Better Defined as an Exceptionally Fine, Three-Quarter Size ES-175

1956 Gibson ES-140T 3/4

This super three-quarter size guitar weighs just 4.00 lbs. Double-bound, 12 3/4 inch wide, 1 3/4 inch deep, three-ply laminated maple body with two 'f' holes edged in brown. One-piece Honduras mahogany neck, and Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 19 original thin frets and inlaid pearl dot position markers and white side dot markers. Black faced headstock with gold silkscreened "Gibson" logo and single-layer bell-shaped black plastic truss-rod cover secured by two screws. Three-in-a-line Kluson DeLuxe 'single-line' closed-back strip tuners with (later) white plastic oval buttons. Single P-90 pickup in the neck position with a wonderfully strong output of 10.44k. Original black plastic pickup cover secured by two screws with "UC-450-1/1" on underside. Tortoiseshell pickguard secured to body by two screws. Two controls (one volume, one tone) on lower treble bout. Gold plastic bell-shaped knobs. Rosewood bridge with pre-set compensating saddle on rosewood base and trapeze tailpiece with raised 'diamond' on cross-bar. Serial number (Factory Order Number) "V 6776 5" stamped in black inside treble 'f' hole. Model number "ES1403/4T" feintly stamped in black inside bass 'f' hole. There is a small mark on the face of the headstock by the 'G' tuner, a few tiny indentations (from a capo) on the back of the neck just behind the first four frets. A very pretty example of this pretty little guitar in exceptionally fine (9.00) condition. Housed in the original Gibson three-latch, shaped 'aligator' softshell case with brown felt lining (9.00).

"… In 1956, a "thin line" version of the Three Quarter Size  ES-140 introduced in 1950 was made available with a 1 3/4" thick body which almost perfectly gave it the appearance of an acoustic Les Paul Junior. Unlike the the ES-140, the ES-140T was offered from 1956 both in a "Sunburst" and a "Natural" finish, respectiveley at the price of $185 and $200." (A.R. Duchossoir. Gibson Electrics, pp. 116/117).

"A new model, nevertheless, made its appearance in 1950, it was the ES-140, which would be better defined as a smaller size 175! As a matter of fact the Gibson literature of that time initially introduced the ES-140 as a "Three Quarter Size" ES-175.

Compared to the 175's 16 1/4" x 20 1/4" dimensions, the 140 had the relatively unusual size of 12 1/16" x 17 1/4" (original dimensions, later to be widened to 12 3/4"). The proportions however, were the same as well as the sharp Florentine cutaway.

The ES-140 was a guitar intended for young guitarists or for adults with small hands, as it provided a "short" neck with a 22 3/4" scale length compared to 24 3/4" for an ES-175 or 25 1/2" for an ES-350…

The fingerboard of the 140 still had 19 frets and its neck joined the body at the fourteenth fret. Except for a shorter trapeze shaped tailpiece and smaller "F"holes, the 140 had a single coil pick-up with volume and tone controls identical to the ones on the 175.