Gibson ES-330T Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1961)
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Gibson ES-330T Model Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1961), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 41493, sunburst top, dark back and sides finish, laminated maple body, mahogany neck with rosewood fingerboard, period grey chipboard case.
This is a very clean, all original example of an early sunburst ES-330T looking only lightly used since new. This plain "T" model was the relatively short-lived single pickup version of the popular ES-330TD, introduced in 1959 but phased out before the mid-1960s. It has the cooler first-generation features including bound dot rosewood fingerboard, rounder "Mickey Mouse" cutaway horns on the body, all nickel hardware and a black plastic P-90 pickup cover. The nickel-plated ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge is the first "no-wire" pattern with nickel saddles. The single-bound body is fully hollow with a deep rich sunburst and the neck joins at the 16th fret.
The distinctive feature of the original ES-330T is that single P-90 pickup mounted in the middle of the body, something Gibson first tried in 1955 with the ES-225. It is controlled with the then-new metal-capped plastic tone and volume knobs. This center pickup placement gives a smooth midrangey tone, obviously not as versatile as the twin pickup ES-330TD, but with a distinctive sound all its own. This is simply a superbly easy-handling and great-playing guitar, super lightweight and still with the more shallow flatter-feeling neck seen on most 1960-61 guitars. This is one of those guitars you'll pick up and play for a bit, and suddenly it's a couple of hours later, even if you don't plug it in!
Overall length is 43 1/8 in. (109.5 cm.), 16 1/8 in. (41 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
Overall this is a lovely original guitar with only some minor wear. It remains nicely original and the finish is shiny overall, with some very small dings, dents and handling marks. There is some light scuffing to the pickguard and scraping to the back from the past 60+ years. The headstock has some dings and a couple of chips to the treble side, around the G string tuner that has a bent shaft. The tuner still works fine, but it must have taken a bang long ago. The original frets have been recrowned in the lower positions and there is some visible wear to that zone of the fingerboard. There was never even a strap button added.
This is a very fine-playing and sounding guitar, very light and super comfortable, complete in a grey chipboard case that is actually correct for an Epiphone Casino of the same period. We don't know if this came from Kalamazoo this way or not, but they appear to have been together a long time. Overall this is a lovely package from the beginning of the 1960s. Excellent Condition.
This is a very clean, all original example of an early sunburst ES-330T looking only lightly used since new. This plain "T" model was the relatively short-lived single pickup version of the popular ES-330TD, introduced in 1959 but phased out before the mid-1960s. It has the cooler first-generation features including bound dot rosewood fingerboard, rounder "Mickey Mouse" cutaway horns on the body, all nickel hardware and a black plastic P-90 pickup cover. The nickel-plated ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge is the first "no-wire" pattern with nickel saddles. The single-bound body is fully hollow with a deep rich sunburst and the neck joins at the 16th fret.
The distinctive feature of the original ES-330T is that single P-90 pickup mounted in the middle of the body, something Gibson first tried in 1955 with the ES-225. It is controlled with the then-new metal-capped plastic tone and volume knobs. This center pickup placement gives a smooth midrangey tone, obviously not as versatile as the twin pickup ES-330TD, but with a distinctive sound all its own. This is simply a superbly easy-handling and great-playing guitar, super lightweight and still with the more shallow flatter-feeling neck seen on most 1960-61 guitars. This is one of those guitars you'll pick up and play for a bit, and suddenly it's a couple of hours later, even if you don't plug it in!
Overall length is 43 1/8 in. (109.5 cm.), 16 1/8 in. (41 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 1 5/8 in. (4.1 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 24 3/4 in. (629 mm.). Width of nut is 1 11/16 in. (43 mm.).
Overall this is a lovely original guitar with only some minor wear. It remains nicely original and the finish is shiny overall, with some very small dings, dents and handling marks. There is some light scuffing to the pickguard and scraping to the back from the past 60+ years. The headstock has some dings and a couple of chips to the treble side, around the G string tuner that has a bent shaft. The tuner still works fine, but it must have taken a bang long ago. The original frets have been recrowned in the lower positions and there is some visible wear to that zone of the fingerboard. There was never even a strap button added.
This is a very fine-playing and sounding guitar, very light and super comfortable, complete in a grey chipboard case that is actually correct for an Epiphone Casino of the same period. We don't know if this came from Kalamazoo this way or not, but they appear to have been together a long time. Overall this is a lovely package from the beginning of the 1960s. Excellent Condition.