Other Gibsons
This guitar stops my heart. I’ve had two of them and I really didn’t want to let either one go. Great looker, great player and a great value. These should be $50,000 or more. They are relatively cheap if you can find one. This is a 60 Gibson made Epiphone Sheraton.
Cool late 60’s EB-3. This is the Jack Bruce bass (well, not this actual one) but he usually played an EB-3 with Cream.
Early Gibson made Epiphone Sheratons have the best neck ever made. It a big vee neck that rounds out as you go toward the upper frets. They sound pretty good too even though the output of the pickups is fairly low. This is a 59.
The best Les Pauls I’ve owned? 68’s. Go figure. I think they are more playable than the 50’s gold tops and I think the pickups sound better too. I’ve had two 68’s and a 69 that sound better than all the 50’s LP’s I’ve had.
Not too many of these around since they made less than 175 of them. How many are still in one piece given how fragile these are. This is a 64 Firebird VII with its original “fretless wonder” frets.
Most of these get scavenged for the very valuable parts. Not this one. All 59 features including the big neck. 59 factory order. And it’s blonde. WooHoo.
” src=”https://www.es-335.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/MSincase.jpg” alt=”” width=”504″ height=”336″> I got this at an auction. I’m not much of an archtop guy but this one really screamed “BUY ME”. It’s a 1958 ES-350T
A very rare “watermelon” ES-330. This is the only one I’ve ever seen. They started making red 330’s in 1960 at about the same time they changed the red dye so there can’t be very many out there.
” src=”https://www.es-335.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/BestBT1-1024×768.jpg” alt=”” width=”516″ height=”387″> What’s rarer than a black Trini Lopez (a blue Trini Lopez?) I don’t know how many there are but this 67 is the first one I ever had.
” src=”https://www.es-335.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/FB1MS1-1024×768.jpg” alt=”” width=”600″ height=”450″> Slightly modded (ABR-1) 64 Firebird 1. I got this from an American expat in Paris. A very cool guitar with the infamous “picnic basket” or “pajama” case.
” src=”https://www.es-335.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/frontms1-768×1024.jpg” alt=”” width=”538″ height=”717″> I don’t get a lot of late 60’s stuff but I had a client looking for a “long neck” 330 in blonde and my buds at Southside Guitars in Brooklyn had this Custom job. 5 piece maple neck and fretless wonder frets.. Find another like that.
Another ES 330 from Andreja in Serbia. This one is a gorgeous 64-a lot like the first Gibson I ever owned
The Notorious Pelham Blue Trini
One “bastard” 335 type guitar from the Norlin era was ES-150 D. I almost bought one in 71′ If you recall, it was a full 3″ ( I think ) hollow body with a trapeze tailpiece and a master volume control on the lower ear. The guitar had great tone, but feedback was a problem, as it is for many fully hollow bodied electrics.
Peace!
I’ll be doing a post on the ES-150 soon. It’s definitely on my radar as a 335 variant.
Hi Charlie –
I’m about to buy my first ES335. It is brand new, being sold at Guitar Center for $2250 (normally $3000 but all new Gibsons are on sale for a few days). I have a 1978 ES175T (thin) that I’m considering trading in for it, but I probably won’t because I’m guessing they won’t give me close to what it’s worth. Are you interested in it? It’s in very good condition except some of the finish (stain) was rubbed off on one side of the neck in an over-zealous attempt at cleaning. Still, it is a gorgeous (dark cherry), rare and great playing instrument. Let me know if you might be interested and I’ll send you some photos.
Also, if you can tell me if there’s anything I should be aware of or look for in the new 335 before buying it I’d really appreciate it. Thx.
– Dave
Hi Dave. Play the 335. If you like it, buy it. Play a few of them if you can because they are not consistent. Do a little research to make sure that the price is a good price for the model 335 you are looking at. Just because GC says it’s “on sale” doesn’t mean it’s the best price.
how much for the black trini and 62 lp special?
Both are sold. Black Trini sold for around $10K and the Special at around $7500.
Hey Charlie, What a great site you’ve put together, lots of folks say ‘charlie really knows his stuff’ and from what I see, I agree.
In the mid 70’s I had 3 ES-345’s: a Sunburst 1959 from Dave @ Guitar Trader, a Cherry Red 1960 form a small store in Schenectady. The ’60 had an incredibly stupid brass plate on the back covering an unfortunate attempt at electronics repair (wasn’t me, got it for a very reasonable price) and a BLACK 71/72(?)…volute, black/white/purple lable inside and Grover Imperials. While I was living in Boston, I had E.U.Co. Frets (Wurlitzer) put 1st position parallelogram inlays (ala ES 175) in the Black one. They botched the job the first time out but then removed the bad inlay and that portion of the fingerboard, and redid the job with appropriate inlays. I do recall that the woman who did the work was very gracious about it…and a looker as well…any way, Long-shot here – has this (or even the ’60 with the stupid brass plate) ever come to your attention? Thank you
Thanks for the kind words. I haven’t come across a 60 with a brass plate although I’ve spent plenty of time in Schenectady (I was born there and went to college there and grew up in the next town). I don’t look at many 70’s guitars so the black one wouldn’t have been on my radar.
Novice here. Are the pick ups on these guitars humbuckers or P90’s?
Also, i am considering buying an epiphone es 339 or a epiphone sg400 pro cause i cannot afford a gibson but I love George Harrison.
Thank you,
vboy
Humbuckers.Easy way to tell– P90’s usually have plastic covers and hum buckers have either metal covers or no cover.
I’m in the UK and looking to buy my first 335. It was made in 87. I’ve read on your site that 70’s models leave a lot to be desired. When did the turn around in production standards take place? Anything I should be aware of when I view it? Any help would be appreciated. I’d also like to say thanks for sharing your years of experience on your site. It clearly is a labour of love and I’m sure I speak for many when I say it is appreciated.
An 87 335 should be a good instrument. If it has the earlier Shaw pickups, it would be better than the Bill Lawrence “PC circuit” hum buckers. I think most had the Lawrence pickups by 87, however.
335’s went steadily downhill from 68 to 80 and bumped back up in quality with the dot reissue in 81-85. Once Norlin sold the company to the current management in 86, the quality largely remained the same for a while and stayed relatively good. The most recent ones are probably the best to have been built since the 60’s.
Hi
The Howard Roberts Fusion guitar in the Gibson Ad was listed as an ES series guitar. What do you think of the first production HR Fusion guitars of the early 80’s ?
I’ve never actually played one. I’ve played one from the 60’s and liked it a lot but they were different.
What condition is the EB-3 bass? Thanks!
The EB-3 is sold. Only guitars in the “for sale” section are for sale. The rest are archives for your viewing pleasure.
I wait for every new post! I get your connection to 60’s and later ES’s. But time marches on, and you could do use a service by scrutinizing later ES’s. I have noticed your lack of material to comment on in regard to the Vintage ES’s. That said, I am roughly your age group, and life experience group. I have been visiting your site for 3+ years. Keep up the good work!
I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read my posts. Without the readers, I’m simply talking to myself. The reason I don’t go into the later ES’s is because I simply don’t see enough of them to have the breadth of knowledge I have of the early ones. For example, I’ve owned more than 50 1959’s. I’ve owned perhaps 10 from the entire 70’s. I’ve had a lot from the early 80’s and I write about those. But after that, there’s another 35 years worth of ES guitars and I haven’t owned more than 15 or 20 from 1986 to 2020. I’m leaving those years up to my successor, whoever that might be.
Hello,
Great site! Lots of great information! I was hoping you might be able to help me find some info on my Lucille. The serial Number (88030024) dates to 1980 and I got it indirectly from Elvin Bishop. I have been told it was given to him by BB King and that it was a very early one given to BB by Gibson. I had BB sign it in the 90’s but wasn’t able to question him about this. Anyway, not looking to sell just wanted to know if any of this was possibly true. It’s a fantastic guitar and means alot to me due to my affection for Mr King. Thanks for your time!
Scott
Hard to know if any provenance i true without some kind of proof. A guy tells another guy that it was Elvin Bishop’s guitar and he tells the next guy and he tells the next guy. It t’s like that old game of “telephone”. It turns out that Elvin Bishop’s second cousin once played it. Provenance without good documentation is worthless.
Quisiera consultar a Okguitars:la calidad de la Gibson 335 TD 1975 (era Norlin)ha disminuido con respecto a los años anteriores…es cierto que el medio center block debilita e desestabiliza el mueble. Me ofrecieron una y tengo miedo de que la calidad de Gibson reconocida en años anteriores,termine dándome una guitarra mediocre. Pregunto a los que saben,sería mi primer ES y creo que a mi edad (62),el último. Desde ya,muchas gracias
okguitars:quiero dejar aclarado que mi post anterior es un planteo de dudas con respecto al instrumento y no una afirmación (no han quedado escritos los signos de pregunta).Dudas que tengo por no saber absolutamente nada sobre el tema. Sólo pido orientación y consejos. Otra vez,muchas gracias.