Roll Over Beethoven…

One of the very first of just 174 ES-355TD/SVs made in 1961. This lovely example weighs just 9.20 lbs. and has a nut width of just under 1 11/16 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Laminated maple body with maple central block, one-piece mahogany neck with a typical 1960 thin profile, bound ebony fretboard with 22 frets and inlaid pearl block position markers. Multi-bound headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl five-piece split-diamond inlay. Two-layer (black on white) plastic truss-rod cover with "Stereo" engraved in white. Serial number ("1915") impressed into the back of the headstock. The body is multi-bound on the top (seven-ply) and the back (three-ply). With an orange oval label inside the bass f-hole with style ("ES-355TD") written in black ink and the serial number ("1915") stamped in black. Also "Stereo+Varitone" stamped in black just beside the label. Individual Grover Roto-Matic tuners with half-moon metal buttons. Two PAF 'double-black' pickups with black plastic surround and outputs of 7.65k and 7.92k. "Long" tortoiseshell pickguard with five-layer (white/black/white/black/white) plastic binding. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch for pickup selection and six-position Varitone rotary switch for tonal settings, all on lower treble bout. Black plastic bell-shaped "Bell" knobs with metal tops. ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge and factory Bigsby vibrato tailpiece. All hardware gold-plated. Apart from some very minor (hardly noticeable) finish checking, two tiny marks (smaller than a match head) on the top (by the bridge pickup), a small mark on the pickguard and some fading to the back of the neck, this is an exceptionally fine (9.00) example of the "top-of-the-line" thinlines. Housed in it's original Gibson five-latch brown hardshell case with pink plush lining (8.75).

"The ES-355T (at first no final D) was perfected in the second half of 1958 as a deluxe variant of the ES-335T. By 1959 the model was commercialized in two versions: the ES-355TD fitted with a regular mono wiring and the ES-355TD/SV equipped with the Stereo Varitone circuitry pioneered on the ES-345T. During the 1960s the stereo model outsold the mono one which was ultimately phased out in 1970, while the ES-355TD/SV remained cataloged until 1981...The ES-355TD/SV is identical to the mono version in every respect save for its Stereo Varitone circuitry...On the SV model the two pickups are wired separately for stereo effect and require a special Y-cord to the amp. the Varitone is a 6-position rotary switch which, combined with the regular toggle switch, permits to pre-select 18 different tone settings. On the early ES-355TD/SV the circular plate of the Varitone switch is painted black but gold plated 'rings' became standard by 1960. Until the advent of walnut in 1969, the great majority of 355s (whether mono or stereo) were released in cherry red" (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, pp. 237-238).