A Rare Special Factory-Ordered ES-335TD Custom Varitone Mono

This guitar weighs 8.20 lbs. and has a nice, meaty nut width of just under 1 11/16 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Single-bound laminated maple body with semi-solid construction and maple central block, one-piece mahogany neck with a typical '64 medium to thick profile (å la Clapton), and bound rosewood fretboard with 22 wide jumbo frets and inlaid pearl block position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl crown inlay. Two-layer (black on white) plastic truss-rod cover with "Custom" engraved in white. Serial number ("66270") impressed into the back of the headstock. Individual dual-line Kluson Deluxe tuners with double-ring Keystone plastic buttons. With an orange oval label inside the bass f-hole with the style ("ES-335TDC[ustom]") and the serial number ("66270") written in black ink. Five-layer (black/white/black/white/black) plastic pickguard. Two patent-number humbucking pickups with black rings and outputs of 7.70k and 7.87k. 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). Each pickup with a black label ("Patent No. 2,737,842") on the underside. In the cavity beneath the bridge pickup is the Varitone transformer. This guitar has additional factory black plastic pickup "beauty" or "dress" rings, one (on the neck pickup) cosmetic and one (on the bridge pickup) to cover the slightly enlarged hole for the insertion of the transformer. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch for pickup selection and custom factory-ordered six-position Varitone rotary switch for tonal settings, all on lower treble bout. Gold plastic bell-shaped "Bell" knobs with metal tops and a black circular plate with the numbers in silver around the Varitone switch. ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic retainer bridge with nylon saddles and factory stop tailpiece. This guitar is in excellent plus (8.75) condition. There is a minuscule amount of belt buckle wear on the back of the guitar and one tiny mark on the back of the neck behind the second fret. At one time this guitar was fitted with Grover RotoMatic tuners, as evidenced by six very small and neatly filled holes on the back of the headstock and slightly enlarged shaft holes. However the original tuners are now back on the guitar and if the tuners hadn't been changed, we would have easily given this guitar a 'near-mint' rating of 9.25. Housed in the original Gibson black hardshell case with five latches and orange plush lining (9.00).

Inside the case is a typed letter from the Chapman Highway Guitar Shop in Knoxville, Tennessee, to Mr. [George] Gruhn, dated March 9, 2001, sending the guitar to him for confirmation that the custom "beauty" or "dress" rings are indeed original factory rings. The reply from George Gruhn is handwritten on the letter "The finish is orig., (Phil & Dave), the beauty rings are to cover outsized hand rout to fit choke coils in lead p/u rout; (they routed too wide on the back of p/u rout) and rings cover the trailing edge rout at lead p/u area. They are orig. Gib. C ust. work of that period, and are all orig. Gib. work."

"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).

"The Stereo/Vari-Tone outfit became the raison d'être of the ES-345T, but it was also offered as a special-order option on a few other electrics, namely the Super 400CES, the L-5CES, the Byrdland, the ES-355T and the ES-350T. Both the stereo wiring and the Vari-Tone circuitry could be ordered separately ($25.00 extra for stereo and $40.00 for the Vari-Tone) or together ($50.00 extra). In most cases, however, they were custom-ordered as one single outfit" (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, pp. 81-82). ES-335s with custom-ordered Monaural Varitones are truly rare guitars.

"This "Varitone" rotary switch, consists in a series of capacitors of different values which progressively "dry" out the sound of the pick-ups by filtering certain frequencies. The Varitone system was invented by Walter Fuller and it is a very ingenious "passive" device that, combined with the two pick-ups, allows the guitarist to obtain 18 basic sounds. A certain number of 335's were also equipped with this system on a special order basis…" (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics, p. 153).