1960 Gibson ES-125TC Cherry Sunburst

I'll be 60 years old in the not-too-distant future and in recent months, I have caught myself looking in the mirror more and more. Make it through almost six decades and you may find yourself practicing the fine arts of self-examination and retrospection and that has come in the form of noticing the little things: the lines on my face, the crisscrosses on the back of my neck and the small aches and pains that make up every day.

Memories also come back to either make me smile or haunt me, depending on what it was about. I regret terribly picking on a certain classmate in 5th grade because he was poor and the ass-whippin' I eventually received from him was well-deserved. That said, one of my greatest achievements was successfully jumping off Ritchie Cook's house, onto his trampoline and into his above-ground swimming pool without killing myself. In fact, I was the first kid on my street to pull this feat off and you called my brother, Dale to this day, he'd confirm it. These are but a couple of memories from an aging bass player and now I can really appreciate the stories my Pop told me about all the cool shit he and his buddies did back in the '50s.

If you want to tie all this yammering up in a bow, I'm merely talking about getting old and that's where this ES-125 steps right into the picture. She's old- 62 years old in fact and I have to admit, she's still got her good looks. But, as time has passed for all of us, so too has it passed for this one and there are three things I need to address.

First, the tailpiece has obviously been replaced, but the original will be included with the guitar. Have the old one braised and you'll be back to original in a jiffy. Secondly, the bridge has been glued down to the guitar. Why? I can't say, but it must be in the correct position because the guitar plays and sounds- (here it comes) amazing. Nice, low action and the guitar stays in tune. Finally, there are many finish checks, dings and surface scratches on this one. I hate to make it sound like our instruments have been dragged behind a garbage truck, but we're just not fans of surprises, especially when that big box hits the front porch. It's also been detailed and restrung with fresh strings and we've housed it in a mid-late '60s chipboard case.

To play this ES-125 and maybe think about your first guitar may bring back some fond memories and while we're remembering things, let's remember that there's no shame in getting older, it's just the grace with which you do it. Trying to play better, be better and be graceful in my aging- that's what's on the list today.