NGD - 1958 Gibson ES-225T

walrus

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A birth year guitar, 1958 Gibson ES-225T. This is a bit of a “belated” NGD post – I have had the guitar for over a month but for 2 weeks it was at a luthier’s for some work. The luthier, BTW, is an authorized a Guild Guitars Service Center. I had to have the nut replaced, and the tuners. Also had a strap button installed – it never had one! The nut was the original nylon nut, but the high E string was very close to the edge of the frets. He made me a new unbleached bone nut. The tuners – one in particular - were very difficult to turn, and not fixable. And personally, I’ve always liked the look of the tulip-shaped “keystone” tuners – the new ones are Klusons, as were the originals, they just dropped right in with no drilling, etc.


Why not a Guild, you ask? The main reason is the neck – I already know the thin Guild ‘50’s neck is not that comfortable for me - in fact any 1 5/8 “fast” neck I’ve tried I haven’t been able to bond with. The neck on this guitar is the same neck Gibson put on the ’50’s Les Pauls – nice and chunky, with a 1 11/16 nut width. Reminds me of the Bluesbirds I’ve had.


Sounds great unplugged as you would expect. Plugged in, the single pickup in the middle is very interesting – it definitely sounds a bit different in that position. Original P90 sounds great! I had a ’66 Epiphone Casino with this layout that was more difficult to get used to, but this one seems to be no problem ergonomically (for me at least) – no idea why, but not complaining.


Nice and light at 5.4 lbs!


Lastly, the Les Paul designed “combination bridge and tailpiece” is very cool. Has quite a bit of sustain – and it’s definitely not going to slide around like a wooden bridge might, that’s for sure!

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New tuners and nut:

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Maple back - BTW, the guitar has maple back, sides, and top with a mahogany neck

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walrus
 
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walrus

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For you guitar history buffs, here's the patent for the "Combination Bridge and Tailpiece for Stringed Instruments", designed by "Lester W. Polfuss", aka Les Paul:

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walrus
 
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Default

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Nice! I started out playing as a George Thorogood fan, so I always had a thing for thinlines.
 

Quantum Strummer

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Congrats! ES-225Ts are cool guitars…I really like the sound of a P-90 in the "middle" location. That trapeze bridge/tailpiece was also Les' design contribution to the original Les Paul goldtop model.

-Dave-
 

HeyMikey

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Congratulations, that's a classic beauty! Very sexy. I hear you on the thin Guild neck widths, that's a deal breaker for me as well. One of the reasons I sold my ES-347 was because at 9+- lbs it just got too heavy for me. What is the weight on this model?
 

shihan

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Congratulations on getting a real classic. ‘50’s Gibsons (with the fat necks) are as good as it gets. I’ll wager it’s a blast to play. Enjoy it in good health!
 

AcornHouse

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I think I have a solution to everyone’s woes. Just send all of your skinny necked guitars to me, I will make sure they are disposed of properly!
 

walrus

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Nice! I started out playing as a George Thorogood fan, so I always had a thing for thinlines.

Thanks!

Congrats! ES-225Ts are cool guitars…I really like the sound of a P-90 in the "middle" location. That trapeze bridge/tailpiece was also Les' design contribution to the original Les Paul goldtop model.

-Dave-

Right - when I was researching the model, I found an interesting story of that bridge/tailpiece. Although designed to have the strings wrap over the top, the factory wrapped them under for the first production run! I think for the ES-295, too. Everyone hated it - you couldn't palm mute! Resolved by Gibson relatively quickly if I remember right.

Nice guitar. I love those older Gibsons

Thanks!

Congratulations on getting a real classic. ‘50’s Gibsons (with the fat necks) are as good as it gets. I’ll wager it’s a blast to play. Enjoy it in good health!

You would win that wager! I just played it for a few hours today, playing around with the volume and gain. Just a touch of gain and you get that classic rock tone. Love it!

walrus
 

walrus

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Congratulations, that's a classic beauty! Very sexy. I hear you on the thin Guild neck widths, that's a deal breaker for me as well. One of the reasons I sold my ES-347 was because at 9+- lbs it just got too heavy for me. What is the weight on this model?

5.4 lbs.!

After two surgeries, I also can't use a heavy guitar - or even a "sort of heavy" one! 9+ lbs. is definitely out of the question!

walrus
 

twocorgis

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Congrats, and '58 is a birth year for me too. I came close with my '59 X175, but '58 was a recession year, and guitars of that vintage seem to be hard to find, especially Guilds. Play it in good health!
 

mavuser

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the Walrus is...Les Paul? nice grab, love those P-90s. congrats!
 

HeyMikey

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5.4 lbs seems like a really nice manageable weight. Curious to hear your future reviews on how it plays and sounds plugged in.
 

Quantum Strummer

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Right - when I was researching the model, I found an interesting story of that bridge/tailpiece. Although designed to have the strings wrap over the top, the factory wrapped them under for the first production run! I think for the ES-295, too. Everyone hated it - you couldn't palm mute! Resolved by Gibson relatively quickly if I remember right.

Yes, Gibson set the early LP goldtop necks at too shallow an angle for Les' bridge. So the strings had to wrap underneath for proper action. They made and set 'em up this way for all of 1952 and much of '53. Some of these early goldtops have neck angles that work with the strings wrapped normally (I've seen and played a '53 like this) but not many. Gibson switched to the one-piece wraparound/stop-tail bridge around the same time as they systematically corrected the neck/body joint. No-one seems to know why it took 'em so long, but my guess is they didn't expect the LP model to sell and so didn't give it much attention.

-Dave-
 
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