Gibson 1952 ES 175 Sunburst Archtop Guitar L5 24 3/4″ scale (Vintage Staple pickup,Ebony fretboard, L5 inlays & HS)

Product Description

This guitar was owned by a collector who was very passionate about archtops and about jazz. His favorite archtops were vintage gibson L5’s and L4’s. So naturally he owned all the Gibson carved models Johnny Smith, Gibson L5 , Gibson L4 models. He also loved other Gibson models and had a Vision – His guitars had to be Gibsons and variations of these models because only jazz was going to be played with these models and he believed these were Gibsons best. He also favored thinner body guitars, and loved many of the other Gibsons models. Driven by his love for these two specific Gibson models all his guitars would be variations of these two models. he commissioned a talented Luthier to convert some of his many vintage Gibson L5s and L4s to the specs of the other Gibson models that are not traditionally Jazz Guitars and make a jazz version of other Gibson models. He would start with a vintage L5 or vintage L4 and design the guitars of his dreams. Every guitar was sent to his luthier with a specific description of his intentions, and he also required each guitar to be checked thoroughly first for any needed repairs so that it was structurally perfect and to his standards. The workmanship is excellent. Everything had to be the best possible.

This 1952 es175 is another special unique Gibson archtop from our recently acquired collection. Born as a 1952 es175, the body has not been modified but  a new L5 neck  was added, and the ebony fretboard, feels, sounds and plays amazing. This collector referred to this guitar as the Sasha Distal Guitar and his only 175 in his collection. I have never been a big fan of 175’s until I played and heard this one. Great acoustic tone, fabulous full fat amplified tone with clarity and character. This is definitely one of the best archtops that we have ever had in the shop. Normally 175’s are good at everything and great at nothing. This one is great at everything. This was confirmed by some of the pro players that played this in the shop. When trying to ascertain the value of this one, it was agreed that a 175 this good, from this era, is worth close to $10k.The players said that this was worth much more based on its performance. We guarantee you will never play one with better tone and clarity that this on.  We will do our best to answer your questions and consider reasonable offers.

Vintage 1952 Gibson es175  in great condition, and displays only the light natural play wear one would expect from a well loved, well cared for and babied instrument of this age.  The L5 neck is gorgeous and looks and feels new. The Ebony board is very articulate and a joy under the fingers, and s just a pleasure to play. The body is delightfully resonant and the guitar is really quite loud acoustically, due to the quality old woods and fully hollow design. There is something about the fit of these old gibsons that just jumps out at you; so finger friendly! She will be perfect for the professional studio, player or even collector for whom the real this really matters. Plays like a dream, no repairs needed. This guitar fills up a room from the first note!

Fingerboard: Ebony L5 Neck with L5 inlays, and headstock
Figured woods: Figured maple top and back
Fingerboard binding: shouts Gibson with Bound fret edges
Truss rod: Historic truss rod
Pickups: One P90
Bridge: Original compensated Rosewood
Finish: High-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer -Scale: 24 3/4, 1.66″ Nut, 2.05″ at the 12th fret

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