4 More Mid-priced Guitars for Less than an ES-175

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

 

1. e.g., Smaller than an ES-175 and Four of the Smallest Jazz Guitars. See Small Guitar series list for other related posts.