1942 Gibson ES 150 Hollowbody with Vintage EH 150 Gibson Amp

[Leighton Bain]

1942 Gibson es 150 and EH 150 amp ( I think late 30's early 40s)

I recently received this amazing combo as a generous gift and am curious what it is worth. The guitar has a few cracks and is not pristine b.c of that, but otherwise plays amazing and sounds great. The amp works 100%.

If you can take a moment to see the pics and help me out... I am a bit in the dark and in need of an experts info!

www.photobucket.com/leightonbain

Thanks,

New member - Leighton

[theehman]

That's a nice set. The pickup on the ES150 looks more like a Japanese pickup that was added later. All the ES-150 pics I found showed one pickup in the neck position but it didn't look anything like that one. Is there an actual tag on the guitar that says ES-150?

[VintAxe]

Hi Leighton,

The amplifier appears to be exactly as you describe. Here is a picture from the Gibson AA catalog of 1939 and a picture of your amp. They match nicely.








However, the guitar does not appear to be a ES-150. Again, here is the ES-150 pictured in the AA catalog and a couple of pictures of your guitar:







Ron's point about the pickup is accurate. Not only is it in the wrong place, but it doesn't look like a Gibson pup. The other thing that confuses me about the guitar is the logo. I am not a Gibson expert but both the script and orientation of the logo on the headstock doesn't look right. The logos of this era that I'm familiar with use a looped G and are oriented diagonally across the top of the headstock. Refer to the script used on your amp logo, the guitar script should look about the same. Notice how the script of your logo differs and is oriented horizontally. I'm sure this alone is enough to tell a Gibson expert what's going on here, but like I say, I'm not a Gibson expert.

I'm wondering if the guitar is an acoustic carve top in which someone has added a pup. There are numerous differences between the ES-150 in the catalog and your guitar. I think the Gibson AA catalog was used from 1939 til the war, so it is unlikely that the differences are due to different model years.

Does anyone out there know whether Gibson every used a logo like this and perhaps the years in which it was used. I think this will be key to learning something about your guitar Leighton. For now, all I can say is I don't believe it is an ES-150.

[Leighton Bain]

Thanks so much for your helps folks... I have been struggling with some of the same points that you mentioned. I cannot seem to find another guitar online that matches this model, since I am no expert that is really the only method I have at this point...

Any that is well versed with vintage Gibsons, your help would be much appreciated in helping identify the year and estimated value of the instrument

PS: Any Ideas of what the amp would sell for? - it is in great working order

Cheers,

Leighton

[Leighton Bain]

I just got off the line with a Gibson rep that sent me this info that I am pretty sure describes my guitar... it tells that after prior to 1941 the ES 125 was called ES 100 and had this odd but original pick up - rectangular with poles... Telling each year what the ES 125 looked like and how it changed... I will keep down this avenue but at this point I am thinking its a ES 100 1940....

ES-100/ES-125

14 ¼ “ wide, X braced carved spruce top, flat back, blade pick-up with white rectangular housing, jack on side, some with 2 sound posts inside, single bound top and back, rosewood fingerboard, dot inlay, silkscreen logo, no peghead ornament, sunburst finish.

Introduced as ES-100: 1938

Rectangular metal covered pick-up with adjustable poles, pick-up in bridge position: 1940
ES-100 renamed ES-125: 1941

Anyone with any info about ES 100's or the Gibson cursive ??

LB

[VintAxe]

Hmmm, the description of the 1940 ES-100 does sound like your instrument. Have you measured yours to see if it is 14 1/4 inches?

I'm still a bit stuck on the logo issue. Here is a discussion of logo styles and I see nothing that matches or describes your logo:




As far as value goes, the Blue Book of Amplifiers suggests a value between $750 - $1,000 USD for an EH-150 amplifier in Excellent condition.

For the ES-100 guitar:

Ex+ (95%) = $1,250
Exc (90%) = $975
VG+ (80%) = $850
VG (70%) = $725
G (60%) = $600

[Spud1950]

First of all, from 1940-1942, the ES-150 pickup was changed from the Charlie Christian blade neck pickup to the metal covered Silver Sound pickup in the bridge position, just like in your guitar. These are much more rarely seen then the earlier Christain or later P-90 pickup eqipped ES-150 guitars,so, it can't be said that yours is definitely not an ES-150. Scroll down this page to "ES-150".





Secondly,the ES-100 has a differently shaped,smaller body.As you can see, yours is rounded at the bottom while the ES-100 is much flatter.








The ES-125 is very similar, however I can find no indication that it ever came with anything else but a P-90 in the neck postion. Also,different style tailpiece.



Anway,based all this , I believe you do indeed have a rarely seen 1940-1942 ES-150. Not being an expert, I would seriously suggest that you get a $50 online identification and appraisal from Gruhn Guitars, the recognized expert on vintage guitars. Go here and click on Appraisal for details.It's well worth the $50 to find out for sure.

[VintAxe]

As usual, excellent advice Spud1950. I think we are looking at something a bit unusual here and I think Gruhn would be an excellent Gibson expert to sort the whole thing out. In addition to determining the exact year/model of your guitar, Gruhn will be able to provide you with a more accurate value estimate than you are going to get from a Price Guide. Well worth the $50 investment.

If you decide to send pictures of your guitar to Gruhn for appraisal Leighton, please report back to this thread what he had to say.

[Leighton Bain]

You guys seriously Rock and the fact that you took a few minutes to look up some info and help me out is amazing.

I am thinking now that I read the last post and check the link telling of the 1942 es 150 having pole pick up included makes me sway back to the ES 150 side....

I may take your suggestion and get an appraisal soon.

Cheers and thanks again,

LB

[VintAxe]

Thanks to Dave W over at the Vintage Guitar Forum I think we can shuffle one more step forward. He has found a 1942 ETG-150 Tenor guitar with the PUP in the bridge position and the same script on the Gibson logo. Here are pictures and a description of the guitar:







TG - 00067 1942 Gibson ETG-150 Electric Archtop Tenor Guitar EXC This is a rare example of the early transitional pickup as Gibson improved on the large and cumbersome Charlie Christian blade pickup moving toward the P-90. This one has four adjustable screw/poles. We've got the classic Gibson sunburst top and maple back and sides, all crack free. Finish is original as are all parts including the Kluson Deluxe tuning pegs. Fat and funky pearl Gibson script inlaid in the headstock. Nice and clean with light normal wear even around the jack area. And ... great old original hard shell case that is a bit beat but worth a bundle these days as it is also appropriate for a 16" L-5 or a D-28 of similar vintage. This guitar plays and sounds fantastic and the neck is straight and the frets are good. Price: $3995.00 Please go to my actual real web site at http://www.vintageinstruments.com to work with a better interface and see better pictures and find out about payment methods and approval periods and all that stuff.

[Spud1950]

The saga continues. I did the logical thing and sent an email to Gibson outlining the debate going on about this guitar and a link to Leighton's Photobucket page. I know others who have gotten info from them about such things, so we'll see if they get back with a definate answer about this.

[Leighton Bain]

Well that tenor model looks VERY similar other than the obvious string and size difference... even the coloring on the top and back...

I called Gibson today and they were quite helpful but inaccurate... so maybe we can narrow in one step at a time.

PS - you guys seriously rock .

I respect the hunger that I am sensing in each and every post.

Much appreciated again and again,

LB

[Spud1950]

I think your best bet at this point is to have Gruhn have a look at it.

[theehman]

[VintAxe]