(SOLD) Gibson ES-335TD Cherry Wine 1976
Gibson ES-335TD, cherry wine, made in USA 1976. Glorious, yes? The 335 went through a bunch of changes over the years, and this model has a bunch of decidedly mid-70s features. It's got the bound fretboard with the small size pearl block inlays, a three-piece laminate maple neck, abalone logos on the headstock, witches hat knobs and a coil-split switch on the lower horn, all little details putting this squarely in the middle of Gibson's Norlin era. This one apparently formerly belonged to pro player, so it has spent time in both USA and Japan and had a couple of mods. The mods: the Bigsby tailpiece, a new bridge, a re-fret and a new bone nut. It still has the original pickups and switches, and it's a little hard to say for sure but the pots and jack look original too. It's got the original case and hasn't had any headstock breaks, so for for a 47 year old guitar that's done some real miles, it's in pretty great shape overall. The neck has that slim-but-deep shape typical of 70s Gibsons, which I found I got used to pretty quickly. The 3-piece construction helps with stability, so it's still arrow-straight and the truss rod is working perfectly. Despite the chunky tailpiece, this is pretty lightweight, and has plenty of natural resonance and volume unplugged. Plugged in, it's rewarding. The tone is dark, complex and eloquent. It gets along well with a bright amp like a Vox AC30, and it took me a little more dialing to get the settings than some other ES style guitars, but once you get it right: oh boy. It's extremely responsive to variation in the right-hand attack: gooey and lush under a light touch, snappy and sparkly when you dig in. There's a generous kick through the midrange, which makes for some gorgeous singing tones with a dirty amp for rock and blues playing. It will very happily cover jazz territory too, lending nuance and width to dense chords on the neck pickup. The rich red finish is listed in the catalog as 'cherry wine'... I guess that makes it the perfect midpoint between the brighter cherry and the darker wine red, right? It really does look sublime, with just enough checking and play wear to assert it's status as a player's guitar while still counting as a snappy dresser. Go on, it'll treat you well.
Model: Gibson ES-335TD
Made: USA, 1976, Kalamazoo plant (serial 00108715)
Finish: 'cherry wine', gloss nitro, plain maple
Body: laminate maple top/back/sides, arched top and back, maple centre block, spruce bracing, 42mm thinline depth
Neck: three piece maple, rosewood fretboard, 24.75" scale, 12" radius, moderate C shape, 41mm nut, 51mm width at 12th, 21mm depth at 1st, 26mm depth at 12th
Weight: 3.795kg
Mods: re-fretted, new bone nut installed, Bigsby tailpiece and new bridge installed
Pickups: Gibson chrome covered humbucker x2
Case: original hard case, good quality and condition
Also included: store warranty docs from a previous used purchase in Japan. Note the original nut, bridge and tailpiece are not included
Cosmetic condition notes: minor finish wear. The headstock has a bit of what appears to be case burn around end on the front and back. The serial is still clearly legible. There's some dimples on the top edge and back and some light scuffs around some of the tuner posts. The neck is clean and smooth in the hands, just a couple of dimples and some rub wear on the back. At the neck to body join, there's a little bit of shrinkage as pictured, but there's no cracks or breaks in the wood at either end of the neck. The back has a decent scratch as pictured on the top horn, as well as widespread light scuffs and dimples around the whole body, no other major marks. The sides have some surface scratches, checking lines and dimples in the elbow area and near the jack, as well as some dimples on the bottom horn. The front has checking lines in the elbow and tailpiece areas, on the bottom horn and near the knobs, as well as scuffs around the top F-hole and around the knobs and some play wear on the guard and horns. Overall: very good condition (7.5/10).
Playing condition notes: neck is straight, intonation is good, action is low, truss rod works. All electronics tested and working properly. The frets have been replaced and have minor wear, 9/10 for life left. No headstock breaks. Wearing fresh 11/49 Moonshiners strings.