Gibson ES-137 Custom Review & Demo

[cheesedude5050]

Great little demo. Is this good for jazz?

[Nickpatient]

@cheesedude5050 a full hollowbody jazzbox like an ES-175 or something similar (Godin 5th avenue kingpin?) would be better for jazz but this is decent, hell, anything can play jazz, even a strat. :)

[DeetroitEddie]

thanksfor the cool video. I own a 137 as well. Of over 75 guitars I've owned, this is the one the gets played and recorded the most! ---Best regards, Ed from the George-Edwards Group (google us for an interesting band story; we're now in over 40 countries.

[JayHawke84]

What I recommend for you're video in future is to play some hard rock and a heavy metal solo (best example you could do is the solo from Dio's Rainbow In The Dark) - the ES-137 can handle Heavy Metal because of the central block

P.S. nice work on the Traveling Wilburys song intro

[123kitl]

Very nice fair demo. I still cant figure out why it is mellower than a LP. I took a close look at my 137 custom and the back is maple, not mahogany. I never use the varitone however.

[tundragyr]

Shut up and play the darn thing...all of your commentary should be text...not the body of the video

[catapultic]

@tundragyr Sorry! I'd totally change it if I could. There are a lot of things wrong with this video. Maybe I'll make some other videos of it just being played.

[tundragyr]

@catapultic I guess it is only fair, I should have also mentioned that swas some nice playing once you got going..sounded great...wish I COULD PLAY MINE THAT WELL.

[MisterStinkfist]

@catapultic the commentary was just fine. would like to hear more clean and dirty styles, though. this is a very nice souding guitar. thanks for posting.

[Rich915]

Nice review & playing. What a great looking guitar! Not crazy about the Varitone, it's just not for me. fwiw: You mentioned that body was made of Mahogany, but on the contrare, I believe it's Maple?

[EdgarDizzlewicz92]

Cool review! It's nice to have somebody just play chords and simple things so we can get a taste for what the guitar really sounds like, cheers!

[GamingFG]

hey there, may i ask how much that beauty cost you and what store you bought it at? Thanks

[ThEsOuNdSoLdIeR]

hi, realy nice guitar! can you please tell me the name of the song in the end of your video? is this pat metheny? whats the name of this tune?

cheers mate

[axeman1009]

Hi Mr C, and anyone wanting to give feedback....I go to school for jazz studies and have to do jazz standards (Satin Doll, etc). I have choices of this one..the es 137 at the top of my list, but of course people doing hard sells on Eastmans, Godins, etc. I seem to like the idea that the 137 is versatile. I like the blues (love actually), rock, jazz fusion....any thoughts???

[SuperGuitarMark]

Can it do metal???

[WoWintosh]

@SuperGuitarMark

Of course. It'll be super muddy and feedback extremely easily and it'll be very hard to shred some leads plus heavy riffs will turn into mush but other than that, yeah it can do metal.

[wc4dblues]

I just got one of these, and can't say enough good about it. It does everything I've

ever wanted from a guitar! Better tone than any LES PAUL I've played, and the sustain is insane, this bad boy will sustain until you want it to stop. I can finally get

those long soulful sustained notes, and controlled feedback, it's just a beautiful axe.

I am completely happy

[Vermillion2176]

Thanks for a great review. Years ago I had an ES 355 with that Varitone switch. I never liked that darn switch. It just cut the volume down which you mentioned and to me made my really nice Gibson sound like an el cheapo thin tinny guitar.

Right now I'm having a GAS attach between one of these and a Gretsch 6120AM. I suspect that I would like the tones from the Gibby better. I always have.

Big Ron

[epiex1997]

i am thinking about getting one of these in blue triburst, my friend told me that if hollowbody guitars dot have metal bars in the neck it eventually snaps. is this true? i have never had any hollow body guitars before, this would be my first. Any advice

[RockabillyBlues85]

Could I play rockabilly/ 50's rock on this guitar and it'd sound good?

[penguento]

this or a sg?

[TheKatamariMan]

awesome

[HardAsARock222]

Man I'm planning on getting one. I want to modify the neck board design, instead of the diamond cut design on it, I'm gonna replace it with the original Les Paul custom rectangular design. and I also want to add another pickup in the middle, and then replace the pickups with the coil stranded ones. I'm basically trying to replicate Ace Frehley's les paul custom into a 137 custom.

[joeydoit1423]

I'm glad you didn't play stupid solos with bad tone like most demos. good job!

[8hui]

On a pas le droit de jouer coome ca avec une guitare pareil

[stumblepicker]

Really nice chops,and it's good to see you DID NOT place the pick in your mouth,like the players with sore throats.

[CaptNemo100]

Hi - great guitar! How much does it weigh? Thanks

[zmaikhy]

cooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo­oooooooooool

[CinemaVeriteSNM]

Esta bueno el video pero el chavon se la pasa hablando loco

[felixrocker95]

amazing guitar

[slapfunker]

Nice guitar... u think is a good idea play rock & blues in this guitar also? because i love the guitar but I don't play jazz, i play rock..

[AlexDeMars123]

@slapfunker Pretty much all hollow bodies that have a bridge pickup are good for rock. As long as you have like not too much gain, they feed back if you have too much. They've got great sustain since the sound resonates in the guitar.

[bondman00794]

sir this is amazing! I would like to know what chords you played in the beginning unplugged? it was a great chord progression

[JazzyDave]

Sorry if this has already been mentioned but what amp are you using? That ES sounds great!

[catapultic]

@JazzyDave It's a craptastic solid-state Crate GX80 from 1998! I recently acquired a Vox tube amp - seriously considering making a new vid to truly show off how this guy can shine.

[capodastraa]

@catapultic : new vid with your ES-137 and Vox tube amp would be awesome. Thanks!

[JikoMuskato]

Beautiful guitar - in my opinion it looks much better than the ES-335. The sound is great as well - would be a guitar I'd really like in my collection... ;)

[catapultic]

@JikoMuskato Yeah this is a great instrument overall. My only "complaint" after having played it for a long time, is that the '57 classics are super hot and high output. I know that sounds totally wrong, but they are really loud. Which is actually a good thing for creating some nice overdrive tones with the Vox.

[LordAzai]

@catapultic do you ifnd the 57 classics clear, obviously not as clear as single coils but humbuckeringly clear :P also, do you find the varitone on 6 sounds very telecasteresque? on the vid it osunds a lot like a telecaster to me! which would be great, because that means itll be like two guitars in one and im digging the tele tone at the moment

[JazzEthics]

Have the same guitar, and dig it a lot!!! Very versatile instrument.

Lar

[giggidybdoto7]

does gibson still make the es-137 custom?

they only have the classic/standard one on thier website and those dont hve varitone.

[SPLEENJAZZ]

Hi man!!! Great DEMO...but the Pickup are classic '57??? Really? Some models of 137 have a 480/490 Pickup...why?Thanks so much!!!

[catapultic]

@SPLEENJAZZ It looks like the 137 Classic has the 480/490 pup configuration, like what you'd find on a paul. The Custom has the '57 classics.

[dream6667]

beautiful guitar and  nice demo ;)

[sclogse1]

Very nice...clean and coherant....I decided on the reg model, since I'm more of a jazzbo brazil kinda guy, and won't need the variant knob...plus, I'm putting in Benedetto B6 jazz pickups. Things I don't like..of all things...is that it's so new looking....I don't like the look of the plastic knobs, or the glossy finish or the white binding. I'm changing the knobs to custom wood knobs on ebay...and maybe will stain the binding to a warmer color. It's just too white for me..should be great!

[trueimageprod]

Great demo.

[mrskint55]

I made my own custom model and it sounds really great

[vback77]

dude can i have the tab for the solo at 6:04?

[trend2kill]

wow this is a really amazing sounding guitar

[IgenDjuret]

I own a ES-137, it sounds beautiful =D It's like a semi-hollow Les Paul!

[IgenDjuret]

It's a custom, light burst

[tessanguitar]

I have same guitar. I like it very much. I posted a song played with it. v=KBQxVXAY1A4 Please watch.

[Ludeboy71]

sound too "boomy" what amp are you using?

[PnoiTheKid]

great review man, very helpful, thanks

[bugaddi51]

Hi great guitar - greetings from germany - winfried

[chumbalakuku]

how was it with overdrive? Can you get decent scofield sounds? Co0l Demo...

[El135o]

Beauty guitar.

I have the ES-135 with P90s ... it sounds a little too Telecaster to me. Is it worth going to the 137 with the 57s?

I'm trying for a fatter, more sustained tone. The P90s seem too glassy to me.

[catapultic]

Duuude, the 137 with the '57 classics is the epitome of warm/fat. So much so that it's actually quite difficult to get a very trebly tone out of the guitar, even the bridge pickup, unless you engage Varitone of course.

It's a great, big, fat Gibson set neck and a good size hollowbody so the sustain on it is pretty nice. If you are looking for a blues or jazz guitar I can pretty much guarantee that this will do it for you.

[catapultic]

And by hollowbody I meant semi hollow of course.

[El135o]

Actually, I forgot--my 135 has P-100s, but they don't have that midrange punch the 57s seem to have.

The 135 is like an acoustic in your hands--big neck too, big body, really has the business feel to it. Not a 'toy' guitar!

But more and more I think that I should move to the 137 and that Les Paul hollowbody sound. The 135 is a little too dry ...

[DxRox22]

sick guitar, i need one

[sr1129]

despite the amp, its a good sound

[bandostyle]

is that the sound of a 3000$ guitar? for me it's not good at all

[catapultic]

Yeah you know what is a bummer, I have a really crappy 80 watt Crate solid state amp from 1997, it's a total injustice to the actual quality of the guitar's sound. I am looking at Fender tube amps lately... will have to remake a video when I get a better quality amp. It's a shame :(

[SharkGTS]

sounds awesome. the cam mike is leveling but through that its a great git. good player.

[missystu]

The sound is there, you just need to know how to reach it, i.e.,picks, strings, attack, pre amp, amp, controls, etc.. That's the difference between a guitar owner and a guitarist.

[paltieri11]

so how does this one compare to the 175?.....and also in price?....thanks for the video!

[Dorkschnieder]

Nice run down dude. I've owned an es 137 classic triburst with chrome hardware and I am still absolutely head over heels in love with it. You can totaly rock out on it, you can go country, jazz, rockabilly. You can even treat it like an acoustic guitar with the right approach and settings. Amazing if you think about it.

[JAZZMANICK]

Hi,I play also a ES-137P (this model uses ceramick pickups I think model 500 bringe and 498 neck).I've never seen a guitar playing from mellow fat jazz lines to classic rock - overdriven.The one you play has also this varitone 6 position switch and its the ultimate guitar...

[catapultic]

I agree with it being the ultimate guitar. It's not for shredders , that's for sure. But it is probably the most versatile guitar out there and one of the highest quality ones available. Long live the ES137!!

[JAZZMANICK]

I apploaded a video ,to prove my saying ,look at ES-137 medley.I forgot to post as a video answer..This is the ES-137P on a Music man amp.

[nightingale013]

I played a Lucille a while ago.... I really like the sound of the vartione on 3...round and pearly sound. When you add distortion on that..Can you get the sort of creamy santana tone?

[ImOnTheTube]

Finally, someone posted a review on this thing. That was a nice pat metheny tune you had there at the end.

[catapultic]

Thanks, maybe i'll make a vid on it later. More on the 137 coming :)

[jennyzandstra]

That's a beauty, sounds fantastic too :D Congrats!

[arcangel6]

Hi,

That is a great guitar, I used to own one. Just to clarify regarding the body specs. The body is composed a laminated wood, not solid. The specs from Gibson are:

-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

This makes it resistant to feedback out louder volumes. By the way, nice playing and great tone!

[catapultic]

Oops! Thanks for the catch. I made this one in a hurry and completely forgot the specs, all I could remember was the solid mahogany block and curly maple. I will have to correct this. Thanks!