The Gibson ES-225 is a thinline hollowbody electric guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation between 1955 and 1959. It is notable as the first thinline hollowbody guitar produced by Gibson.
8-672: The ES-225 was originally introduced in 1955 as the ES-225T, a thinline hollowbody guitar featuring a Florentine cutaway , the Les Paul combined bridge and tailpiece (also used on the Les Paul from 1952 to 1953 and on the ES-295 ), a laminated pickguard, and a single P-90 pickup mounted in an unusual position midway between the bridge and the end of the fingerboard. From 1956 the ES-225TD,
16-440: A twin pickup model with conventional pickup positioning, was also available.Both models had a tobacco sunburst finish, with more expensive natural finish models (ES225TN and ES-225TDN) also available from 1956. The specifications remained the same during the period the guitars were manufactured, with the exception that in 1959 a few guitars were made with separate trapeze-style tailpieces and floating Tune-o-matic bridges. When
24-584: Is the squared-off cutaway, used on the Selmer-Maccaferri guitar and some nylon-string guitars . Instruments with only a lower cutaway are known as "single cutaway" instruments, and guitars with both are called "double cutaway". These terms are sometimes shortened to "single cut" (such as in the model name for a solid-body electric guitar called the "PRS Singlecut", produced by the Paul Reed Smith company) or "double cut". As well as
32-567: The guitar was initially marketed it was the first thinline hollowbody guitar Gibson had produced, preceding the Byrdland and ES-350T models. In 1959 the ES-225 was phased out in favour of the ES-330 and ES-125T models. Gibson shipped 5,220 of the single pickup ES-225 and 2,754 of the twin pickup models. Cutaway (guitar) A cutaway on the guitar construction is an indentation in
40-413: The more common lower cutaway, many instruments have an upper cutaway, sometimes smaller than the lower one, or sometimes about the same size. This is mainly seen on electric guitars , as the reduction in body size resulting from a double cutaway would be detrimental to the sound quality of an acoustic guitar. Double cutaways allow the thumb as well as the fingers to move past the neck-body join. In addition,
48-401: The strap button on double cutaway guitars is typically positioned on the end of the upper horn, further up the neck than on guitars without a cutaway. This improves the instrument's balance when played with a strap. A double cutaway also facilitates left-handed use of right-handed instruments. In some Gibson guitars, models with two cutaways are abbreviated with a "DC" after the name, such as in
56-596: The suffix C , such as the Gibson L5 C or the Maton CW80C . There are two main types of cutaways: Venetian and Florentine . A Venetian cutaway has a rounded bout. A Florentine cutaway has a sharp bout. The terms probably originate with the Gibson Guitar Corporation and probably do not reflect historic instrument-making practices of Florence and Venice . A less common third type
64-463: The upper bout of the guitar body adjacent to the guitar neck , designed to allow easier access to the upper frets . Cutaway bodies are mainly of interest when discussing acoustic guitars and semi-acoustic guitars ; virtually all solid body guitars either have at least one cutaway , or have a body shape (such as the flying V guitar ) which does not intrude into the upper neck area. Some manufacturers denote instrument models with cutaway using
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