A Special Factory Order "Lyre" Vibrola ES-345TDC SV

One of 643 Cherry "Stereo Guitars" issued in 1967. The special factory order weighs 9.40 lbs. and has a medium nut width of just under 1 5/8 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Laminated maple top, back, and sides, with a maple central block, one-piece mahogany neck, and bound rosewood fretboard with 22 jumbo frets and inlaid pearl split-parallelogram position markers (no inlay at the 1st fret, as usual). The body is triple-bound (white/black/white) on the top and single-bound (white) on the back. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl crown inlay. Individual double-line Kluson Deluxe tuners with single-ring Keystone plastic buttons. Two humbucking pickups with black plastic surrounds and balanced outputs of 7.26k and 7.33k. Shorter five-layer (black/white/black/white/black) plastic pickguard that does not extend past the bridge pickup. 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 ribbed-sided conical-shaped "Witch Hat" knobs. With a gold circular plate with the numbers in black around the Varitone switch. ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic retainer bridge with metal saddles and special factory order Gibson Deluxe Vibrola tailpiece with plastic-tipped handle and a lyre-engraved coverplate. All hardware gold-plated. With the original Gibson orange oval label inside the bass f-hole, with the style ("ES-345TDC") stamped in black and the serial ("113202") stamped in black. The serial number is also stamped on the back of the headstock. This guitar is near mint (9.25) condition, with only the absolute minimum of finish checking. There is a minimal amount of tarnishing to the gold-plating. Housed in its original Gibson black hardshell case with orange plush lining (9.25).

Introduced in Spring 1959, the ES-345 "was Gibson's first stereo guitar. It had a circuit that, when connected to a suitable 'Y'-cable, would split the pickups to two individual amplifiers, creating a wide if not strictly stereo spread. It also had a Varitone six-way tone selector. By 1963...the 335 family was priced as follows: the sunburst 335 was $300 ($315 in cherry); sunburst 345 was $395 ($410 cherry); and mono 355 was $595 ($645 with stereo and Varitone)" (Tony Bacon, The History of the American Guitar from 1833 to the Present Day, p. 105).

"The early 345s with a vibrato are usually fitted with a Bigsby unit, but Gibson's sideways Vibrola is also found on 1960-62 instruments. The Deluxe Vibrola featuring a plastic-tipped handle and a lyre-engraved coverplate became optional after 1962" (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, p. 234).

The majority of post 1965 ES-345s were fitted with a conventional trapeze tailpiece, a Bigsby vibrato unit being the usual variant. This guitar was specially ordered from the factory with the Gibson Deluxe "Lyre" Vibrola that was used on the more expensive ES-355. Also it has a slightly wider neck than the narrowish 1 9/16 inch nut width that is usually found on this year.