One of the Earliest Gibson Twelve-String Guitars

One of the earliest Gibson twelve-string guitars and one of only forty-eight made in the first year of 1965. This guitar weighs 8.60 lbs. and has a nut width of just over 1 9/16 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Semi-hollow body with solid maple block down the center. Single-bound laminated maple body, one-piece mahogany neck, and bound rosewood fretboard with 22 jumbo frets and inlaid pearl block position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and two-piece pearl split-diamond inlay. Six-in-a-line Kluson Deluxe closed-back strip tuners with oval metal buttons. Two powerful humbucker pickups with outputs of 7.57k and 7.67k. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch. Gold plastic bell-shaped "Bell" knobs with metal tops. ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic retainer bridge with nylon saddles and trapeze tailpiece. This guitar is lacking the pickguard, otherwise it is in exceptionally fine condition, with only a few small marks and some body checking. Housed in the original Gibson black hardshell case (8.50).

"A 12-string version of the ES-335TD was introduced in 1965 at the height of the popularity of 12-string guitars. It shares the same basic characteristics as the third variant [of the ES-335TD], except for an enlarged pedhead inlaid with an elongated two-piece diamond motif, a modified TOM [Tune-O-Matic] bridge and tailpiece (no raised diamond), and 12 tuners with oval buttons. A 5-piece laminated mahogany neck was not introduced until mid-68. The ES-335-12 was marketed in both sunburst and cherry red finish and after a peak of 1,048 guitars in 1967 the model was withdrawn from the catalog in 1971" (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, p. 233). In 1965, forty-eight ES-335-12s were shipped in Sunburst and seven in Cherry Red.