Gibson ES-225TN Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1957)
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Gibson ES-225TN Model Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1957), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # U389-18, natural lacquer finish, Laminated maple body, mahogany neck, rosewood fingerboard, original brown hard shell case.
This is an exceptionally clean and 100% original example of an ES-225TN, the less common natural finish model in this early thinline series. A cool if somewhat overlooked Gibson guitar, this instrument features a thin single cutaway thin fully hollow body with a single P-90 pickup and the patented Les Paul metal tailpiece/bridge unit. While not particularly a versatile model the single-pickup 225 offers a distinctively chunky sound from the center mounted P-90, a feature only shared with the early ES-330T. The solid bar Les Paul tailpiece sharpens the sound noticeable compared to similar Gibsons with a wooden bridge.
The natural maple body is single bound back and front with unbound F-holes. The one-piece mahogany neck has a bound rosewood fingerboard with plain pearl dot inlay. This particular guitar features one of the chunkiest necks we have ever felt on a 1950s Gibson! The plain headstock has a pearl Gibson logo and mounts individual enclosed Kluson Deluxe tuners with plastic buttons. This rather rare blonde variant of the ES-225T from early 1957 is one of only 138 produced that peak production year of this model. It is also one of only 420 225-TN's ever built, and is a truly splendid survivor.
The combination of the thin hollow body, solid metal bridge and middle-mounted P-90 pickups creates a different tone from other 1950's hollowbody guitars with a more acoustic-y sound at lower volume shading into plenty of midrangey P-90 "meat" and growl when cranked up. The fully hollow body also provides more acoustic volume than many similar instruments and we have found this model to be a useful choice for acoustic players seeking an amplified guitar.
Overall length is 40 1/16 in. (101.8 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 15/16 in. (4.9 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This is simply a superbly clean, all original guitar with no real negatives to report. The beautiful natural finish still shines like it did when new; it has some very small dings, dents, scuffs and scrapes but hardly any checking. The top edge of the pickguard has some minor distortion and a chip at the back upper edge. There is some scuffing on the top where it looks like a standard floating bridge was once mounted, but the original Les Paul tailpiece was put back on. Apart from that everything on this guitar is original and there are no other alterations or repairs.
The original small narrow frets have some light wear in the first position, as does the fingerboard. The guitar plays and sounds fantastic; a beautiful blonde time capsule from the 1950s. The original brown HSC has a decent amount of external wear but is still in solid useable shape. Apparently whoever purchased this guitar in 1957 never got much play time out of it, but dragged it around a lot! Overall Excellent + Condition.
This is an exceptionally clean and 100% original example of an ES-225TN, the less common natural finish model in this early thinline series. A cool if somewhat overlooked Gibson guitar, this instrument features a thin single cutaway thin fully hollow body with a single P-90 pickup and the patented Les Paul metal tailpiece/bridge unit. While not particularly a versatile model the single-pickup 225 offers a distinctively chunky sound from the center mounted P-90, a feature only shared with the early ES-330T. The solid bar Les Paul tailpiece sharpens the sound noticeable compared to similar Gibsons with a wooden bridge.
The natural maple body is single bound back and front with unbound F-holes. The one-piece mahogany neck has a bound rosewood fingerboard with plain pearl dot inlay. This particular guitar features one of the chunkiest necks we have ever felt on a 1950s Gibson! The plain headstock has a pearl Gibson logo and mounts individual enclosed Kluson Deluxe tuners with plastic buttons. This rather rare blonde variant of the ES-225T from early 1957 is one of only 138 produced that peak production year of this model. It is also one of only 420 225-TN's ever built, and is a truly splendid survivor.
The combination of the thin hollow body, solid metal bridge and middle-mounted P-90 pickups creates a different tone from other 1950's hollowbody guitars with a more acoustic-y sound at lower volume shading into plenty of midrangey P-90 "meat" and growl when cranked up. The fully hollow body also provides more acoustic volume than many similar instruments and we have found this model to be a useful choice for acoustic players seeking an amplified guitar.
Overall length is 40 1/16 in. (101.8 cm.), 16 in. (40.6 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 15/16 in. (4.9 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
This is simply a superbly clean, all original guitar with no real negatives to report. The beautiful natural finish still shines like it did when new; it has some very small dings, dents, scuffs and scrapes but hardly any checking. The top edge of the pickguard has some minor distortion and a chip at the back upper edge. There is some scuffing on the top where it looks like a standard floating bridge was once mounted, but the original Les Paul tailpiece was put back on. Apart from that everything on this guitar is original and there are no other alterations or repairs.
The original small narrow frets have some light wear in the first position, as does the fingerboard. The guitar plays and sounds fantastic; a beautiful blonde time capsule from the 1950s. The original brown HSC has a decent amount of external wear but is still in solid useable shape. Apparently whoever purchased this guitar in 1957 never got much play time out of it, but dragged it around a lot! Overall Excellent + Condition.