1940 Gibson ES-150 Sunburst, Excellent, Original Soft, $3,495.00

The Gibson ES-150 guitars made from 1940-42 were the true beginning of the modern era of Gibson electrics, having the newly modified single-coli pickup with Alnico magnets and, more importantly, adjustable pole pieces, the forerunner of what would become the heart of the Gibson electric line after WW II. To get what Gibson called a “brilliant tone”, they put the pickup in the bridge position; the guitar’s construction was kept the same as the then-current L-4, with carved solid spruce top, carved solid maple back and solid maple sides; the neck has that typical deep rounded shape of the period, extremely comfortable. The wonderful example we have here is totally original, including the frets, tuners, solid compensated rosewood bridge, very cool tailpiece, pickguard, and that neat little strap attachment device on the back of the peghead, found only on pre-war Gibsons of this era. It plays beautifully, just totally set up by us with an appropriate .012 set with wound G, and the tone….hello 1940! Hot! Comes with its original soft case, a bit tatty. $3495 w/ossc