Demand for the “thinline” electric archtops introduced by Gibson in 1955 grew steadily over the following years, and in 1962, the company added a budget-price model to the series, the ES-120T, which sold at just under $150.

It shared it’s body dimensions and some aspects of it’s styling with the ES-125T, the former “bottom-of-the-range” thinline (introduced in 1956). But the new guitar had one significant difference…

On the 120T, the 125’s P-90 transducer was replaced with a combined pickguard-and-pickup similar to the one found on the Melody Maker. Because all the wiring and controls were mounted on a plastic plate, there were no electronics within the guitar’s body.