The Gibson ES-295 (1952-1959) is a hollow body guitar which was built by the

Gibson Guitar Company Gibson Brands, Inc. (formerly Gibson Guitar Corporation) is an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and professional audio equipment from Kalamazoo, Michigan, and now based in Nashville, Tennessee. The company was former ...

. The ES-295 was introduced in May 1952 as a fancier version of the

ES-175 The Gibson ES-175 (1949-2019) is a hollow body Jazz electric guitar manufactured by the Gibson Guitar Corporation. The ES-175 became one of Gibson's most popular guitar designs. History In 1949 the ES-175 was introduced by the Gibson Guitar comp ...

. The 295 had the same measurements as the ES-175, but it came in gold finish and featured a combination trapeze bridge/tailpiece.

History

In 1952 Les Paul has claimed responsibility for the creation of the ES-295. He is said to have called Gibson and told them to paint an ES-175 gold for a young man Paul met at a hospital. The first ES-295s came outfitted with one pickup. By 1953 the guitar was shipping with two pickups. It was designed to be a full-sized hollowbody archtop which would sell alongside the solidbody Les Paul model. The original price of the 295 was $295. The guitar was discontinued in 1959. In 1990 Gibson reissued the ES-295 but it was again discontinued. In 1999 Gibson again produced the ES-295, this time in a Scotty Moore signature model. In 2013 Gibson also released a reissue '52 ES-295 but discontinued it again.

Specifications

ES-295s came with the same wrap around trapeze tailpiece that was standard on the first Les Paul Guitars. the whole guitar including the neck were finished in gold with ivory binding and pick-guard. The guitar had two single coil P-90s with cream colored pickup covers. The guitar had a 3 way switch with two tone knobs and two volume knobs. The metal parts were all finished in gold.

Reception

The 295 did not sell well. By 1957 Gibson changed the pickups from

P-90 The P-90 (sometimes written P90) is a single coil electric guitar pickup produced by Gibson since 1946. Gibson is still producing P-90s, and there are outside companies that manufacture replacement versions. Compared to other single coil desi ...

s to

Humbucker A humbucking pickup, humbucker, or double coil, is a type of guitar pickup that uses two wire coils to cancel out the noisy interference picked up by coil pickups. In addition to electric guitar pickups, humbucking coils are sometimes used in ...

s. Some thought the gold color was a reason for the diminished interest in the 295. Gibson shipped some ES-295s in sunburst, Argentine Grey and cherry. The guitar was played by Elvis Presley guitarist Scotty Moore.

Notable players

Joe Bonamassa Joseph Leonard Bonamassa ( ; born May 8, 1977) is an American blues rock guitarist, singer and songwriter. He started his career at age twelve, when he opened for B.B. King. Since 2000, Bonamassa has released fifteen solo albums through his ind ...

Danny Gatton Daniel Wood Gatton Jr. (September 4, 1945 – October 4, 1994) was an American virtuoso guitarist who combined blues, rockabilly, jazz, and country to create a musical style he called "redneck jazz". Career Daniel Wood Gatton Jr. was born in ...

Scotty Moore Winfield Scott Moore III (December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2016) was an American guitarist who formed The Blue Moon Boys in 1954, Elvis Presley's backing band. He was studio and touring guitarist for Presley between 1954 and 1968. Rock critic ...

Geordie Walker Kevin "Geordie" Walker (born 18 December 1960) is an English rock musician, best known as the guitarist of post-punk group Killing Joke. His unorthodox style of electric guitar playing is widely acclaimed. Jimmy Page of Led Zeppelin hailed Walk ...

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

References

{{Gibson Guitar Corporation ES-295 Semi-acoustic guitars 1958 musical instruments 1952 in music Discontinued products