"Bad to the Bone"

This very lightweight 16-inch-wide guitar weighs just 4.90 lbs. and has a nice, fat nut width of over 1 11/16 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Single-bound (top and bottom) laminated maple body, one-piece mahogany neck, and rosewood fretboard with 20 medium jumbo frets and inlaid pearl dot position markers. Headstock with gold silk-screened "Gibson" logo. Single-line closed-back Kluson Deluxe strip tuners with white plastic oval buttons. One very hot black P-90 pickup with an output of 8.67k. Tortoiseshell pickguard. Two controls (one volume, one tone) on lower treble bout. Gold plastic bell-shaped "Bell" knobs with metal tops. Rosewood bridge with pre-set compensating saddle and trapeze tailpiece with raised diamond on cross-bar. The serial number ("23563") is stamped on the back of the headstock. This guitar is in mint (9.50) condition. The back and sides are a lovely rich Cherry color. Housed in the original Gibson black hardshell case with red plush lining (9.50).

"The ES-125TC is essentially a thin-bodied 125 built with a pointed Florentine cutaway. However, unlike the non-cutaway ES-125T, the ES-125TC is built with maple instead of mahogany rims. The model was originally released in 1960 with a regular dark sunburst finish including a shading on top and back, but by 1961 a brighter cherry sunburst became the norm. The ES-125TC was withdrawn from the catalog in 1969 and the last samples were shipped in 1970" (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, p. 227).

"The budget-priced 330s instantly proved good sellers and their shipments in 1960 significantly exceeded those of the combined 335-345-355 models...But the alleged 330/225 substitution did not hold water for long and a new single cutaway thinline guitar was soon marketed as a direct successor to the 225. The ES-125TC and ES-125TCD first appeared in the November 1, 1959 price list but were not shipped in quantities until 1960. Respectively retailing for $189.50 and $225.00, the two models were priced below their 330 counterparts. In essence, the thin cutaway 125 was the same instrument as the 225 but for a conventional trapeze tailpiece, a separate rosewood bridge, an unbound fingerboard, a tortoise-like pickguard and a Gibson decal instead of a pearl-inlaid logo. On the 125TC, the single P-90 was also repositioned at the end of the fingerboard. At first the new 125TC/TCD were offered in regular brown sunburst finish, but a brighter cherry sunburst became the norm after late 1960" (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, p. 82).