DoctorPaul's Guitar Emporium - Sold Guitars
(SOLD)
1976 Gibson ES355-TDSV
"Marvin"
Oh yes. OH yes.
Ding ... straight into a podium place as one of the most beautiful, playable, tuneful, versatile and just damn right awesome guitars here, is my wine red Gibson ES355. And what a lovely old bird she is.
So, made in 1976 at the Kalamazoo factory (it is certainly NOT a reissue, thank you), this was the top of the line of Gibsons semi-acoustics back then, with suitably posh features like gold-plated hardware, split-diamond headstock inlay and pearl block inlays on an ebony board. The body is bound (back and front), as is the neck and headstock. Quite unusually, the f-holes are also bound. That's a lot of binding. And it has the optional gold Maestro 'vibrola' trem ... more on that later.
This is a huge chunk of guitar, and is very big sonically as well as physically. The massive solid maple block that runs through the centre of the body is flanked by two large hollow 'wings' (with Venetian cutaways), which are made from maple, which is laminated for strength and durability. The top is secured to the sides using spruce kerfling, which has kept everything together for 40 years. The neck is a three-piece mahogany affair, with the old-style Norlin volute at the headstock-end.
So, this is an ES355-TDSV. The 'ES' denotes 'Electric Spanish', and the '355' bit denotes the original price in 1958 ... $355! The 345 was $345, and (you guessed?) the 335 was $335. See what they did there? Regardless, $355 was a whole bunch of money in 1958. The 'TD' denotes 'thinline' and 'double pickup', the 'S' refers to the original stereo wiring (which routed the signal from each pickup to a different output) and the 'V' denotes the 'Varitone' tone switching system. Although it's now been converted to run in mono (thank goodness), the Varitone is still functioning perfectly, with the settings running from the full humbucker signal through to very delicate, open, twangy tones.
The trem is a very simple affair, with a stout arm (with the original 'walrus tooth' tip) bolted directly to a spring steel pivot. Messing with the arm increases and decreases the string tension, so you get a nice subtle vibrato. Obviously, it's not a Floyd, so any attempts at gymnastics immediately throw the old girl out of tune, but tuning stability when the trem is used for subtle effects (as intended) is very good.
Strapping this on is like harnessing yourself to an entire cathedral ... this is a BIG chunk of guitar, and it is nicely weighty (presumably an effect of all that maple) without being a back-breaker. The neck is quite slim at the nut end, but flares substantially towards the body, so that it is a real handful up at the dusty end. Otherwise, it plays like many other Gibson necks, and is appropriately slinky and easy.
Overall, this is a wonderful guitar ... I've yet to find something that I don't like about it.
Unlike other guitars, the sense of occasion brought about by playing this, as well as the fact that it is STUNNING to look at, means that have absolutely no desire to look at other semi-acoustics. This is it ... my semi ... and I'm guessing that it will be the only one I'll ever need.
Just ... yes.
