1957 was the year Humbuckers were unveiled at Gibson, and all of the company's high-end guitars we're fitted with the new hum-cancelling pickups from that year onwards. The first Humbucker equipped ES-175's rolled off the line in 1957, and the rest, as they say, is history. The ES-175D is one of Gibson's most successful models, and remains in production to this day.

Natural finished Gibsons have always been built in much lower numbers than sunburst versions, and the ES-175DN (N for Natural) was out-produced by its sunburst twin by a factor of 2 to 1. As such, it's always that little bit more exciting when a vintage Gibson archtop shows up here in original blonde finish.

This ES-175DN was brought to us by its original owner, who has played in country/swing bands throughout his entire musical life. He's taken very good care of his guitar through the years and it remains in excellent condition. It is completely original but for the pots (he switched them out himself about 20 years back, we're told), and it plays and sounds exactly as you'd want it to. The PAF humbuckers have that certain magic, the neck feel is heavenly, and the guitar looks about as picture-perfect as one could ask for.

Maple laminate 16” body with white/black/white bindings and single cutaway, bound rosewood fingerboard with split-parallelogram inlays, Original trapeze tailpiece, UFO knobs, switch and switch tip, and bridge. Original tuners, nut and frets. Original finish throughout. Original pickups and surrounds, original pickguard (curling) and mounting hardware. The finish is in great shape, frets show some wear but still play fine, neck angle is excellent, and the guitar is set-up very nicely with 11's. Round neck carve, 1-11/16” nut width, and 24.75” scale.

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

With modern Gibson Hardshell case