Introduced in 1941 the ES-125 was an entry-level electric archtop. It had a single P-90 pickup in the neck position, a single volume control and a single tone control. The pre-war model, discontinued in 1942, had a smaller 14.5" body. When reintroduced in 1946 it had the larger 16.25" wide body that the ES-150 had. In the mid-1950s, the ES-125T was introduced, which was an entry-level thinline archtop electric guitar based on the original ES-125. Later versions during the ‘60s had optional double P-90 pickups and a florentine cutaway. While the original deep-body ES-125 was very popular in the ‘50s, by the mid ‘60s production was mainly focussed on the thinline ES-125T, TC, and TDC models.

This ES-125TDC from 1967 is in excellent condition and plays and sounds great. It was refretted professionally with jumbo frets. This guitar has an unusual bridge for an ES-125: while most of these guitars came with a wooden archtop bridge this guitar has a tune-o-matic bridge that was mounted directly into the top, similar to an ES-330. The original bridge has been replaced with a Gotoh TOM. When we opened up the guitar we found bright blue tape around the bridge P90 coil, so we suspect it might have been rewound. Unfortunately the original pickguard went missing but the guitar looks great without it.

Strung up with .011 strings this guitar has a beautiful dry acoustic tone that also comes across well when plugged in. The P90 pickups sound great, they are not too hot and offer great detail and clarity. Thanks to the limited depth of the guitar it also works great with some gain added. The raw and edgy tone is great for slide, old-skool blues/roots/jazz styles.

Specifications:

• Serial number: 0686XX
• Potentiometer dates: wk??/'65, wk28/'66
• Tuners: Double Line Kluson machineheads
• Modifications: pickguard is missing, original bridge replaced with Gotoh TOM, new frets, possibly rewound bridge P90
• Case: TKL hardshell case for 335 size guitars