One of Just Fifty-Seven Natural ES-140 3/4T's Ever Made
Better Defined as a Near Mint Three-Quarter Size ES-175

1958 Gibson ES-140 3/4T.

This super rare 'natural' three-quarter size guitar weighs just 4.10 lbs. Three-ply laminated light birds-eye maple body with two 'f' holes edged in white. One-piece Honduras mahogany neck, and Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 19 original thin frets and inlaid pearl dot position 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 white plastic oval buttons. Single P-90 pickup in the neck position with a wonderfully strong output of 9.54k. 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) "T 4333 27" stamped in blue inside treble 'f' hole (stamp a little smudged). Model number "ES1403/4T" stamped in black inside bass 'f' hole. This is as close to a mint example as one could ever wish for with just the tiniest amount of light finish checking on the top and a miniscule amount of edge-wear on the top of the black-faced headstock. Most certainly the finest example that we have ever seen (actually we have only seen two others out of the 57 produced). Housed in its original Gibson, three-latch brown hardshell case with purple plush lining (9.25). The case is just like a 'Burst' case but smaller… This beautiful little guitar looks, plays and sounds amazing…

"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.

The ES-140 was offered starting in 1950 with only a sunburst finish and sold for the easily understandable price of $140.00! It was only in its last year of existence before being definitely replaced in 1956 by the 140T model that a small number of 140's with a "Natural" finish were released by the factory."  (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics - from the origins up to 1961, pp.46-49).