George Thorogood’s knack for popularizing older songs by blues greats – coupled with his trademark brand of high-energy boogie blues – has made his music a radio mainstay for the past couple of decades or so.
And, much like his inextricable link to American rock radio, Thorogood has been associated with his go-to hollow-body electric guitar, the Gibson ES-125, since the early ’70s.
A week before his first gig with what would become the touring behemoth, the Delaware Destroyers – later, the Destroyers – Thorogood headed to a pawn shop to buy the guitar model that would go on to accompany him throughout his career.
“I’d been traveling around the country as an acoustic street musician,” Thorogood recounts on his official website. “I was back home for my sister’s wedding, and Jeff booked the gig without telling me.”
Speaking more about his early days in an upcoming Guitar World interview, Thorogood describes what led him to the ES-125: “I was broke. I only had $200, and we booked a gig, and there was this guitar at a pawn shop – a $200 Gibson that had been there for years. So, I bought it, and it worked because I was always playing acoustics.
“And in those days, they called those guitars [the ES-125] ‘semi-acoustic.’ And the Beatles played guitars like that, and so did Keith Richards. I thought, ‘If it’s good enough for The Beatles and The Stones, it’s good enough for George.’"
The rest, as they say, is history, though Thorogood can now be seen mostly playing Epiphones – a decision born out of necessity.
“I’m using a custom-made Epiphone archtop, single cutaway design, just like my Gibson [ES]-125 that I used to play, because I wore them out,” he explains. “The only guitar that I could ever play was the 125, and I wore them out so bad; it was costing thousands of dollars to repair them.
“And they stopped making them in like 1970, so I was ready to stop playing altogether. And then, our manager got together with Epiphone, and they donated me like 10 Epiphone guitars. 10 of them!
“I said, ‘Wow…’ and they started working on them to make the sound right. So, that’s what I’m using these days.”
As for how his new Epiphone compares to his vintage Gibson, Thorogood – with the help of some baseball jargon – admits he still prefers his trusty Gibson.
“There’s no comparison. It’s [the Epiphone] like hitting a baseball into the gap, and you have to slide into second [base] with a double. The other thing [the Gibson] is like hitting a ball into the upper deck,” he adds with a laugh.
Keep your eyes peeled on Guitar World for our upcoming interview with George Thorogood.
