Gibson ES-225
By the mid 50s, the demand for electric guitars had gained serious momentum. In 1954, Gibson’s electric models outsold its acoustics for the first time, and it became clear that big changes were afoot in the guitar world. In the first half of the decade, Gibson introduced the 1¾-inch-deep Les Paul range alongside its standard 3 3/8-inchdepth electric archtops, and the new solidbody form began to dominate the market. Nevertheless, opinions remained divided between the heavier - albeit sturdier, thinner and less feedback-prone - Les Pauls and the more traditional hollowbody electric archtops that many players still enjoyed.
In an effort to reach a happy medium, company president Ted McCarty and his team set about prototyping the first Gibson thinlines with feedback (no pun intended) from some of the leading electric guitarists of the day - notably Billy Byrd and Hank Garland. Unveiled at the July 1955 NAMM Show, the seminal Thin series appeared in the guise of three models. At the top of the pecking order sat the $550 Sunburst/$565 Natural (‘N’) finish carved-top Byrdland (a portmanteau of endorsees Byrd and Garland’s surnames), while the laminated maple-body ES-350T/N sat in the middle priced $155 less. “In the popular price field” was the ES-225T - a $179.50 no-frills Sunburst guitar uniquely sporting a single pickup positioned midway between the bridge and the end of the fretboard.