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Note: In case you’re wondering, I avoid pulling images off the net for reviews and often use generic illustrations to add color, etc.
Retrospective Guitar Review: Gibson 1966-67 ES-125T Thinline Hollow body (non cutaway)
The Gibson ES-125T was the thinline version of an archtop guitar that was originally introduced in 1941 as an entry level hollow body. I owned two, a '65 and a '67, both were the single P90 neck pickup model.
This guitar, along with pretty much every other Gibson, whether it was entry level or not, has gone up in price to the point where it can seem like it was a first line guitar from the start but its original intention was to be an economical entry level hollow body. I've heard some people and writers refer to it as a "student guitar," which is basically the same thing.
Also, like every other vintage Gibson, the specs have been documented in more detail than I would ever know unless looked up on Google so I won't attempt that and will stick to describing my own experiences actually playing the guitar model and some comments about the design.
The basic ES-125T was a plywood (pressed) body guitar intended to be inexpensive, or as much as Gibson could manage such a thing. It was a successful design and was available for a long time, up till 1970. As of about 10 years ago, maybe more, the basic configuration and profile became available from other guitar makers. You can now get a guitar that's essentially the same as the Gibson for as low as two hundred bucks on Amazon and up to higher end models in the 800 range and beyond.
Also, it should be also noted that although the use of pressed wood or plywood for the body was to help lower the cost of the guitar, it was also a practical feature because that type of body helped prevent feedback. Higher end models like the ES-175 also have plywood bodies.
There are two things that stick out in my mind about the guitar. The first is that the ergonomics were very good. Although it had what people call a "baseball bat neck," that's not necessarily an uncomfortable profile. It's quite playable although perhaps some modern players might disagree with that. It's good to keep in mind that it's a neck shape and not necessarily an actual thickness. Most modern players would describe it as a smaller or medium-sized hollow body after playing it.
What makes this guitar worth buying (if you're into vintage Gibsons) is that the dog eared P90 used in this model (and others) was and is one of the classic pickups of all time. This P90 can be heard in a multitude of classic rock and blues recordings. That was not only because the guitar was more accessible in terms of cost, but the sound could be easily described as gig ready. The sound was certainly top of the line.
Although I've noted that this model has been duplicated by other companies, you can also get a good bearing on the sound of it by checking out guitars that have similar configuration. The Epiphone Casino has a somewhat similar configuration as the full-bodied ES-125, both being true hollow bodies with P90s pickups.
The best way to know how that guitar sounds is, of course, to check out YouTube videos of people playing the guitar, preferably from a wide range from beginners to advanced. Both types of videos can tell you a lot about the guitar.
Actually, if you think about it, almost all of the adjectives that writers use to describe a guitar don’t tell the reader what it sounds like. Terms like “vintage sound,” “traditional,” can mean a lot of things. Of course before YouTube, reviewers had no choice but to try and describe the sound and the best was to use stock terms for a particular audience.
However, saying a guitar is perfect for metal is often only true if the configuration of the guitar is similar to a known player and the review references that for the particular audience. That same description can be meaningless to a folk or jazz fan.
Also, another example; metal music was created with guitar types that later shredders rarely use now. You can come across reviews that say a P90 guitar is mainly for roots and hard rock but early Black Sabbath records featured an SG with P-90s as with many records by the Who. Of course, nowadays, that genre of metal is wide enough that my references can seem inaccurate to many modern metal fans.
The point of my digression is that YouTube has been a blessing for modern guitar reviewers.
The main reason I ended up trading both ES-125s wasn't just because one tends to get good offers for vintage Gibson's but also the single pickup at the neck didn't quite produce the range of sounds that I wanted. I would have preferred a bridge pickup.
I think that's why most modern single pick up guitars use a bridge pickup. The neck pickup type is a great fit for a lot of the music from the 40s and 50s, from jazz, blues to roots rock but it doesn't quite growl as much as later models like the Melody Maker which had the pickup in the bridge position.
However, the fact that this guitar, and in fact the entire line that this was part of, have stayed popular is because a lot of the sounds it produces are still relevant, particularly in Americana and roots music. It doesn't sound like a more expensive ES (especially one with humbuckers) but it's certainly lighter and many people would find it more comfortable.
Which is the point of a student or entry level guitar. Those terms became synonymous with guitars that weren't as good or of lesser quality and that's only partly true. The purpose of an entry level guitar is to bring the beginner into the model line.
In other words, the hope is afterwards, the new guitar player is going to buy a more expensive model from that company. The intent is never to create an "inferior" guitar. It's just that cost is a factor in any beginner guitar and there's always going to be compromises.
A lot of the ergonomics of the ES-125 were intended to make the beginner’s playing experience as pleasant as possible, not to become the objects of contempt by advanced players who own "better" guitars. The electronics may not have been top-notch but certainly Gibson gave a good deal of thought to the ergonomics of the guitar. That's why today it's a design that some companies still produce.
The ES-125 is still in use by professional guitar players and should be considered a successful design that ended up appealing to guitars of all ranges of ability. When I traded my two copies, the intent was never to get a “better” guitar, just a different one that had a sound that was more in line with what I was looking for. The ES-125 origins as a student guitar never crossed my mind at the time and or now.
Al Handa
July 15, 2026
Basic ES-125 Specifications:
Type: Non-cutaway hollow body
Top, Back & Sides: Laminated maple and poplar
Neck: Mahogany
Neck Profile: C-shape ("baseball bat")
Fretboard: Rosewood
Frets: 19 to 20 frets
Pickup: One "Dogear" P-90 single-coil (neck position)
Controls: Master Volume, Master Tone
Bridge: Floating wooden bridge (rosewood)
Tailpiece: Trapeze style
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