The guitar is in incredible shape for its age. It has never had any breaks or repairs. There is a bunch of lacquer checking all over the body and a very small amount of cosmetic wear to the body and top of the headstock. There was once a second strap pin added to the heel of the neck. It can all the seen clearly in the photo set.
The original pickups have clearly had their covers removed and replaced at some stage, but still have their original wiring to the original enclosed pots so have not been swapped out. The pickups read 7.53k at the neck and 7.67k at the bridge.
The tuning pegs have been replaced with vintage correct Kluson ones due to the originals getting a little stiff. The original pegs are included in the sale.
This guitar was bought in 2016 from Phil Harris who was closing his guitar hire business on his retirement. According to Phil, this guitar was originally purchased new by a US serviceman who took it with him on his US based training (hence the additional reference number engraved below the serial number on the back of the headstock). When he was deployed to Vietnam, the guitar stayed in the US. Unfortunately, he did not return from Vietnam and his family kept the guitar for many years before putting it in the hands of a US dealer. Phil imported the guitar into the UK from this dealer as he had been asked by Frank Sinatra’s management team to provide an ES-175 amongst the equipment they hired for Sinatra’s final UK tour. Phil included this guitar in his article on alternatives to the ES-335 for the publication “The Gibson Archtop Bible” (Anthem Publishing 2015).
The guitar comes with a non-original hard case.
Collection from our shop in St Albans or can be sent via a fully tracked and insured courier.
All UK based orders are sent via a 24hr, fully tracked and insured courier service.
For international orders please allow 7-10 days for your guitar to arrive.
