Peggy Sue Meets Bad to the Bone.

1956 Gibson ES-225TD.

This 'first year' single 'Florentine' cutaway, 16 inch wide thinline guitar weighs just 6.00 lbs. Laminated birds-eye maple top, laminated maple back and sides, single-bound on the top and the back. One-piece mahogany neck with a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches, a nut width of 1 11/16 inches and a wonderful and typically '56 thick neck profile. Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 20 original thin frets and inlaid pearl dot position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo. Two-layer (black on white) plastic truss-rod cover with two screws. Individual single-line Kluson Deluxe tuners with white plastic oval buttons and "2356766 / Pat Appld." stamped on the underside. Serial number "V 7799 4" stamped in black inside the treble f-hole. Two wonderfully resonant P-90 pickups with outputs of 7.84k and 8.84k and black plastic covers, each one stamped on the underside "UC-450-1 1", the bridge pickup cover with an additional black plastic 'spacer'. Five-layer (black over white) plastic pickguard with side mounting bracket and treble-side neck pin. Four controls (two volume, two tone) on lower treble bout, plus three-way pickup selector switch on upper bass bout. Gold plastic bell-shaped "Bell" knobs. Les Paul combination trapeze bridge/tailpiece. All hardware nickel-plated. This guitar is in near mint (9.25) condition. Apart from some minor finish checking and two tiny marks on the back of the neck, this totally original, first year example, is as good as one could ever wish for. Housed in its Original Gibson brown four-latch hardshell case (same as an ES-335) with pink plush lining (9.00).

"Introduced in 1955, the ES-225T [with one P-90 pickup] was the first thinline electric to be produced in sizeable quantities. A dual pickup version was subsequently marketed in 1956 and both models remained in production until 1959 at which point they were, at least according to Gibson brochures, replaced by the ES-330T/TD. In fact, the ES-125TC/TCD later emerged as the true successors of the ES-225T/TD…The overall shape and construction of the ES-225 can be likened to a thin-body ES-175. The model is primarily characterized by its Les Paul combination bridge/tailpiece which in 1955 was fitted only to the all-gold ES-295. The ES-225T was the first Gibson electric to be issued with a single pickup placed half-way between the fingerboard and the bridge." At the outset, the ES-225T was offered in sunburst finish only but when the two pickup ES-225TD was introduced in 1956, a natural finish was also offered. (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, p. 229).

The total production run of ES-225TDs between 1956 and 1959 was 2,212 guitars, with only 205 of them made in the first year of 1956, and selling then at a modest $244.50. Many great guitarists currently use an ES-225TD, including "The Wild Man" of Rock, Ted Nugent, and the "Bad to the Bone" George Thorogood, but back in the fifties, one of the better-known advocates was Niki Sullilvan of Buddy Holly and The Crickets.