The ES125 and the ES335 are different types of guitars. The 125 is a hollowbody. The 335 is a semihollowbody (the first one.) A semihollow has a solid wood block filling the center part. It acts more like a solid guitar than a hollowbody. Doesn't feed back as easily as a hollowbody, which can be very troublesome at loud stage volume and/or with a lot of amp gain.
I have a friend with an original ES125. I think it has a killer tone with a clean amp. He plays mostly early electric blues with it.
B.B.'s "Lucille" is a custom ES345, BTW.
"A cheerful heart is good medicine."
Hi,
The ES125 is a fantastic guitar.
I have been seriously considering getting one myself, mostly for a slide guitar.
As Ric mentioned.... It is not a semi-hollowbody guitar.
It's fully hollow.
A friend of mine back in Il. had one and I was lucky enough to have played it.
As far as tone goes; Goerge Thorogood's main axe is a 125TCD (T=Thinline, C=Cutout, D=Dual pickups)
*they come in Wide Body, Thinline, Single/Double pup, Cutout/non Cutout versions.
As well as with non-adjustable wooden floating bridge/adjustable set bridge, Trapeze/Bigsby tailpieces.
I've seen the Great Jeremy Spencer use a 125 Wide Body for his slide guitar.
And they make excellent Jazz guitars as well.
Kent eh posted a wonderful vid.... I'll have to track it down.
As for the price.... Your best bet for an inexpensive one would be the 125T, like the one you have a link to.
125TC's and TCD's tend to be considerably more expensive.
The 125 in it's many versions, were one of the longest lasting Gibbo models; So they are quite plentiful.
Looking on Ebay, they might have you think a T is worth $1000 - $1500....
Good ones can still be had for around $700 - $800 at reputable music stores.
One thing to remember is that Gibson was sold in 1968.
So pre-68 guitars for Gibson are like Pre-65 guitars for Fender.
Post 68 Gibsons are like the CBS era for Fender.
Don't know if that 'status' means anything to you or not....
as an investment/player, a pre 68 would be best.
Ken
"The man who has begun to live more seriously within
begins to live more simply without"
-Ernest Hemingway
"A genuine individual is an outright nuisance in a factory"
-Orson Welles
Wow, thanks for the help Ken! Its interesting b/c I've seen it played recently by two different bands (Radiohead and Grizzly Bear, fyi) with some dirt, definitely not pure, clean jazzy styles. I thought it had a really interesting sound when played in styles other than jazz, blues. Anyway, I'll look around for one around 700 or so, pre '68.
Are there any copies or similar guitars (old hollow bodies, single PUP) that I should look into as well?
