SORTED WTB: Gibson ES-140T / ES-125T (3/4)

thinline72

Hi all,

Have been looking recently into ES-125T (after regretfully missing the one that @DB1 was selling) and I found out about these small beautiful pieces of art.

I'm wondering is there any out there that someone would like to part with?

So far I found ES-125T (3/4) 68s and I'm near pulling a trigger, but decided to ask here just in case someone has ES-140T for selling.

Also, 68s version looks quite different from the earlier versions from 50s (metal cover on pickup + different knobs). I wasn't able to find any info of are they better/worse in terms of craftsmanship. I hope not, but please do let me know if there is a bigger difference between them.

Cheers

thinline72

well, I guess I should have not posted about it here! Someone went ahead and bought it a short time after my post   

I'll be more careful next time...

barnstorm

It's expensive, but Guncotton has one in stock:

https://www.guncottonguitars.com/guitars#/1957-gibson-es140-t

thinline72

Oh my here's some Saturday drama... It seems like the first buyer transaction failed anti-fraud check, so I was contacted by seller (Guitar Village) and was able to buy it! I decided to not hesitate this time, so it should arrive on Tuesday.

Thanks @barnstorm ! I saw that one and it looks spectacular, but yes, it's too expensive...

DB1

I'm glad you found one. I was going to suggest the ES-125T at Frets Guitar Centre earlier, but I've been out all day, delivering guitars - and buying one.

I did see the one at Guitar Village which is now coming your way - well done on that.

thinline72

Thanks @DB1 ! I saw the one at Frets Guitar Center (you mentioned it in your selling post), but the one at Guitar Village seems to be in a bit better conditions + I'm very intrigued to try out 3/4 size.

DB1

Yes, sounds really interesting - it will be good to hear how you get on with it.

thinline72

As continuation of discussion here and in another thread, wanted to give an update and share some of my observations!

After some hesitation like "does it fully fit me or not", "should I return it (while I can) or keep it", I've decided to keep it. At least for some time   

ES125T 3/4 has a quite chunky neck with low width (39mm nut), which makes it a bit weird to play. It feels like LP or something in terms of depth, but you can still easily lay you thumb on strings like on a slim Tele neck.

Overall, I found it very easy to play: smaller scale -> less strings tension, smaller frets -> less fingers stretch needed.
The only thing I'm not a fan of is the neck width, but I think that's because I also play (well, at least produce some noise) acoustic and resonator, so sometimes the difference in width is noticeable for me.

Regarding sound: it's wonderful, very woody and characteristic. Even unplugged it sounds decent, a bit less loud than parlour acoustic, but much louder than semi-hollow guitars. I think it's possible to practice with it unplugged to not disturb anyone.

Plugged in, P90 is marvellous. It sounds great even with moderate gain, so guitar is really great for any sort of blues etc.

It is also very interesting to play with slide, although it requires to get used to it as strings tension is lower. It has a very cool haunting sound and remarkable vibrato. I think the last one is because of the smaller scale length, basically the same vibrato movement (as on a standard scale) leads to bigger sound change on ES125T 3/4. It's just my guess though.

Unfortunately, I haven't been lucky enough yet to get my hands on ES125T to try it out for comparison.

Hope this small review will help someone! Please, feel free to ping me if you have any questions!