The Gibson ES-175 is a great guitar. It is smaller than the 18 and 17 inch jazz boxes of the swing era — before electrification changed everything. It’s comfortable for me to hold but you may prefer something else. The only thing wrong with the ES-175 if you’re someone without a lot of money is the cost. I’ve written of alternatives in previous posts 1. Here’s four more alternatives to the Gibson to ES-175 to consider — only one of which I’ve covered previously. All of today’s alternatives are medium priced. Not cheap but much less than the Gibson. Expect to pay a bit more than $1000 for these.
Epiphone
The first guitar is the one I have covered before. It is the Epiphone ES-175 Premium. It is intended to be a reproduction of the Gibson and is made by a sister company to Gibson. Epiphone has made ES-175 copies in the past but the current model has higher end appointments.
Model | ES-175 Premium |
Lower Bout | 16 |
Scale | 24.75 |
Top | Maple |
Back & Sides | Maple |
FB | Rosewood |
Bridge | “Tune-o-Matic” |
Pickups | 2 Gibson USA ’57 Classic Humbuckers |
Ibanez
Artcore Expressionist AKJ95
The AKJ95 from Ibanez, as well as the remainder of the guitars in today’s review, are not intended to be clones of the ES-175 but are similar in size and details.
Model | AKJ95 |
Lower Bout | 15 3/4 |
Depth | 3 5/8 |
Scale | 24.7 |
Top | Flamed Maple |
Back & Sides | Flamed Maple |
FB | Rosewood |
Bridge | Rosewood |
Pickups | 2 Super 58 Humbuckers |
George Benson LGB30
Ibanez and George Benson developed a less expensive variation on one of his guitars. The LGB30 isn’t as small as the GB10 model, nor is it as expensive.
Model | LGB30 |
Lower Bout | 15 3/4 |
Depth | 3 5/8 |
Scale | 24.7 |
Top | Spruce |
Back & Sides | Flamed Maple |
FB | Ebony |
Bridge | Rosewood |
Pickups | 2 Super 58 Humbuckers |
Peerless
Gigmaster Jazz
Another alternative are the guitars from Peerless. This is an overseas company that has made OEM models for others such as Epiphone. Guitars N Jazz has been selling Peerless guitars in the USA. Just looking at the guitar you can tell it is intended to evoke the ES-175.
Model | Gigmaster Jazz |
Lower Bout | 16 |
Depth | 3 |
Scale | 24.72 |
Top | Maple |
Back & Sides | Maple |
FB | Rosewood |
Bridge | Rosewood |
Pickups | 2 Humbuckers |
Footnotes
- e.g., Smaller than an ES-175 and Four of the Smallest Jazz Guitars. See Small Guitar series list for other related posts.