SORTED WTB: Gibson ES-125 TDC

thinline72

I'm thinking of upgrading to ES-125 TDC from my lovely 1960 ES-125T (I will list it soon for sale here soon). There are couple of them out there that I'm considering. But I thought I'd ask on the forum first in case someone is thinking of selling one.

I'm looking particularly for one made between 1961-1964, so it'd have 1 11/16 nut width and a bit chunkier neck profile than 1960. Ideally, in a standard sunburst. But I won't mind cherry too.

Cheers

Sparks

I'd be very interested in seeing the 125T as I've been watching Thom Yorke playing his live and have a serious hankering...

TDubs

Sparks said:

I'd be very interested in seeing the 125T as I've been watching Thom Yorke playing his live and have a serious hankering...

This is the exact reason I bought one years ago!

thinline72

@Sparks I have only one picture atm, I'll do more once I properly list it. These are truly amazing guitars. I had a few different in the past as well: full-depth from 59' and 3/4 thinline from 68'. All of them were great!

TonyJ

I guess you've seen this one at guncotton
Guitars — Guncotton Guitars

But I'll take any excuse to drool over the guncotton website

MikeC

The guncotton guitar looks bloody lovely but its had a neck reset and strangely the photos don't seem to show that. I suspect the price he wants reflects that as his stuff is lovely but at vintage dealer prices.  (or as one vintage dealer generically described to me as 'tomorrow's prices that you can pay today').

thinline72

Thanks, @TonyJ ! Yes, I've seen that one and it does look lovely!

Good points about the neck reset and the price @MikeC . I didn't read the description fully as price and 61' set me off. I'm considering a few from 63-64 that are in a bit worse conditions but also a bit modestly priced.

Interestingly, it looks like much less TDCs were made in standard sunburst. I haven't found shipping figures by colour, but I've seen just a few for sale in the standard sunburst in the last couple of years. Most were from later 60s.

Sparks

Are neck resets on these archtops inevitable over time, like acoustic guitars? Or do only some of them need it? Is it a slowly-collapsing-top thing, or a fixing-wrong-neck-angle-from-factory thing?

edpirie

Take this with a pinch of salt, as it is just what I have found on the net as someone else interested in a vintage 125... It seems to be particularly the thinline 125s that get neck resets. The reason given is not the neck being wrong, but the body having less structural strength than a full size, and therefore less resistance to string tension over time. Consequently, the body gives way slightly around the middle which is its weakest point. That in turn raises the action and is a reason some people shave the bridge down. Ultimately, a neck reset may be needed to compensate fully.

I'd be interested to hear other views on this - as I say this is secondhand info, but it's the only rationale I've read so far that made sense to me.

thinline72

Sorted for now! I went for 1964 ES-125TDC from Guitar In The Attic as I was able to negotiate a price a bit. 

I can provide a more rigorous feedback once the honeymoon period is over, but a few observations so far:

• the neck profile of 64' is a little bit chunkier than 60'. It also feels like it has just a tad wider nut width. But I guess most of it could be because the neck carving was done by hand at those times
• its P90s are quite much hotter and louder than the ones I had on 59' ES-125 and 60' ES-125T. And pretty much as gnarly as on the 68' ES-125T 3/4 I had.
• it has a bit more bass (although everything sounds very bassy in my small room  )
• acoustically, it sounds very nice but not as resonant as 60' ES-125T that I have

I do need to put a fresh set of strings on it, but I think the last two points are mainly due to the fact that it doesn't have an original rosewood saddle. I think I'll try to get one to see how it sounds with it. Maybe someone makes wood saddles compensated for unwound G string? Or will just try the one I have on ES-125T if it doesn't sell quickly 

And a few a bit dark photos:



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@edpirie I'm not an expert by any means, but from those that I had experience to play/own I didn't encounter one that required neck reset. I'm actually not quite sure why would body have less structural strength that a full-depth one? As far as I understand, they have pretty much the same top? I also wonder if the same applies to vintage ES-330 as they seem to be built in a similar way?