SOLD!!! 1966 Gibson ES-355TD Thinline Archtop Electric Guitar, Cherry

The top of the thinline archtop lineup was the Gibson ES-355, used by top tier players like B B King, Chuck Berry, and Alex Lifeson. The ES-355 appeared in 1958 with the ES-335 and ES-355. At core, the three guitars are very similar, but decoration, materials and equipment make the differences. The ES-355 has an ebony fingerboard with mother of pearl block position markers, a fully bound neck, headstock and body, gold plated hardware, frequently a vibrato tailpiece and on some versions a Varitone switch and stereo outputs. On early models, a Bigsby was installed but by the mid 1960's, the Maestro Vibrola as seen here appeared.

The Gibsin ES-355 is a relatively rare instrument simply because they were more expensive and fewer players could afford them. This example was built in Kalamazoo, Michigan during 1966 and is in very nice condition. There is very little wear, the most visible being some of the gold plating having worn off on the treble end of the bridge pickup. The pickguard, a thicker piece of bound faux tortoise, is warping with age. Fretwear is minor. The neck profile is typical mid 1960's, meaning that at the nut it is fairly narrow at 1 9/16 inches.

The original hard-shell Gibson case is included.