Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Does anyone here have a Gibson ES 175. I would be very interested in your comments.

I had one of these in the 80's (it was a late 50's model if I remember right), and I now wish I hadn't sold it.
Mine had a beautiful tone, I was into the pseudo Pop/Jazz revival at the time, things like the Style Council and Everything but the Girl, and it was spot on for those sort of light semi-acoustic jazzy tones. But as I got back into rock music in the late 80's it was goodbye Gibson hello Rickenbacker!
My only beef with the model I had, and this is probably more down to my playing style than anything else, was I used to catch my shirt cuff on the pick guard if I was strumming too vigorously, so I had it taken off.
I might have a picture somewhere that I can dig out.

Great guitar though.

I have always wanted one, but it'll most likely have to wait until I get out of college. Incredible-sounding guitars for jazz and certain types of rock, but prone to feedback if turned up too loud/played with lots of distortion (not that you'd want to use it that way). I've played several at music stores and it seems like the older models are just more lively and resonant than the new ones, which are a bit more 'dead'-sounding due to a tendency towards thick finishes/overgluing. The new ones do have the '57 Classic humbuckers, though, which are amazing smooth-sounding pickups.

The Herb Ellis ES-165 is also a good model to consider, as it has a floating mini-humbucker and the top isn't cut into.

http://www.fullersguitar.com/component/ ... Itemid,27/

Epiphone made a cool version too, called the Zephyr Regent, but it was discontinued. The regular Epi ES-175 does not cut it, IMO.

I'ma get my ES-175 in Wine Red someday...

dpowell wrote: I'ma get my ES-175 in Wine Red someday...

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Beautiful looking guitar! I've never seen that finish.

My model was the single pick-up version in a very abused natural finish. I still got £1500 for it back in 1988 though.

The Blues man that lives up my road has an original 1961 ES-175...unmodded and everything. I played it at one point, and it sounded GREAT! Rather than the neck pickup that everyone uses, I tried the bridge position and got some good tones for "Day Tripper", "You Really Got Me", "Not Fade Away" and "Won't Get Fooled Again"

JakeK wrote:The Blues man that lives up my road

Thanks everyone. I am grateful for your impressions and your humour.

The best guitar I have ever played bar none was a 64 es-175. It was in a high priced vintage guitar shop (in about 1990) and it was $5,500. Once playing it I thought it was worth every cent!
It would be priced at something like $20,000 now.. so you wouldn't dare play it...
No wonder Steve Howe could never get past his one!

Eden.

A friend of mine owns one that he just leaves lying around in his office (at work). I have played it but never plugged it in.

Here's a nice vintage example in a shop around my neck of the woods:
http://www.folkwaymusic.com/instruments/electric.html

Steve: Very nice. The P-90 variant before the transition to the humbuckers. A pricey piece of kit.

Here's another with P90s that is priced a bit lower: http://www.elderly.com/vintage/names/gi ... U-4327.htm

Another vote here for the P-90s, Peter. They're not just for rock 'n' roll, either. You can muddy them up for pop and jazz sounds. And on a 175 - that would be special

I've got a '51....It's been modified quite a bit...was originally a single p90 rig, and is now a 2 p90 set up. It's been refinished, but has many original parts. i got it for a good price, so I won't get hurt if I ever decide to sell it. It makes many different sounds! Makes me realize how sensitive hollow bodies can be!

Mark: if you have an mp3 of you playing it I would love to hear it.