Gibson ES-350TD Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1961)
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Item #14108
Gibson ES-350TD Model Thinline Hollow Body Electric Guitar (1961), made in Kalamazoo, Michigan, serial # R6078-10, natural lacquer finish, laminated maple body and neck, rosewood fingerboard, original brown hard shell case.
This guitar is a rare example of the final original version of one of Gibson's classiest thinline electrics, the ES-350TD. It was shipped out early in 1961 at the end of the model's run; only 61 sunburst examples were sold that year. After late 1960 this model was redesigned with a sharp Florentine cutaway instead of the rounded Venetian style. Gibson shipping records indicate well under 200 (at the most) of these sharp-cut sunburst-finished examples were ever produced.
With a shaded subtly flamed maple top and gold hardware this guitar is certainly a looker, and with two PAF humbucking pickups it's no slouch in the sonic department either! This guitar has a minor rare oddity, the FON (factory Order Number) is also marked on the label as serial number, something only briefly done during Gibson's transition between the old "A Artist" and new all-inclusive multi-digit numbering systems in early 1961. The "R" series FON indicates the guitar was begun in 1960.
The ES-350T was introduced in 1955 as a "modernized" version of the ES-350, a 17" full-depth guitar which had been in production since the late 1940s. Two of the company's top Nashville endorsers, Hank Garland and Billy Byrd, had suggested that a 17" archtop guitar body should be made thinner at the rim. They also requested a thinner neck with a short 23 3/8 scale, facilitating the extended chords used by jazz greats like Tal Farlow requiring long fingerboard stretches.
The model created for them was the upscale solid-wood Byrdland, but the same formula was applied to the ES-350, resulting in the redesigned ES-350T with a thinner 2 1/4" rim and a short scale neck, built on a laminated maple body with midline ornamentation. Early in 1957 the ES-350T was one of the first guitars to be fitted with the new PAF Humbucking pickups. It was "modernized" with a sharp cutaway in late 1960, but by then was outsold being heavily by the semi-solid 335 series and thus headed for oblivion.
Despite this fate the ES-350T is still a classic Gibson creation, with some of the company's iconic touches. It was a moderately high end instrument, listing in 1961-2 at $485.00 (plus $56 for the case) in Sunburst. The 17" body and neck are built of laminated flame maple finished in gleaming deep sunburst lacquer. The body is triple-bound, the headstock single-bound with a "crown" inlay under the pearl Gibson logo. The neck on this guitar is still the older '50s style 3-piece laminate with a dark center strip; this model went to the new 5-piece design soon after. The bound rosewood fingerboard has Gibson's signature split parallelogram inlay. An interesting period fitting on this guitar is the "Mono-Plak" engraved metal truss rod cover; these were ordered through the dealer monogrammed with the original owner's name, in this case "John DiMaria".
All hardware is gold-plated and includes Kluson Deluxe tuners with keystone buttons, no-wire ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge and a special looped tailpiece. These original PAF humbucking pickups have gone down in legend as some of the very best ever made, with a super touch-sensitive feel and splendid tone from clean sparkle to overdriven raunch. The 350T's slightly narrower neck means the PAF pickups have a tighter polepiece spread than standard, making them unsuitable for Les Paul recreations and thus unlikely to be robbed!
This splendid example is a fine player, showing some use but still a cool example of the final original variation of this model. The ES-350T in general has a great rock and roll pedigree as Chuck Berry's main squeeze, although his were earlier round-cutaway versions. Beyond this association the ES-350T can handle anything from fluid jazz to country twang to psyched-out feedback equally well. Still, if you clang out the intro to "Johnny B. Goode", it's just like ringin' a bell.
As an extra cool touch this one remains in the original brown case, with the stamped "ES-350T" hang tag and the original receipt to Mr. DiMaria, who bought it in Irvington CA on April 31, 1961. He traded something in and got a couple of hundred bucks off the price, but still had to pay the guitar off by July! He appears to have played a lot but taken excellent care of the guitar in general, and as the original owner is immortalized by his name on the Mono-Plak on the headstock.
Overall length is 41 1/2 in. (105.4 cm.), 17 in. (43.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 2 1/4 in. (5.7 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 23 3/8 in. (594 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
Overall this guitar is overall clean original condition for its 65 years on the planet, showing signs of play but no major alteration. The finish is for the most part very clean with some small dings, dents and wear spots. The exception is the back of the neck which has an old overspray from heel to headstock, which is over some old wear. This was an "old jazz guy" thing to do; some platers disliked the feel of a worn neck and would have finish added when it began to wear through. There is some subsequent wear mostly to the heel area down to the original coat and along the edge to the wood as well; this guy played up at the high frets a lot!
There are no visible cracks or structural repairs to the instrument. A strap button has been added to the back below the heel. The PAF's remain original; the neck pickup is missing its sticker, one is still intact on the bridge unit. Neither appear to have had the covers removed, possibly the neck unit was cleaned on the underside but there is no indication they have been tampered with beyond that. These PAF pickups used on the short-scale guitars have different polepiece spacing then the typical Les Paul units, thus are far less prone to being tampered with or filched from the instrument.
The original hardware remains intact, the gold plating shows its age, mostly typical loss to the pickup covers and no-wire ABR-1 bridge. The Kluson Deluxe single-ring tuners are intact; several of the buttons have uneven shrinking but are not crumbling at all. The G-string tuner shaft is noticeably bent but still functional, the high E as well but a bit less bent. The truss rod cover is the neatly engraved metal Mono-Plak added by the original owner.
The frets have been crowned down somewhat with little subsequent wear. This is a really classy instrument, one beautiful piece of late PAF-era Gibson greatness still housed in its original brown HSC which is still fully functional with heavy wear to the handle. The guitar sounds fantastic and the original hang tag and receipt remain in the case pocket. Overall Very Good + Condition.
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This guitar is a rare example of the final original version of one of Gibson's classiest thinline electrics, the ES-350TD. It was shipped out early in 1961 at the end of the model's run; only 61 sunburst examples were sold that year. After late 1960 this model was redesigned with a sharp Florentine cutaway instead of the rounded Venetian style. Gibson shipping records indicate well under 200 (at the most) of these sharp-cut sunburst-finished examples were ever produced.
With a shaded subtly flamed maple top and gold hardware this guitar is certainly a looker, and with two PAF humbucking pickups it's no slouch in the sonic department either! This guitar has a minor rare oddity, the FON (factory Order Number) is also marked on the label as serial number, something only briefly done during Gibson's transition between the old "A Artist" and new all-inclusive multi-digit numbering systems in early 1961. The "R" series FON indicates the guitar was begun in 1960.
The ES-350T was introduced in 1955 as a "modernized" version of the ES-350, a 17" full-depth guitar which had been in production since the late 1940s. Two of the company's top Nashville endorsers, Hank Garland and Billy Byrd, had suggested that a 17" archtop guitar body should be made thinner at the rim. They also requested a thinner neck with a short 23 3/8 scale, facilitating the extended chords used by jazz greats like Tal Farlow requiring long fingerboard stretches.
The model created for them was the upscale solid-wood Byrdland, but the same formula was applied to the ES-350, resulting in the redesigned ES-350T with a thinner 2 1/4" rim and a short scale neck, built on a laminated maple body with midline ornamentation. Early in 1957 the ES-350T was one of the first guitars to be fitted with the new PAF Humbucking pickups. It was "modernized" with a sharp cutaway in late 1960, but by then was outsold being heavily by the semi-solid 335 series and thus headed for oblivion.
Despite this fate the ES-350T is still a classic Gibson creation, with some of the company's iconic touches. It was a moderately high end instrument, listing in 1961-2 at $485.00 (plus $56 for the case) in Sunburst. The 17" body and neck are built of laminated flame maple finished in gleaming deep sunburst lacquer. The body is triple-bound, the headstock single-bound with a "crown" inlay under the pearl Gibson logo. The neck on this guitar is still the older '50s style 3-piece laminate with a dark center strip; this model went to the new 5-piece design soon after. The bound rosewood fingerboard has Gibson's signature split parallelogram inlay. An interesting period fitting on this guitar is the "Mono-Plak" engraved metal truss rod cover; these were ordered through the dealer monogrammed with the original owner's name, in this case "John DiMaria".
All hardware is gold-plated and includes Kluson Deluxe tuners with keystone buttons, no-wire ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge and a special looped tailpiece. These original PAF humbucking pickups have gone down in legend as some of the very best ever made, with a super touch-sensitive feel and splendid tone from clean sparkle to overdriven raunch. The 350T's slightly narrower neck means the PAF pickups have a tighter polepiece spread than standard, making them unsuitable for Les Paul recreations and thus unlikely to be robbed!
This splendid example is a fine player, showing some use but still a cool example of the final original variation of this model. The ES-350T in general has a great rock and roll pedigree as Chuck Berry's main squeeze, although his were earlier round-cutaway versions. Beyond this association the ES-350T can handle anything from fluid jazz to country twang to psyched-out feedback equally well. Still, if you clang out the intro to "Johnny B. Goode", it's just like ringin' a bell.
As an extra cool touch this one remains in the original brown case, with the stamped "ES-350T" hang tag and the original receipt to Mr. DiMaria, who bought it in Irvington CA on April 31, 1961. He traded something in and got a couple of hundred bucks off the price, but still had to pay the guitar off by July! He appears to have played a lot but taken excellent care of the guitar in general, and as the original owner is immortalized by his name on the Mono-Plak on the headstock.
Overall length is 41 1/2 in. (105.4 cm.), 17 in. (43.2 cm.) wide at lower bout, and 2 1/4 in. (5.7 cm.) in depth, measured at side of rim. Scale length is 23 3/8 in. (594 mm.). Width of nut is 1 5/8 in. (41 mm.).
Overall this guitar is overall clean original condition for its 65 years on the planet, showing signs of play but no major alteration. The finish is for the most part very clean with some small dings, dents and wear spots. The exception is the back of the neck which has an old overspray from heel to headstock, which is over some old wear. This was an "old jazz guy" thing to do; some platers disliked the feel of a worn neck and would have finish added when it began to wear through. There is some subsequent wear mostly to the heel area down to the original coat and along the edge to the wood as well; this guy played up at the high frets a lot!
There are no visible cracks or structural repairs to the instrument. A strap button has been added to the back below the heel. The PAF's remain original; the neck pickup is missing its sticker, one is still intact on the bridge unit. Neither appear to have had the covers removed, possibly the neck unit was cleaned on the underside but there is no indication they have been tampered with beyond that. These PAF pickups used on the short-scale guitars have different polepiece spacing then the typical Les Paul units, thus are far less prone to being tampered with or filched from the instrument.
The original hardware remains intact, the gold plating shows its age, mostly typical loss to the pickup covers and no-wire ABR-1 bridge. The Kluson Deluxe single-ring tuners are intact; several of the buttons have uneven shrinking but are not crumbling at all. The G-string tuner shaft is noticeably bent but still functional, the high E as well but a bit less bent. The truss rod cover is the neatly engraved metal Mono-Plak added by the original owner.
The frets have been crowned down somewhat with little subsequent wear. This is a really classy instrument, one beautiful piece of late PAF-era Gibson greatness still housed in its original brown HSC which is still fully functional with heavy wear to the handle. The guitar sounds fantastic and the original hang tag and receipt remain in the case pocket. Overall Very Good + Condition.
