Gibson ES-125 TCD / TDC... best years?

[henry_lee]

Hello folks,

Any ES-125 TDC / TCD owners out there care to share some insight?
While I lust for a 225TD, it may not be fea$ible at the moment,
so I'm strictly interested in thinline, dual pickup cutaway models
ala Marc Ribot or Thorogood.

Generally speaking, which are best? Are they all a crap shoot,
or are the pre-1965 models what one should be looking for?

Seriously, is there a cutoff point where things changed drastically?
Perhaps 65? I've owned one 50's Gibson ES-125, so I'm guessing
older is for the most part better, as long as it's a good one?

Thanks in advance!
Henry

[Hamerman]

Hi Henry, wish I could give you some advice on dates but unfortunately I'm no expert. I have a 1961 TCD (cutaway/2xP90s) and it's an astonishingly good guitar. It has great clean tones but what really surprised me was how superb it sounds through my cranked Orange amp and how little it feeds back. I own a number of custom shop Les Paul juniors and specials and I find myself playing the ES125 almost exclusively now. Great bang for the buck - vintage Gibson for less than $2000!

[shawntp]

Not sure if this helps but here is some info on the changes:
http://www.provide.net/~cfh/gibson4.html

I used to own a 1963 ES-125T (no cut away) that I picked up just to try for a few months. It was a fun guitar for certain things - it played great. I ultimately got rid of it - there was something I didn't like about the guitar not having a center block / being hollow, but this was just my taste/style that caused me to pass on to another owner.

[henry_lee]

Thanks for the replies.... it's music to my ears, exactly what I was
hoping to hear... and heck yeah, "vintage info guy" is a very generous
person for putting that info out there. I've read his site for years and years.

Anyway, I decided to pull the trigger yesterday on an early-60's Sunburst ES125-TDC.
It's now "in transit". It's pretty much stock except exact replacement tuners.

I can't wait to get it. I'll post back when it arrives :D

HL

[treeofpain]

I don't think you can go wrong - fun guitars.

[Dave Orban]

Thanks for the replies.... it's music to my ears, exactly what I was
hoping to hear... and heck yeah, "vintage info guy" is a very generous
person for putting that info out there. I've read his site for years and years.

Anyway, I decided to pull the trigger yesterday on an early-60's Sunburst ES125-TDC.
It's now "in transit". It's pretty much stock except exact replacement tuners.

I can't wait to get it. I'll post back when it arrives :D

HLPics!

Oh, and congratulations!

[RadackGuitars]

Nice. Early sixties is good.
Late sixties you need to watch out for those super narrow nut widths.

[henry_lee]

Thanks guys... will post pics once it's here.

Dave... well, you know my soft spot for vintage ES-175's,
so I figured why not try for a vintage thinline version...
the ES-125 is perfect.... modest, yet totally do-able in clubs.

I picked up a '67 Vibrolux which is getting new caps and
the whole nine yards too... I've got a show at the end of
the month so I'll get to run them both through their paces.

Can't wait!
HL