Image: Erviltnec, Public domain — via Wikimedia Commons
Gibson ES-250
| Category | Strings (archtop electric guitar) |
|---|---|
| Country of origin | USA |
| Classification | guitar |
| Wikipedia | en.wikipedia.org |
| Wikidata | Q5559324 |
Overview
The Gibson ES-250 is a rare, prewar electric archtop guitar produced by Gibson between 1939 and 1941. One of Gibson’s earliest attempts to combine a large-body professional archtop with an electric pickup, it sits in the lineage that began with the Gibson ES-150 (the “Charlie Christian” guitar) and ultimately led to mid-century models such as the and the .
Origin & History
By the late 1930s, amplification had begun to transform popular music, and Gibson was actively developing electric instruments. The ES-150 had introduced a single-pickup electric archtop to the market in 1936; the ES-250 was designed as a larger, more premium alternative, with a 17-inch body, decorative appointments more elaborate than the ES-150’s plain specification, and Gibson’s same early single-coil pickup. Production was interrupted by the Second World War, and when Gibson resumed its electric-archtop catalogue in the postwar years, different model numbers and designs replaced the ES-250.
How It’s Played
The ES-250 is played like a full-size jazz archtop. Its large body, heavy spruce top, and round shoulder give it a broad acoustic voice that is also usable unamplified, and the single pickup adds an electric voice well suited to 1930s and 1940s swing-era jazz. Strung with heavy flatwounds, it responds best to chordal comping and single-line horn-style soloing.
Cultural Significance
Surviving ES-250s are now prized collector items because of their rarity and their historical place at the very dawn of electric guitar as a professional instrument. Prewar electric Gibsons in good condition appear only occasionally at auction.
Related Instruments
- – the foundational Charlie Christian electric archtop
- – the parent acoustic archtop
- – Gibson’s largest archtop
- Gibson ES-125 – a later smaller-body Gibson archtop
- – the postwar workhorse archtop
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the ES-250 still made?
No — production ran only from 1939 to 1941.
Why is it rare?
Short production run combined with wartime interruption and the model’s premium position in the catalogue.
Image: Erviltnec, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
