Gibson ES-175D Archtop Electric Sunburst, 1955

The Gibson ES-175D was formally introduced in 1953 as the Double P-90 pickup version of the single-pickup ES-175. Informally, a few were shipped in 1951 and 1952 but without the ‘D’ designation. This guitar came onto the scene in 1949 as a single pickup archtop with a sharp Florentine cutaway, Maple laminate body construction, Mahogany neck and Rosewood bridge and bound fingerboard. At the time, pretty much everyone who used ‘Rosewood’ sourced it from Central South America.

This Gibson ES-175D in the standard Sunburst finish is in very good, clean and original condition. And as a 1955 model, it has its two original P-90 pickups. The neck pickup cover has a crack, but this does not impair its function. The original finish is in good condition with a lovely patina and expected natural finish checking, and one or two small chips. At some time the lower treble side cracked at the output jack – a relatively common occurrence – and this was professionally repaired with an excellent touchup. The nickel-plated tailpiece is somewhat oxidized, and the original Kluson tuners work well.

Fret wear is light, with some indications that the fingerboard was refretted some time ago; the binding ‘nubs’ no longer cover the ends of the frets. It plays cleanly with a clear, rounded and well defined acoustic tone partly due to its Rosewood bridge and it is presently strung with round-wounds.

And older but not original hard shell case is included.

When the Gibson ES-175 was introduced, the most popular electric archtop at the time was the ES-150, with carved spruce top and carved Maple back. The laminate construction of the new ES-175 was not only more affordable at a not-coincidental price of $175, but also offered better feedback resistance.

The Gibson ES-175D design variant quickly became very popular, outstripping the single pickup version. It was very influential and remained as a standard, workhorse guitar for musicians of many genres. The single pickup ES-175 version was discontinued in 1971, with the ES-175D (for Double pickup) itself discontinued in 2019.