1960 Gibson ES-175DN

Gibson's first Florentine cutaway electric model, the ES-175, was introduced in 1949 as a single P-90 equipped guitar, and the double-pickup variant was added to the catalogue in 1953. With the advent of the Humbucker in 1957, Gibson updated the ES-175 to feature its newly developed hum-cancelling pickups. ES-175s were made available in both Sunburst and Natural finishes, with examples of the former shipping in far greater numbers. Of the 456 ES-175D guitars recorded to have shipped in 1960, only a quarter of them featured a natural lacquer finish like the one offered here.

An amazingly well-preserved example of an ES-175DN, this guitar is nearly all original and remains in excellent-plus condition. The guitar’s PAF pickups are unmodified and unopened, the potentiometers are sealed in shielding cartons with unbroken original solder joints. The only replaced parts on the guitar are reproduction tuner buttons and a period-correct tailpiece that we transplanted from a damaged 1959 ES-175 we’ve had for a while. The patina on the tailpiece perfectly matches that of the pickup covers, making the change impossible to detect without disassembly.

The original PAF pickups are particularly hot, reading 8.5K in the bridge position and 8.7k in the neck. Each pickup delivers a harmonically rich and open voice with excellent clarity, dynamics, and depth. With a wonderfully full and round neck profile that measures 0.902" at the first fret and 0.992" at the ninth, this guitar reminds us why we shouldn't generalize neck profiles by year. The carve is quite reminiscent of the statistically larger neck profile from the 1957- 1959 era. The original frets show some moderate wear in the first position, but the guitar plays well across the fingerboard. A player who prefers tall frets may want to refret the guitar in the future, but we opted to leave that decision to the buyer.

This 1960 Gibson ES-175DN's body features an "S" prefix factory order number designating that the build began in 1959. The guitar shows a number of 1959 features, including the large neck profile, factory original small frets, and amber bonnet knobs.

Scale length of 24-3/4", nut width just shy of 1-11/16", 1st fret depth of 0.902", 9th fret depth of 0.992", weight of 6lbs 12oz. Full hollow-body construction with laminate body, mahogany neck, and rosewood fingerboard and bridge.

With original hardshell case.

**USD Price includes Shopify fees