Subway Guitars in Berkeley CA has been the Bay Area's premier guitar chop shop since 1968.

Needless to say, we have handled tens of thousands of Vintage guitars since back when they were just Used guitars!

Today we are happy to offer not just a Blue Chip guitar, but one that has been owned by a friend of the store. This guitar has been coming into the store for restrings and tune-ups since we opened in 1968.

We are happy to report that the guitar is 100% original. EXCEPT that we replaced the bridge over 50 years ago. The original ABR1, which was made of zinc and did not have the retaining wire, eventually sagged to the point where it was unusable. That is a very common problem with those bridges which is why Gibson upgraded them around 1963. The bridge we put on it is a '60s Gibson ABR 1 bridge, the next generation that was used on ES 175s until 1971. So the bridge is not original to the guitar, but it is a '60s Gibson Bridge and is in excellent condition. The screws turn easily and there is very little corrosion. Besides that, not a solder joint has been broken, not a tuner or fret or saddle or screw has been replaced.

SERIAL NUMBER: A 26161

Dates it to the Fall of 1957

Truly among the most desirable guitars from the Golden Age of guitars.

Overall condition is Very Good.

There are light finish cracks, and a few minor dings on the body. The body is in excellent condition. The strap pin has been moved to the heel, and there is a small hole where the previous strap pin was. This is shown in the pictures. The back of the neck has more wear including a concentration of finish cracks, and a small ding behind the nut. These are shown in the pictures. There are some chips on the tip of the headstock, also shown in the pictures. All of these flaws are cosmetic, and do not affect the playability. There is no need for any repairs

PICKUPS-

The first Humbucker equipped ES-175's rolled off the line in 1957, and the rest, as they say, is history. This guitar sports 2 all original first edition PAF humbuckers. The 1957 ES-175 was the first Gibson Electric Spanish guitar to receive these pickups. All electronics are original, the solder joints are unbroken, and they all work great.

Early P.A.F. pickups as used in 1957 had brushed stainless steel pickup covers (brushed to make them look nickel plated). This quickly changed to brass covers with a nickel plating. Early PAFs also have four brass bobbin attachment screws, instead of steel screws. Also the early PAFs with stainless covers often did not have a PAF decal on the bottom (so some 1957 Gibson guitars will have unlabeled PAF pickups with brushed stainless covers).

Also note the untouched solder joints holding the pickup cover to the pickup base plate. And the single stranded black cloth-covered lead wire, which is shielded with a braided metal wrap.

Both pickups measure around 8.25k

1957 Gibson ES-175 in Very Good condition.

Maple laminate 16” body with white/black/white bindings and single cutaway, bound Brazilian rosewood fingerboard with split-parallelogram inlays, Original trapeze tailpiece,

Bonnet knobs- Looks like a hat box, flared base, back painted gold, clear with numbers 1 to 10 visible thru knob: 1955 to mid-1960,

Switch tip was used on multiple pickup models from after WW2 to about 1960. This tip is bakelite and very amber in color.

The tuning machines are original Kluson Single Line, Single Ring, Pat Applied for. The tuners have heavy corrosion on the back, but turn smoothly and work great. The buttons have faded from the original Green to a nice mint green that looks almost white.

Original finish throughout. Original pickups and surrounds, original pickguard and mounting hardware. The finish is in great shape, frets show very little wear, neck angle is excellent, and the guitar is set-up nicely with very low action. It looks and plays like a pro guitar. This is the guitar that was on too many jazz records to count, and even a few of the rock records too!

Strung 12-51 with a wound 3rd

Round neck carve, 1-11/16” nut width, and 24.75” scale.

Neck profile is 0.89" at the 1st fret, 1.31" at the 12th fret, action is 1/8" at the 12th fret

A very exciting early PAF equipped one-owner Gibson ES-175DN.

This guitar was primarily played and stored in the bedroom. According to the owner, it got frequent, but light play. It rarely left the house. The case was stored in the basement for many years, and grew moldy on the inside, so this guitar will ship in a generic modern hard case.

Due to the Brazilian rosewood fretboard, we will be shipping this guitar within the United States only