1959 Gibson ES 175D Natural Holy Grail PAF’s Gibson hang tag (shown in pic). This one is the cleanest one I ever saw and judging by the two for sale on now by reputable dealers both asking about $40,000 for a “good condition” one not nearly as clean or all original or barely played at all like this one. This is one of 37 natural ES175D sold in 1959.
Yes, the “other” Holy Grail 1959 Gibson in this condition is about $500,000.00 now and climbing.
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FON is S 9774. 17 which indicates 1959
The serial number is A 30772 which indicates 1959
Case with Gibson brass tag on it is original with slight antique odor which the guitar is not stored in. I did spray it with ozone and closed it tight. The case comes with the original key and key envelope with a Gibson hang tag. As Paul Mc…says “ When I’m 64” as this one is just about 64 years old.
This guitar was bought by me (8/19/2005) from a world-famous guitar builder who lived 2 miles from me. His name was A. Loprinzi the original owner who barely played it. I will throw the original cash receipt from him in the case in case anyone is interested in the guitar’s history.
There was 643 Les Paul Standards made in 1959.
We believe this ES 175D N is one of 37 made in 1959
Gibson did not even put the 1959 NATURAL finish ES 175D in the catalog as there was a 10% up charge for them and from what we can see only 37 of them went out. Some sources say the last 5 went out not 37. Either way I believe this guitar is a “sleeper” meaning the value will climb dramatically like my Trini Lopez or Travis Bean did. This is the next most popular guitar from 1959 after the Les Pauls…
About the guitar
The only things I need to point out are:
The guitar looks better than the pics if anything, but the pictures tell the story as this one was truly an “Unda Da Bed” find .
Tuners are original and in the bag in the case as shown in the pics. I pulled off the original tuners as the heads are shrunken and I did not want to disturb anything. (see pics)
The neck is flawless on the back except for a scuff scratch not thru the paint as shown
I put on some 80’s replacement Gibson Deluxe tuners but left the original grummets on the guitar. I used the new screws as they fit perfectly but put the original tuners and original screws in the bag which will be in the case. The guitar is all original.
There is a blemish from the original owner leaving the guitar in the case on the bottom bout side of the guitar between volume and tone…looks like a slight shadow as shown in the pic.
There is a repaired chip on top of the guitar above tuners that does not affect anything as you can see. It is not noticeable from the front and barely from the back. I believe the pics show and answer any questions about that. If not for that the guitar would be almost mint all over…
For the last 19 years this guitar has been in a sealed show case temperature controlled.
Professional setup
Guitar was cleaned polished and set up currently with 10’s
Brazilian rosewood fret board was cleaned and lemon oiled.
All electronics tested and working perfect.
Action is set low and plays so easy up and down the neck.
Neck is perfectly straight.
The truss rod looks untouched but works perfectly.
Very little to no fret wear at all see pics.
Guitars Weight 6 lbs. 9.5 ounces
Scale Length 24 3/4
Nut width. 1 11/16th
Neck is Full C
In addition to being a premier jazz box, the 1959 ES-175 made a great rock and roll guitar with the coveted late 50’s neck profile. The fully hollow body can induce some feedback if you get too close to a loud amp. Get it just right, though, and there are sweet, singing, sustaining tones to be had when it’s plugged into a cranked-up tube amp.
There’s plenty of bite from the bridge humbucker, too, as was ably demonstrated by Creedence Clearwater Revival’s John Fogerty, YES guitarist Steve Howe and Guns N’ Roses’ Izzy Stradlin, Pat Methany, Pat Martino, Joe Pass, Howard Roberts, Kenny Burrell and countless others.
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