You won't have seen another one like this! One of three guitars finished in red in 1959, this ES-225 is quite the rarity.

Introduced in 1956, the ES-225 was the first thinline hollow body guitar in the Gibson catalogue, starting a trend that would continue on through the Byrdland and ES-350 and usher in the ES-330, paving the way for the semi-hollow ES guitars towards the end of the decade.

This guitar was a special order that, according to the ledger, left the factory in red. It is actually Cardinal Red, the very same red as used on custom colour Firebirds in the mid 60's.

This amazing guitar includes a copy of a letter from Matt Kohler of Gibson who identifies this guitar (by confirming the FON number) as one of only three to be factory finished at Gibson in red. The other two being a LP Special and a double pickup ES-225.

This guitar is in great shape. The top and back looks stunning with only few very minor scratches. The fretboard is superb with no signs of wear and the frets themselves are free of any wear. The neck is wonderfully glossy still. There are a few very minor marks on the headstock but this is nit picking..

The trapeze tailpiece (surely one of the reasons you’ve got this far!) is in excellent condition.

Plastics have survived well too, pickguard is straight and the pickup cover look good too.

The guitar comes with a correct brown Stone case with the classic pink lining and doesn’t it look stunning as a back drop for this beautiful guitar...?

The most surprising thing about these guitars is their versatility. Even with the hollow design, the guitar can withstand a surprising amount of gain before feedback becomes impossible. The tailpiece seems to play a big part in the tone. We’ve conducted experiments (on a different guitar of the same model) whereby we swapped the tailpiece from the trapeze found here to a rosewood bridge and found that the one piece trapeze tailpiece produces far more sustain and a better string transfer to the top of the guitar. In effect what you get here is akin to a hollowbody Goldtop Les Paul, the combination of P90 pickup and heavier tailpiece.

The pickup sits in the perfect location to really accentuate the tone of the guitar without being either too bassy or trebly. The neck is comfortable as you’d expect 

You won’t find another in this finish and in this condition. definetly one for the collection...