1959-60 Gibson ES-225TD
This is an unusual little puppy! It's an ES-225, but with a Bigsby and no trapeze tailpiece. It also has
parallelogram inlays. The serial number indicates 1960 even though Gibson supposedly stopped making these in 1959.
Could it be an ES-175? Maybe, I've never finished tracking that possibility down. Here's what the ebay seller had to say:
"Here's a very nice and quite rare old Gibson ES-225 from the golden age of 1960. You say Gibson quit making this model in 1959? All the books say that but this one has a Factory Order Number (FON) of 84981 ink stamped inside the treble F-hole. Look it up and you will get 1960!! In addition, it has FACTORY ORIGINAL pearl parallelogram inlays in the rosewood fretboard. Must have been ordered that way. I guarantee the binding is original, and as you know, or if you don't I will tell you.... one cannot replace the fretboard without replacing the binding. Furthermore, the inlays could not have been replaced, since the dot inlays on all other ES-225's are in the center, which would be BETWEEN the parallelogram inlays. A rare guitar indeed!!"
At any rate, the pickups, tuners, and knobs are replacement parts, and there is some overspray on the neck. But this guitar is PLAYABLE! I've even used it on acoustic gigs.
Could it be an ES-175? Maybe, I've never finished tracking that possibility down. Here's what the ebay seller had to say:
"Here's a very nice and quite rare old Gibson ES-225 from the golden age of 1960. You say Gibson quit making this model in 1959? All the books say that but this one has a Factory Order Number (FON) of 84981 ink stamped inside the treble F-hole. Look it up and you will get 1960!! In addition, it has FACTORY ORIGINAL pearl parallelogram inlays in the rosewood fretboard. Must have been ordered that way. I guarantee the binding is original, and as you know, or if you don't I will tell you.... one cannot replace the fretboard without replacing the binding. Furthermore, the inlays could not have been replaced, since the dot inlays on all other ES-225's are in the center, which would be BETWEEN the parallelogram inlays. A rare guitar indeed!!"
At any rate, the pickups, tuners, and knobs are replacement parts, and there is some overspray on the neck. But this guitar is PLAYABLE! I've even used it on acoustic gigs.