Gibson ES-150 Model Arch Top Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1954), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # X7657-29, sunburst top, dark back and sides finish, laminated maple body, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, period black hard shell case.
This 1954 ES-150 is a very nice example of this venerable arch-top Gibson, the model where the Kalamazoo company's professional-grade line of electric guitars began. The postwar 1950's version is not an overly flashy guitar but a solidly classy instrument with typical Gibson features for the era.
This ES-150 is built on a full-depth 17" non-cutaway all-maple body with a dark sunburst top. Besides the inch-wider body, the long 25 1/2" scale bound fingerboard with pearloid block markers and beveled-edge black pickguard also set it above the generally similar but "amateur" grade ES-125. The mahogany neck has the lovely round-backed profile typical of '50's Gibsons.
The single P-90 pickup at the neck position is wired to tone and volume controls topped by the smaller numbered gold-tinged clear plastic knobs characteristic of 1954. This offers that classic 1950's warm Gibson purr that made (and still makes) for a very fine electric archtop at a relatively moderate price. The rosewood adjustable bridge and nickel plated tailpiece are typical Gibson fittings for the time.
Full-body, non cutaway instruments lost favor in the increasingly loud 1960's but many modern players have rediscovered their charms in today's lower-volume playing environments. This is not a particularly rare guitar, but made in much smaller numbers than the "amateur" grade ES-150. 298 Es-150s were shipped in 1954 but by then the numbers were in rapid decline and the final 6 sold were registered in 1956. This is a lovely instrument, a fine playing and sounding guitar that if not one of Gibson's more versatile offerings 'does what it does" perfectly.
Overall length is 42 in. (106.7 cm.), 17 in. (43.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 3 3/8 in. (8.6 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 25 1/2 in. (648 mm.). Width of nut is 1 3/4 in. (44 mm.). This is a generally well preserved guitar, showing some light wear in places but nothing too serious. The original finish is mostly quite clean, showing some typical checking and light general wear including small dings, scrapes and dents. For some reason the heaviest wear is to the headstock edges, especially the upper back edge. There are some dinks and dents to the back of the neck, the largest behind the third fret that has had some fill added.
There are no visible repairs to the instrument. All the hardware remains original except the tuners, which are correct style repros (no extra routing has been done) and one of the screws securing the truss rod cover. The original frets have been taken down just a bit in the lower positions and show almost no subsequent wear. The instrument plays beautifully and sounds as it did in 1954, a lovely period piece and a great guitar of its type. It is housed in a later 1960s gold-lined black Tolex Gibson HSC. Overall Excellent Condition.
