Please advise me about my Gibson ES 295

[humbug2]

I bought a new Gibson ES 295 in a “California Girl” case in 1956. Based on its serial number it was was manufactured 3Q 1956. I played it, but not much, for about 1 1/2 to 2 years. Since then it has been in a closet and taken out occasionally to admire and remember. This time there is a problem. The hinge on the trapeze tailpiece is broken off of the tailpiece. The only other know problem is that one of the pickups suddenly stopped working a few decades ago.

The guitar is not “like new” nor mint. But I doubt that there are very many in better condition. I even have the original strings which had very little use. I do not want to do anything that would reduce its market value as I do not expect to ever play it again other than a little messing around.

To make the guitar playable what part am I looking for? And where do I get it? The trapeze is longer than most parts I have found on the web and I have not found the hinge as a separate part.

And when its repaired should I
1) Sell it now? How?

2) Wait 1-3 years for a better economy?
Will there be as many people who know, care, and appreciate what it is as time passes?

3) Get it appraised, insured, and hang it on the wall as a showpiece?

4) Any suggestions are really appreciated.

[VintAxe]

Hi humbug2, lots of good questions.

I know what you mean about the hinged tailpiece. A few months ago one of my students brought in a Gibson 50's archtop that he found in his grandparents basement. It had stood in a couple of inches of water at some point in it's life and although the affected wood was restorable, corrosion at the hinge caused a separation of the metal. In his case, it seemed possible to weld the separated metal back together. My suggestion was that he take the instrument to a luthier in tune with vintage instruments and get expert advise about how to approach the repair.

In your case a repair may be possible, or you may need to replace the tailpiece with a vintage part from a parts guitar. There is no easy way to procure a vintage part. You are stuck watching eBay with the rest of us or you might get lucky and your luthier has the correct part lying around. Given the value of your instrument, it will be worth your time to get an opinion from an expert luthier. Hopefully your dead pickup is nothing more than a corroded volume pot.

Speaking of value your 1956 model with P-90's is worth somewhere in the ballpark of $7,000. Too bad you didn't get the itch to play guitar a couple of years later. The 1958 model ES-295's with humbuckers have approximately twice the value at $14,000.

If you want to sell, I say sell later. The vintage guitar market is depressed under the current economy, let's hope for better days.

It might be worth $50 to let Gruhn take a look at your instrument in it's current state. They may be able to advise you on the best way to approach your tailpiece problem. You have a fairly valuable instrument, you don't want to do something to drastically reduce it's value just to make it playable.

Here's a link to Gruhn's Shop, just click "appraisal" on the left side menu:

[Spud1950]

A non working pickup would be a major value deflater if the pickup is actually dead. You need to determine whether the pickup itself actually doesn't work or,as VintAxe says, it's something else,like a bad pot or maybe even the switch. If the pickup is dead,you can have it rewound,which will still knock down the value somewhat,or you can buy a year correct original,which will cost a lot,but will help retain more of the value and also make it more desirable from the buyers point of view. As far as the tail piece part you need, you can contact these vintage parts dealers and see if they might have what you need.