❌SOLD❌ Gibson ES225T Thinline Archtop Electric Sunburst, 1958

Introduced in 1955 and built until 1959, the Gibson ES225T was one of the first three new Thinline guitars with the Byrdland and the ES-350T. The ES-225T had the lowest price of the three and used the Les Paul trapeze tailpiece. Most models sported a single P-90 pickup in the middle position, though from 1956 to 1959 the ES-225TD – thinline and double pickup – was available. Both of these versions were discontinued shortly after the 1958 introduction of the very popular ES-335 and ES-355; the ES-345 appeared in 1959.

The Gibson ES225T uses a laminate Maple body with Florentine cutaway, paired with a one piece Mahogany neck, and has a bound Rosewood fingerboard. Visually, it can look like the ES-125T (introduced in 1956) but the ES125T had an unbound fingerboard, standard archtop style wooden bridge and tailpiece, and a single P90 pickup in the neck position.

Here we’re looking at a Gibson ES225T, with a few hardware changes. The original Kluson Deluxe tuners have been replaced with Grover Roto-Matics, and the original combination Les Paul Trapeze bridge/tailpiece has been replaced with a standard Ebony archtop style bridge and a standard, gold coloured Trapeze tailpiece. The bridge base has discreet initials, N and P, on the ‘wings’. The single, middle position P90 rests on a wooden pedestal to bring it closer to the strings. The finish is the original nitrocellulose lacquer Sunburst, and while it has expected lacquer checking is in good condition. Long ago, there was a strap pin mounted on the bass side near the heel, and this was removed and touched up very well. The frets are original, and are quite low, but the guitar plays cleanly. There is some fingerboard wear particularly in the low positions.

We’ve dated this  Gibson ES225T example to 1958, but there is no visible serial or FON (Factory Order Number). There were no significant changes over the course of production, so we have chosen a late date.

A non original hard shell case is included.