A Gibson ES-335 with a Phase Switch

This adaptation of the popular ES-335 weighs 9.60 lbs. and has a nice, fat nut width of 1 11/16 inches and a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches. Laminated maple body, mahogany neck, and bound ebony fretboard with 22 jumbo frets and inlaid pearl block position markers. This guitar has the original brass nut. Multi-bound headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl crown inlay. "ES-347" on truss-rod cover. Individual Gibson tuners with tulip-shaped metal buttons. Serial number ("81302569") and "Made in U.S.A." stamped on the back of the headstock. Two humbucking pickups with outputs of 8.02k and 7.95k. Four-layer (black/white/black/white) plastic pickguard. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch on lower treble bout and two-way phase (coil-tap) switch on upper treble bout. Black plastic bell-shaped knobs with metal tops. Nashville Tune-O-Matic bridge and separate stud tailpiece. The body is single-bound. This guitar is in near mint condition, with only some smooth natural playing wear on the treble side of the neck between the third and ninth fret. All hardware gold-plated. Housed in the original Gibson black hardshell case with dark red plush lining (8.50).

Oval white Gibson label inside the bass f-hole with serial number and "Model ES-347TD." Original Dirty Finger pickups (neck pickup has a white bobbin and the bridge pickup has a black bobbin). The white stamps on the bottom of the pickups show a sequential matching pair, the numbers are: 409 482 and 410 482, also in the bridge pickup cavity is the name in ink "Sharon/J/8#".

"Gibson totally revamped its line of semi-hollowbody guitars (with the 'wonder-thin silhouette') in early 1979. They replaced the ES-335 with their first 'reissue' -- the ES-335DOT -- and discontinued the ES-345 and 355, which had never sold as well as the more workmanlike 335. These guitars were replaced by a new model, the ES-347, which combined many of their most attractive features with new trends in guitar technology. The 347 had deluxe appointments: maple body and neck; bound ebony fingerboard with pearl block inlays; an SP-2 headstock with binding and tasteful 'crown' inlay; and gold hardware. Its updated features included high-output 'Dirty Fingers' humbuckers, a coil-tap switch, Gibson’s new TP-6 fine-tuning tailpiece, and the 'Sustain Sisters', which had their genesis in the big brass insert of Mitch Holder’s ES-355 Custom. Gibson R&D had refined Mitch’s concept, and the Sustain Sisters were four large, threaded brass inserts sunk into the centerblock, into which the TP-6 and Tunomatic bridge were mounted" (Baker Rorick, "Gibson ES-357," at http://www.vintageguitar.com/brands/details.asp?ID=22).