A November 1958 ES-335TDN

1958 Gibson ES-335TDN.

One the very last of just 50 Natural ES-335TDs shipped in 1958. This fifty-one year-old beauty weighs just 7.60 lbs. and has a nice, fat nut width of 1 11/16 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Laminated 'birds-eye' maple body with single binding on the top and back and semi-solid construction with maple central block. One-piece mahogany neck with a wonderful thick late '58 / early '59 neck profile, bound Brazilian rosewood fretboard with 22 thin frets and inlaid pearl dot position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl crown inlay. Individual 'single-line' Kluson Deluxe tuners with single-ring Keystone plastic buttons and "D-169400 PATENT NO." stamped on the inside (except the 'D' tuner which has "2356766 / Patent Appld."). Two "double-black" PAF humbucker pickups with black plastic surrounds and outputs of 8.43k and 7.55k. Each pickup has a small rectangular black "Patent Applied For" label on the underside. The pickup "rings" are the original black plastic stamped underneath "MR 491" and "M-69 7" (neck pickup) and "MR 490" and "M-69 8" (bridge pickup). "Long" five-layer (black/white/black/white/black) plastic pickguard extending below the bridge. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch for pickup selection, all on lower treble bout. Gold plastic bell-shaped "Bell" knobs. ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic non-retainer bridge with metal saddles and separate stud tailpiece. With the original Gibson orange oval label inside the bass 'f'-hole, the style "ES-335T" written in black ink and the serial number "A 28559" stamped in black. Inside the treble 'f'-hole the FON (factory order number) "T 3808 23" is stamped in dark blue.

There is an old small repair on the top by the jack input and the body has been lightly over-sprayed many years ago - most likely at the same time as the jack repair. The neck has been expertly re-fretted (with the exact correct gauge fretwire) and re-finished. The stud-pins for the ABR-1 bridge have been moved back by 1/8 inch on the treble side and 1/16 inch on the bass side - leaving two tiny holes which have been filled (only visible when the ABR-1 bridge is removed) This work was carried out to cure a common intonation problem on '58 ES guitars - and was done many, many years ago. The tuner-tips (which had crystalized) have been replaced with 'Uncle Lou' premium tips.

That's all the 'bad' news' - now for the good stuff… this guitar is very light, sounds absolutely amazing, plays like a dream and has a very, very pretty 'Birds-Eye' Maple top. The guitar has been examined by our luthiers and the repair around the jack input can be greatly - if not almost invisibly redone. We have not undertaken this work because we feel it is imperative to disclose everything to any potential buyer. We give the guitar an excellent plus (8.75) rating BUT if it were not for the jack repair and the expert neck re-fin we would have given it a strong near mint (9.25) rating. An opportunity to own one of the very few blond ES-335's at a more affordable price. Housed in the original Gibson five-latch brown hardshell case with pink plush lining (9.00).

"Introduced in 1958, the ES-335T (originally no final D) truly ranks among the all-time Gibson classics, not only because of its enduring popularity but also because of its semi-solid construction which pioneered a new style of electrics" (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, p. 231).

"There were indeed a number of firsts in the early days of the electric guitar, but in retrospect only few of them can be considered as true milestones. The double cutaway thinline pioneered by Gibson in 1958 genuinely rank amongst the great original designs. Their graceful shape was truly innovative at the time and spawned several imitations such as Gretsch's revamped Chet Atkins series or the Guild Starfire. But perhaps the most important hallmark of the new thinline was their semi-solid construction. Indeed Gibson's prime objective was to design an instrument that would combine the advantages of both solid and hollow body electrics and therefore appeal to a variety of players, regardless of their musical style" (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, p. 77).