A Dot-Neck ES-330TD with a Factory Bigsby

This guitar weighs 6.20 lbs. and has a medium thickness nut width of slightly under 1 11/16 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Laminated maple top, back, and sides, one-piece mahogany neck, and rosewood fretboard with 22 frets and inlaid pearl dot position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo. Individual closed-back tuners with white plastic oval buttons. Two hot black P-90 pickups with outputs of 8.05k and 8.07k. Five-layer (black/white/black/white/black) plastic pickguard. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch. Black plastic bell-shaped knobs with metal tops. Tune-O-Matic retainer bridge with nylon saddles and factory Bigsby tailpiece. This guitar is in near mint (9.25) condition, with the absolute bare minimum of belt buckle wear, a little bit of checking all over (very slight), and a few minuscule marks. Housed in the original Gibson black hardshell case with orange plush lining (8.50). The handle on the case has been replaced.

Known affectionately as the "poor man's dot neck guitar," the ES-330 was numerically speaking, the biggest seller of the double cutaway series in the late fifties and early sixties even if it was not a real semi-solid guitar!

"Built with the same body shape as the ES-335T, but not the same semi-solid construction, the ES-330T/TD were originally introduced in 1959 as a replacement for the single cutaway ES-225T/TD. The single pickup version was phased out in 1963, but the ES-330TD remained in production until 1972. Two main variants are usually distinguished up to the mid-60s...The first variant is characterized by a dot-inlaid fingerboard and black plastic-covered pickups...The ES-330TD was originally offered in sunburst and natural finish but in the course of 1960 the popular cherry red was substituted for natural...In mid-62 the fingerboard was enhanced with small pearloid block inlays and at the end of the year the the pickups were fitted with metal covers. The transitional instruments made during the second half of 1962 therefore feature block markers and black plastic-covered pickups" (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, p. 230).