1986 White Gibson ES-175

[fingersmcginty]

Howdy folks,

I'm looking at the aforementioned. I have a few concerns. The s/n is not easily seen on the rear of the headstock plus i've never seen a gibson in alpine white without the gold hardware asnd thirdly no gibson hard case. Please could youi have a look at the pics. Just dubious about buying online. Thanks

Gibson Es 175d Archtop With Polytone Amp For Sale in Coachford, Cork from RegL

[Gitterbug]

Hi and welcome! Now that's an interesting guitar/amp combination. Any chance tracking down the ownership chain? Might the guitar be a refinish from natural? The wood grain does show through, after all. I don't think it's a fake, just an oddity.

[jads57]

In the 1980’s made some instruments in all white. Spotlight Specials? I’d contact Gibson directly with the serial number.

[fingersmcginty]

In the 1980’s made some instruments in all white. Spotlight Specials? I’d contact Gibson directly with the serial number.

I did ....they seem very slow to answer emails lately

[fingersmcginty]

Hi and welcome! Now that's an interesting guitar/amp combination. Any chance tracking down the ownership chain? Might the guitar be a refinish from natural? The wood grain does show through, after all. I don't think it's a fake, just an oddity.

No chance tracking down the chain. The current seller has had it for the last 12 years. Seems genuine but I just want to make sure all my ducks are lined up in case I ever want to sell it on a further date.

[Franz 1997]

It could well be a refinish: the neck binding seems to be the same colour as the neck finish, which seems unusual ( though I've never seen a white 175, so who knows?). The asking price is pretty good, well below most asking prices in Europe, and especially with a working Polytone amp thown in. But all of this is speculation, without seeing the guitar. If the ownership chain can't be traced, and Gibson can't help, I'd say the most sensible course is to negotiate on the basis that it could be a refinish, unless you can see the guitar in the flesh. If it IS a refinish, but otherwise in good playing condition, straight neck, working trussrod, good frets etc, it could be a good deal ( if you like white ).

I've had 7 ES175s, and I've found that checking that the truss rod works well is the most important thing to check. Most other things can be fixed - a bad truss rod can't.

[Herbie]

Nice guitar and amp! If the guitar is legit and in decent condition You can't go wrong!

Amp is from later days of Polytone, but although it has too many knobs, You can achieve fine sounds from it.

My (several) inquiries from the Service.Europe(at)gibson.com has been answered in 1-3 days.

Last time was 2 years ago when I bought a 1984 ES-175 Natural. They recognised it from the pictures and serial number.

Good luck!

[Herbie]

Hey, is it from same years as Izzy Stradlin’s white ES-175?

Izzy Stradlin’s ‘Appetite for Destruction’ Gibson ES-175D is hitting the auction block for $50,000 | Guitar World

”The guitar has serial number 80787552 and was made on March 19, 1987 at Gibson’s Nashville plant.”

At least it is a lot of cheaper than his guitar!

[icr]

Re: $50,000 ES-175:

...glue marks left where the bridge was reattached after it became dislodged when the guitar was restrung ...