaddy

ksdaddy

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Perfectly logical. But the 175D was later by a few years. It has chrome pickups, which could have been retrofitted where the P90s were, otherwise I'd assume they're humbuckers which would be 57 or later. There are all kinds of other features that will help, 19 vs 20 frets, headstock width, volute or no, dumb stuff like knobs. Pics will help a lot.

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surfpup

surfpup

Posted
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The tailpiece will tell the tale....

http://www.vintageguitarparts.org/20091011-vintage-gibson-es-175-guitar-tailpiece-part-evolution/

 

Thank you for your email. Gibson guitar changed their tailpieces several times over the life of the Gibson ES-175 guitar. I Will give you the years and the material that will be correct for your guitar. I am sure you know putting the correct one on will maintain the value of your vintage guitar s double check the year and feature before you purchase

 

From 1949-1957 Gibson used a nickel trapeze tailpiece with 3 diamonds on the cross bar. This was for both single and double pickup models guitars . This era would have p90 pickups. ONE IMPORTANT NOTICE IS THAT IN 1957 GIBSON INTRODUCED THE HUMBUCKER AND THE TAILPIECE CHANGED BUT !!!!! P90 MODELS WERE STILL MADE UNTIL MID YEAR AND SHIPPED WITH THIS ORIGINAL STYLE TAILPIECE . The other option offered these years was a Bigsby tailpiece and it was standard when ordered on both single and double pickup model guitars also

 

In 1957 Gibson introduced a new pickup call the Humbucker. At this time the tailpiece for the ES-175 changed . I was still a nickel style trapeze but it incorporated a more elaborate design and featured what is known as the squiggly tailpiece. the tailpiece was more of a T bar style with thin tubing in a squiggle pattern on each side of the T patern . This was used form 1957 Until early 1965. 1965 being a transitional year for Gibson from nickel to chrome. Many guitars featured both nickel and chrome hardware that year. The bigsby tailpiece was also offered on these models for these years as well

 

In mid 1965 the same tailpiece was now made out of chrome. It was the se exact same design just made out of chrome. This was used up until 1967 .

 

In 1968 Gibson went back to the original trapeze design with the three diamonds on the cross bar. This time it was made out of chrome not nickel. This version is still used up until today . This is the most common and recognized version by musicians. As a note the Bigsby was offered and still is on all the Gibson ES-175 models.

 

If you have any further questions please feel free to e mail me at THE PARTS DRAWER also feel free to click on teh bottom to our rss feed for our weekly updates

 

JIm Pasch

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ksdaddy

ksdaddy

Posted
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Post '55 (20 frets)

 

The humbuckers would indicate post '57 IF they are original.

 

The case looks 60s.

 

The sunburst looks 70s.

 

The knobs are likely aftermarket.

 

When I think of front pickup placement on a 175 I immediately picture a space between the end of the board and the pickup. Maybe at some point they were closer like this one? Finding out when that change was made will help.

 

If it's an orange oval label that would indicate pre-70 or so.

 

The A prefix is messing with me though. An A prefix in the 60s?

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ksdaddy

ksdaddy

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Sooo... it looks like the entire electronics were replaced in '78?

 

I don't see much conclusive in the photos other than it likely being pre 1970 (no volute), which is already suggested by the orange label.

 

I did read that some A prefixed numbers came through as late as '61.

 

My guess is that it's a refinished 1961.

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ksdaddy

ksdaddy

Posted
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There was a time when the electronics mattered much less. 30 years ago you could replace the electronic parts, in part or whole, and people didn't get too excited. Now it's blasphemous. if that guitar IS a '61 then it may have had what is known as PAF (Patent Applied For) pickups. They have a mystique about them that commands ungodly high prices, $1000 per pickup even. It's BS in my mind, no pickup is worth that, but if I had one I'd grab the money too!

 

So the fact that all has been changed and I assume the original parts aren't on the scene, that will detract from the value to some degree. Or maybe not, depending on if a potential buyer wants it for a player or a hothouse flower investment.

 

I'm more concerned about the refinish. Don't go taking my words as gospel, as I can't tell you it HAS been refinished... maybe it's all original... I just have a gut feeling. It's just too shiny, no yellowing apparent in the pics, no crazing of the finish apparent in the pics, and the sunburst on the back is suspect. The spray pattern just doesn't look right. I know many of the 175s had sunburst on the top only, and the sides/back were stained dark. Some were sunburst. Here are pics of a '78 175 I owned a few years back. I know a '78 is far different from yours, but note how the pattern is on the back. I'm not saying yours definitely has been refinished but you can see why I would suspect it.

 

ege06e.jpg

 

29z2yaf.jpg

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