User:Boo radley mtl

The Gibson ES-165 Herb Ellis is an Archtop guitar manufactured by the Gibson Guitar Corporation, currently still in production (although as of 04/10 no longer listed on their website).

It is a 24 3/4" scale full hollow body guitar with a trapeze tailpiece and Tune-O-Matic bridge. Like the ES-175, it measures 16" across the lower bout. Depending on the year of manufacture it is equiped with either a Gibson 490R humbucking pickup or a Gibson BJB floating pickup. In 2004 the humbucker was replaced with a Gibson BJB Floating humbucker and the tone control was removed. The volume was moved to the surface of the pickguard.

The single-pickup Es-175s were first introduced in 1949 but were discontinued around 1971 although small custom runs including the ES-175CC (with a Charlie Christian reproduction pickup) were made. Herb's original 1953 ES-175 originally came a single P-90 pickup in the neck postion. This was replaced with Gibson humbucker in order to address some feedback issues.

Features
The ES-165 debuted in 1991, as Gibson's tribute to long-time ES-175 user Herb Ellis. It featured a Gibson 490R humbucker and a single tone and volume control mounted directly to the top. In 2004 the humbucker was replaced with a Gibson BJB Floating humbucker and the tone control was removed. The volume was moved to the surface of the pickguard.

The early variant of this guitar features what Gibson refers to as a "rounded Jazz profile". This would be somewhat thicker then the standard neck dimensions. This neck profile would be changed to the standard profile in 2004.

Unlike Herb's original 1953 ES-175, the top and back laminate material consist of a figured maple top followed by poplar and another maple laminate. The original model would have been made of plain maple/basswood/maple. Also, all models of ES-165 feature gold plated hardware including "Tulip" Grover tuners.

Finally, instead of having the Gibson logo and crown inlaid on the headstock, a gold Gibson logo was stenciled with Herb Ellis' signature stenciled below it. In the 2004 variant the inlaid logo and crown return with Herb Ellis' name embosed on the trussrod cover