1959 Gibson ES-140 3-4 T Archtop Thinline Guitar SOLD

Like all instrument manufacturers, Gibson was always on the lookout for ways to increase their market. With the Gibson ES-140 3/4 archtop electric guitar, this meant producing a 3/4 size archtop with a shorter fingerboard - the scale length is 22.75 inches, a full two inches less than the standard Gibson scale length. And of course, the body is considerably smaller than the ES-175 that it's patterned after.

Gibson introduced the ES-140 3/4 in 1950 as a 3/4 size but full depth guitar, and it was produced until 1956. For 1957, the Gibson ES-140 3/4 T shifted to a thinline design, and this was built until 1968.

The Gibson ES-140 3/4 T features bound laminate maple construction for the body, with an unbound mahogany neck and rosewood for the fingerboard and bridge. A single P-90 pickup is paired with a volume and tone control, with the output jack on the side, and a trapeze tailpiece holds the strings. The faux tortoise pickguard is intact and original. A strap pin has been added to the upper bout. On this 1959 example, all the parts (except the strings!) are original and in good working order.

Shorter scale electrics are not extremely common, but are not unusual; the Gibson Byrdland has a 23.5 inch scale (on a full-size body) and the Rickenbacker 325, played with some success by John Lennon, has a scale length of only 20.75 inches.