Mo Says...

A wonderfully rakish Gibson from 2001: twin P-100s, sweeping Florentine cutaway and a glorious red finish. Part jazz club, part rock ’n’ roll troublemaker, and ageing rather handsomely.

Notable Particulars

• USA-made Gibson ES-135, dated 2001 from the supplied serial information
• Two P-100 stacked humbucker pickups for articulate cleans, woody warmth and wonderfully snarling driven tones
• Semi-hollow thinline construction with twin f-holes, combining acoustic character with electric versatility
• Florentine single-cutaway design with bound body and classic Gibson appointments
• Supplied with fitted hard case featuring plush burgundy interior

The Details

Here is a particularly handsome example of Gibson’s ES-135, finished in a rich translucent red/cherry and carrying serial number 01521675. Made in the USA in 2001, it occupies that marvellous territory between Gibson’s traditional jazz boxes and its more unruly rock ’n’ roll machines.

The twin black P-100 pickups are a large part of the attraction. They offer more openness and bite than a typical humbucker while retaining plenty of body, making the ES-135 equally at home with warm jazz and blues sounds, jangling rhythm work or a valve amp pushed into suitably impolite territory. Individual volume and tone controls provide the familiar Gibson four-knob layout.

Visually it is a splendid thing, with twin f-holes, cream body binding, black raised pickguard, dot-inlaid fingerboard, vintage-style Gibson Deluxe tuners and the ES-135 designation on the headstock. The distinctive Florentine cutaway gives the guitar a particularly elegant silhouette.

The guitar shows signs of normal use and age, including light marks and surface scratches to the finish and pickguard. Please study the supplied photographs carefully as these form part of the condition description. The glossy red finish remains striking, and the guitar presents beautifully for an instrument now over two decades old.

A fitted hard case with plush burgundy lining is included. A characterful American Gibson with bags of visual presence and the unmistakable snap, growl and warmth of a pair of P-100s.