Sommer’s Guitar
1954 Gibson ES-175D - Serial # A17619
This is an all-original 1954 Gibson ES-175D built in the Kalamazoo, MI, factory. It was purchased new with an included Gibson case from Victor’s Miami Piano & Organ Mart on 300 N.W. 54th St. in Miami, FL, on January 16, 1961, by Mr. John H. Hooper for $175 before tax. Mr. Hooper bought the instrument to learn a song for his soon-to-be fiancée. After a successful marriage proposal, the guitar was placed back into the case and never played again.
Purchased on or around the same time were various accessories:
¼” instrument cable (still works, albeit it’s a bit noisy at the ends due to its age)
a set of Gibson Mona-Steel roundwound strings
a set of Gretsch Electromatic flatwound strings (“large gauge No. 625”) with all but one string still having the original identification hangtag intact
various guitar picks including a Vibra Tone brand triangle-shaped pick with a cork ring on the back for grip and an elongated teardrop pick of unknown branding (not pictured as it went missing for a few minutes while the guitar was being evaluated)
and a Bobby Lee’s NO-MISHAP leather guitar strap complete with instruction sheet (viewable in the gallery below).
During Hurricane Andrew, the guitar, its case, & all the accessories were the sole surviving possessions from Mr. Hooper’s Miami home when it was ravaged by the flooding suffered in that area. The instrument was in storage in his office at the time and somehow escaped any & all damage.
The guitar was passed down to his daughter Laura (who would take the last name of Marks) who also never played it, although she may have had it looked at or possibly appraised at some point as noted by the white tag attached to the handle of the case. The guitar was then gifted by Mrs. Marks to her soon to be daughter-in-law and my friend, Sommer Roberts. Sommer brought the guitar to me as she was seeking help to get it into playable condition again and keep in her family.
All in all, the guitar is in remarkable condition. The body is maple laminate with a beautiful natural finish that seems to have darkened nicely with age. The binding is fully intact, and there are no cracks, gaps, or breaks whatsoever in the body of the instrument. It is covered with a mild layer of dust & dirt, and the nitro finish has acquired some lovely subtle craquelure with a few nicks & dings here & there. The tuners are a bit bound up but all appear to function properly; I have not restrung the instrument to test this however due to potential issues with the tailpiece (which I’ll address below). It is unknown when the strings were removed from the guitar itself. It’s also unknown whether the flatwounds or the roundwounds were the last set on the instrument. (Based on the condition of the strings and the nature of the identifying tags on each one, I would wager the flatwounds were the last to grace the fretboard.)
The headstock and neck are both fully intact and have never required repair, with the joint of the neck to the body also being in apparent perfect condition. The face of the headstock features a fully-intact inlaid Gibson logo and crown. The truss rod cover is fully intact, and its screws fit solidly into the face of the headstock. The truss rod itself appears to be in fine condition as well; it’s unknown if it’s ever seen the business end of a truss rod wrench. The rosewood fretboard is quite flat save for a bit of a dip as it approaches the neck pickup. The rosewood itself appears somewhat dried out and has some finger-oil buildup alongside the frets. Its double parallelogram inlays are all fully intact and beautiful. The 4-layer nitrocellulose pickguard has suffered a bit due to age and temperature changes; it’s slightly shrunken and warped with a slight upward curl at the bridge-pickup end.
The wooden floating bridge is in stunning condition with both height adjustment thumbwheels being fully-functional with no binding up whatsoever. There is a bit of buildup on the guitar’s top outlining where the bridge sits. The trapeze tailpiece is in fair condition; it’s very bound up with corrosion and gunk at the hinge due to having received some slight damage at some point on the bass-string side with the pin being out of place and the hinge itself appearing to have slightly split at that end. It appears the gunk seems to be holding those pieces well enough in place to where it seems structurally sound. However, restringing the instrument may put too much undue tension on the tailpiece and could shear those pieces completely. The manufacturer’s label inside the F-hole on the bass side shows the serial number with its handwritten-A and stamped 5-digit number sequence.
The electronics function very well overall. Both dog-eared P90 pickups work perfectly and show a healthy amount of output. The neck pickup volume pot is currently stuck in its present position, but all the other pots turn without issue and show very little noise when being turned whilst plugged in. All the pot knobs have pretty substantial buildup, but it appears they will clean off quite easily. The output jack feels very solid and holds ¼” plugs securely with no play. The pickup switch is fully functional and sets firmly in each position.
The case has certainly done its job well over the years and has held up impressively. While scratched & scuffed, nothing appears broken or missing on the exterior of the case; the metal Gibson logo and all the hinges, feet, and clasps are intact and functioning. The interior shows signs of serious wear in a few spots, but considering it survived Hurricane Andrew, its condition is still very impressive.
Between the guitar’s provenance, its intrinsic value, and the fact that it’s a near-pristine piece of genuine guitar history, I would like nothing more than to help get this guitar into the proper hands to be fully cleaned & repaired while retaining every bit of its financial value. I’m confident I will be able to take care of most of the issues (cleaning up the fretboard and the control knobs, unsticking the volume pot, etc.), but I’m concerned about the tailpiece hinge and will be seeking advisement on how to proceed with a repair on that part.
A full gallery of images taken by me, Sommer, and a couple colleagues is below. Please give each picture a moment to load as we took hi-res photos.
We welcome any additional questions about the instrument and will answer to the best of our current knowledge; please fill out the form at the bottom of this page below the gallery.
