Introduced at the NAMM show in July of 1955, the ES-225T has the distinction of being Gibson's first Thinline guitar. This newly designed hollow-body instrument featured 1-7/8" deep and 16" wide fully hollow body with a single cutaway and a 14 fret neck joint. The model made use of the Les Paul’s trapeze combination bridge/tailpiece - a unit that worked far better on the ES-225 than on the early Les Paul guitars on account of the 225's correct neck angle. The model was equipped with a powerful P-90 pickup positioned in the middle of the body and shimmed up for optimal string to pickup height. The ES-225T lasted a mere four years in the Gibson catalogue as it was replaced in 1959 by the ES-330T.

An exceptionally clean example of an ES-225T, this 1957 model boasts a beautifully preserved and incredibly handsome sunburst finish. Apart from reproduction tuning machines, the guitar is completely original with all hardware intact and in excellent condition. The original frets show minimal play wear and the guitar plays cleanly across the fingerboard. A strap button hole on the neck heel has been plugged, with a localized drop-fill finish touch up making the repair nearly invisible.

Equipped with an excellent sounding "dog-ear" P-90 pickup (7.8K), this ES-225T offers a wonderfully warm and rich voice with clear definition and articulation. The powerful pickup pushes the front end of an amplifier beautifully but cleans up nicely as the volume knob is rolled back.

While we tend to shy away from generalizations such as "the perfect neck profile," the round and full carve of the neck on this '57 Gibson is about as close to perfection as one could ever hope to achieve. With its 1-11/16" nut width, neck depth that tapers from 0.911" at the 1st fret to 0.986" 12th and full shoulders that up the first fret circumference to 2.75", the neck profile on this ES-225T is nothing short of heavenly.

Scale length of 24.75". Weight of 5lbs 10oz.

With hardshell case