the format of archtop with a single florentine cutaway has been used by gibson previously. notable comparisons would be the gibson es-175 and gibson es-135 models. the basic body shape of the es-137 is very close to gibson's fully hollow-bodied es-175. despite the 137 being somewhat thinner than the es-175, it is not classed as a thinline model. however, the es-137 does sport an internal mahogany center block inside the body. this design eliminates feedback problems common with hollow-bodied guitars. the center block also facilitates the use of a stop tailpiece alike the es-335, therefore eliminating the use of a "trapeze"-style tailpiece found on most hollow-bodied gibsons.