Gibson ES-335TD Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1981)
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Gibson ES-335TD Model Semi-Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1981), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # 82941037, natural lacquer finish, laminated maple body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, original black tolex hard shell case.
This blonde beauty of an ES-335TD dates to 1981, a transitional time at Gibson and amazingly enough the last catalog year for the "original" model as it had evolved since 1958. In this period Gibson used a laminated maple neck on these instruments instead of the traditional mahogany, resulting in a slightly different feel and brighter overall sound. This particular guitar has a fairly uncommon natural finish showcasing a beautiful flame maple neck worthy of an L-5! It also has a second toggle acting as a coil tap switch on the lower body horn. This is specific to the 1976-81 period, when this sort of thing was something of a 1970s obsession.
Built wait, the ES-335's LAST year? Surely Gibson still builds scads of semi-hollow ES models today, the punters say. True, but they are all descended from the model that officially *replaced* this guitar in the Gibson line in 1981, the ES-335 DOT. That new/old model was the brainchild of a Gibson team led by Tim Shaw designed to specifically roll back the clock and re-introduce features considered to make the (then only around 20 year old) vintage models more desirable. The ES-335 effectively became its own grandpa, and this "original" version was last listed in 1981 at a price of $1049. This guitar is likely one of the final "original" ones built.
This guitar showcases a number of feature changes made since the late 1950s, many of which the DOT model aimed to reverse. The block fingerboard inlay, laminated maple neck, larger headstock with shallower pitch, volute on the back of the neck, '70s style Tune-O-Matic bridge, chrome plated hardware, amp style knobs, and perhaps most important the much-maligned trapeze tailpiece. The guitar carries twin humbucking pickups as it always did, in this case the late versions of the "patent number" series, before Tim Shaw re-designed them. While not "vintage correct" by later standards this is still a lovely nearly 45 year old ES-335, in any era simply an perennial design, a great gigging instrument and superb all-around electric.
Overall length is 41 7/8 in. (106.4 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.).
This is a very clean guitar overall, and remains all original with nu repairs or alteration. The finish shows only light wear with scuffs and dings and some dings into the upper edge binding on the face, likely from a cuff button. All hardware is intact and complete with some scuffing and occlusion to the plating (mostly on the tuners) but no heavy wear. The original frets appear to have been recrowned slightly with no subsequent wear. This is simply a superb example of this somewhat rare "final" ES-335 variation. It lives in the original purple-lined black Tolex hard shell case, externally somewhat worn but solid. Overall Excellent Condition.
This blonde beauty of an ES-335TD dates to 1981, a transitional time at Gibson and amazingly enough the last catalog year for the "original" model as it had evolved since 1958. In this period Gibson used a laminated maple neck on these instruments instead of the traditional mahogany, resulting in a slightly different feel and brighter overall sound. This particular guitar has a fairly uncommon natural finish showcasing a beautiful flame maple neck worthy of an L-5! It also has a second toggle acting as a coil tap switch on the lower body horn. This is specific to the 1976-81 period, when this sort of thing was something of a 1970s obsession.
Built wait, the ES-335's LAST year? Surely Gibson still builds scads of semi-hollow ES models today, the punters say. True, but they are all descended from the model that officially *replaced* this guitar in the Gibson line in 1981, the ES-335 DOT. That new/old model was the brainchild of a Gibson team led by Tim Shaw designed to specifically roll back the clock and re-introduce features considered to make the (then only around 20 year old) vintage models more desirable. The ES-335 effectively became its own grandpa, and this "original" version was last listed in 1981 at a price of $1049. This guitar is likely one of the final "original" ones built.
This guitar showcases a number of feature changes made since the late 1950s, many of which the DOT model aimed to reverse. The block fingerboard inlay, laminated maple neck, larger headstock with shallower pitch, volute on the back of the neck, '70s style Tune-O-Matic bridge, chrome plated hardware, amp style knobs, and perhaps most important the much-maligned trapeze tailpiece. The guitar carries twin humbucking pickups as it always did, in this case the late versions of the "patent number" series, before Tim Shaw re-designed them. While not "vintage correct" by later standards this is still a lovely nearly 45 year old ES-335, in any era simply an perennial design, a great gigging instrument and superb all-around electric.
Overall length is 41 7/8 in. (106.4 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.).
This is a very clean guitar overall, and remains all original with nu repairs or alteration. The finish shows only light wear with scuffs and dings and some dings into the upper edge binding on the face, likely from a cuff button. All hardware is intact and complete with some scuffing and occlusion to the plating (mostly on the tuners) but no heavy wear. The original frets appear to have been recrowned slightly with no subsequent wear. This is simply a superb example of this somewhat rare "final" ES-335 variation. It lives in the original purple-lined black Tolex hard shell case, externally somewhat worn but solid. Overall Excellent Condition.