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Can you guys help me with this 1952 Gibson ES-125?

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by loomis » Mon Jul 23, 2012 10:23 am

I was wondering if you guys could help me with some information about this guitar.

The serial number is Z3222 2. I think that makes it a 1952 ES-125?

My questions are this: wrong tuners, wrong truss cover, wrong bigsby, and most importantly, the body has been repainted? Or no?

There's laquer checking in the headstock but not on the body. Also, these didn't come in solid black did they? I mean even if was a custom color from the factory wouldn't there be laquer checking?

Thank you

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by VintAxe » Wed Jul 25, 2012 7:23 pm

Hi loomis.

I'm no Gibson expert but all the issues you have identified look like valid problems to me.

I've never seen that style of Grovers before but the basic design looks like a rotomatic to me. I don't think Gibson used rotomatics until the late 1950's.

The body definitely looks repainted to me. As you suggest, where is the wear and checking?

Is the guitar yours or are you thinking about buying it?
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by Spud1950 » Wed Jul 25, 2012 9:32 pm

That number is not a serial number. It's the factory order number. It does,according to the Vintage Guitar Info site indicate 1952.

"Factory Order Numbers with a Letter, 1952 to 1961.
This letter preceeds the batch number within the Factory Order Number (FON), and denotes the year of manufacturer. Remember, the batch number is the first 4 digits of the FON, followed by a 1 or 2 digit sequence number (within the batch). This letter should be before the FON batch number. This was used on archtop models (ink stamped inside treble F-hole) and on flat top models (ink stamped on the neck block), from 1952 to 1961:
Year Letter
---- ------
1952 Z
1953 Y
1954 X
1955 W
1956 V
1957 U
1958 T
1959 S
1960 R
1961 Q

The tuners are definitely not original. It originally had Kluson tuners.You can still see the impressions of the original tuner plates and original screw holes on the back on the back of your headstock. Originals looked like these.

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The tail piece was added.Never came with any sort of Bigsby. Also,the bridge is not original. Original bridge had a one piece,non adjustable wood saddle,not individually adjustable metal saddles. Truss cover looks like a replacement. As far as the paint, the only color offered I can find was tobacco sunburst. Someones "project" guitar for sure.
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by loomis » Thu Jul 26, 2012 9:33 am

Thanks guys.

I will pass on this guitar then. It's too bad it's been so heavily altered.

Yes I can see the original tuner outlines too.

Thanks again.
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by guitarist09 » Tue Aug 14, 2012 11:41 pm

nice thread! Thank you for sharing the infos guys! :D
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