Gibson ES-175D Sunburst, 1967

The Gibson ES-175D was the most common variant of this workhorse archtop, and first appeared in 1953. The D indicated Double Pickups, and the original single pickup version was made in smaller numbers until 1971. The ES-175 was produced from 1949 until 2017, and appeared on countless stages and recordings.

Based on a single cutaway, 16.25 inch wide but full depth arched-top F hole body, the ES-175 uses Maple laminates for the body, which improves feedback rejection. The neck is Mahogany with a bound Rosewood fingerboard, and the position markers are a split-parallelogram design. The traditional floating bridge is Rosewood.

Here we’re looking at a very nicely preserved Gibson ES-175D built during 1967 at the Gibson plant in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It has to be one of the cleanest examples, for its age, I’ve seen in a long time. The electronics and tailpiece are original and have no real corrosion or plating wear. Fret wear is light.

The finish has very little marking, with one exception – there is a small area on the back near the tail block, where a strap reacted with the finish and there is a slight ‘stippling’ effect. This would have had to have happened many years ago.

This guitar is provided with a Calton flight case in place of its original.