Gibson ES-137

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Gibson ES-137

Manufacturer	Gibson
Period	2002 — present
Construction
Body type	Semi-hollow
Neck joint	Set
Woods
Body	curly maple (laminated); mahogany center block
Neck	maple
Fretboard	rosewood on most models, ebony on some
Hardware
Bridge	Fixed tune-o-matic
Pickup(s)	2 Humbuckers
Colors available
Various

The Gibson ES 137 is a semi-hollow body guitar which is manufactured in Gibson's Memphis factory. This semi-hollow bodied, arch top guitar does not trace its heritage back to the so-called "Golden Years" of American Guitars, which is widely accepted to be most of the 1950s and into the 1960s.

[edit] Overview

It does, however owe a lot to this era since it is part of the continued efforts by Gibson to perfect the semi-hollow bodied guitar. The first semi-hollow bodied Gibson guitar was Les Paul's "the log" experiment. Gibson drew the inspiration for the Gibson ES-335 from this guitar.

With the ES 137, Gibson has attempted a marriage of two previous Gibson successes. The guitar combines two distinctive influences: The look of Gibson's single cutaway, semi-hollowbodies and a sound quite similar to the Les Paul Classic due to the common pickups, hardware appointments, and the use of mahogany as the sound block. It is fair to ask whether this is a blues guitar, a rock guitar, or perhaps a jazz guitar. The answer is that Gibson has saught to achieve a guitar that could excel at all of these applications. This may be the guitar's greatest strength but ironically, perhaps its main weakness. Although fans of the guitar praise its versatility and sound quality, it does not aim directly a particular genre demographic and therefore is still a relatively unknown model when compared to models that have been around for far longer and used by hundreds of well known artists. It would seem that Gibson has not figured out exactly how to market this guitar.

The ES 137 has received favourable on-line reviews at sites such as Harmony Central because of its ability to achieve the clean blues and jazz tones that made the ES 335 famous as well as the loud clear rock sound that made the Les Paul and SG models so popular.

The basic body shape of the ES 137 is like a semi-hollow bodied cousin of the les paul. The thin line archtop with a single florantine cutaway has been used by Gibson previously in their Gibson ES-175 and Gibson ES-135 models.

The ES 137 improves on both of these designs with the addition of a mahogany centre block. The ES 135 had a soft [balsa] wood centre block that did not offer the depth of tone or sustain that has been achieved with the mahogany. This is material also differs from the ES 335's maple centre block.

ES-137 Premier Manufactured in: Memphis, TN

BODY Size: 16" wide x 20" long x 2.25" thick Top Species: Maple/Poplar/Maple laminate Back Species: Maple/Poplar/Maple laminate Rim Species: Maple/Poplar/Maple laminate Center Block Species: 1-piece Mahogany Binding: Single-ply black on top and back

NECK Species: Maple Profile: 1960 slim-taper Peghead Pitch: 14° Thickness at 1st fret: 0.818" Thickness at 12th fret: 0.963" Heel Length: 0.625" Neck Joint Location: 16th fret

FINGERBOARD Species: Rosewood Scale length: 243/4" Total Length: 18" Nut Width: 111/16" Width at 12th fret: 2.062" Frets: 22 Inlays: Half trapezoids with 'P' inlay at the 12th fret Binding: Single-ply black

HARDWARE Plating Finish: Chrome Bridge: Tune-o-matic Tailpiece: Stopbar Knobs: Black Speed Tuners: Green Key

ELECTRONICS Neck Pickup: 496R humbucker Bridge Pickup: 500T humbucker Controls: Two volume, two tone, three-way switch

CASE Exterior: Black smooth levant hardshell Interior: Charcoal Plush Silkscreen: Gold 'Gibson' logo

STRINGS Brite Wires .010-.046

OTHER Pearloid trapezoid fingerboard inlays with an engraved 'P' in the 12th-fret inlay, identify this model. Available in Metallic Blue, Metallic Copper, Metallic Silver and Candy Apple Red.

ES-137 Classic Manufactured in: Memphis, TN Download ES-137 Classic Datasheet

BODY Size: 16" wide x 20" long x 2.25" thick Top Species: Curly maple/Poplar/Maple laminate Back Species: Curly maple/Poplar/Maple laminate Rim Species: Curly maple/Poplar/Maple laminate Center Block Species: 1-piece Mahogany Binding: Multi-ply top, single-ply back

NECK Species: Three piece maple Profile: 1959 rounded Les Paul profile Peghead Pitch: 14° Thickness at 1st fret: 0.818" Thickness at 12th fret: 0.963" Heel Length: 0.625" Neck Joint Location: 16th fret

FINGERBOARD Species: Rosewood Scale length: 243/4" Total Length: 18" Nut Width: 111/16" Width at 12th fret: 2.062" Frets: 22 Inlays: Pearloid trapezoids with C inlay at the 12th fret Binding: Single-ply

HARDWARE Plating Finish: Chrome or Gold Bridge: Tune-o-matic Tailpiece: Stopbar Knobs: Black Speed Tuners: Grover Keystone

ELECTRONICS Neck Pickup: 490R humbucker Bridge Pickup: 498T humbucker Controls: Two volume, two tone, three-way switch

CASE Exterior: Black smooth levant hardshell Interior: Charcoal Plush Silkscreen: Silver 'Gibson' logo

STRINGS Brite Wires .010-.046

OTHER

The 490R and 498T humbucking pickups, plus trapezoid fingerboard inlays with an engraved 'C' in the 12th-fret inlay, identify this model. Available in Blues Burst, Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Silver and Tri Burst.

This pick up combination can be found in various Les Paul and SG models.

ES-137 Custom Manufactured in: Memphis, TN

FINGERBOARD Species: Ebony Scale length: 243/4" Total Length: 18" Nut Width: 111/16" Width at 12th fret: 2.062" Frets: 22 Inlays: Split Diamond Binding: Single-ply

HARDWARE Plating Finish: Chrome or Gold Bridge: Tune-o-matic Tailpiece: Stopbar Knobs: Black Speed Tuners: Grover Keystone

ELECTRONICS Pickups: Two '57 Classics humbuckers Controls: Two volume, two tone, three-way switch, 6 position varitone

CASE Exterior: Black smooth levant hardshell Interior: Charcoal Plush Silkscreen: Silver 'Gibson' logo

STRINGS Brite Wires .010-.046

OTHER This version of the guitar has some of the more pricey Gibson features including an ebony fingerboard, split-diamond inlays, '57 Classic humbucking pickups, 6 position varitone and multi-ply top binding. Available in Candy Apple Red, Heritage Cherry Sunburst, Light Burst and Tri Burst.

The '57 Classic pickups can also be found on the famous ES 335. The varitone feature is part of the 335's upgrade to the 345. BB King's famous Lucille is an ES 345 with the 5 way varitone switch. It is also a stereo guitar.