(Difference between revisions)

Revision as of 22:49, 29 June 2010

50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD

Description

In the late 1950s, Gibson was boldly pushing the envelope on electric guitar design. The effort resulted in several models that were just too far ahead of their time to sink in with players of the day—the Flying V and Explorer being cases in point — and were gone from the catalogue by 1960. The ES-335 however was an instant classic, embraced by blues, rock, country and jazz players the world over. By 1960, this model was really hitting its stride though it was certainly a year of transition for the iconic model.

In the beginning of 1960, the ES-335TDs were built to the same specs as the 1959 versions and were offered in only Natural and Sunburst finishes. By about midyear, neck specs began to change to a thinner and more elliptical feel and ultimately, production of the Natural ES-335TD would cease and the Cherry finish would take its place in the latter part of the year. It is this later version that many argue the 1960 ES-335TD’s features had settled into their optimum form. With a fast new neck profile, striking new “insert” or “reflector” tone and volume knobs, the ES-335TD still retained early-spec details such as the dot fingerboard inlays, a kind of “Mickey Mouse” double cutaway profile, full-length maple centerblock, and nickel-plated hardware that players have long seen as indicative of the model’s zenith.

All these and more are brought back to life in the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD, a reincarnation of one of the most legendary semi-hollow electric guitar of all time, handcrafted by Gibson Custom’s Memphis division to celebrate the model’s “golden anniversary”. For this celebration, Gibson Custom is offering the later 1960 “fast neck profile” version, the most unique of the year, and is available in Antique Vintage Sunburst, Antique Faded Cherry or Antique Natural finish, all aged in Gibson’s acclaimed VOS (Vintage Original Specs) process, and loaded with period-correct hardware including “insert” volume and tone knobs, double band tuners and a pair of accurate PAF-style 57 Classic humbucking pickups.

Additionally the neck features a holly head veneer, tortoise shell side dot material and has been completely re-tooled with accurate truss rod channel depth and profile based on scans by the Gibson Custom Shop Engineering Team. The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD is the closest today’s player can come to obtaining the look, feel and tone of an original dot-neck 1960 ES-335TD, short of remortgaging the house and sinking the kids’ college fund on the venture.

Semi-Hollow, Total Success

The original ES-335TD (“TD” for “thinline, double-pickup”) was a raging hit simply because it addressed so many different guitarists’ needs in one new design. The arched top and f-holes appealed to jazz and dance-band players who were still attached to the look of traditional Gibson “jazz boxes”, but who appreciated advancements such as a thinline, double-cutaway body. The maple centerblock that ran from neck tenon to end pin reduced feedback and provided the sharper, snappier tone that rock and roll and country players demanded, and also enabled the use of Gibson’s solid new Tune-o-matic bridge and stop-bar tailpiece pairing, which further aided tone and sustain. In one form or another, the ES-335TD (and its siblings, the ES-345 and ES-355) would land in the hands of Eric Clapton, Alvin Lee, Chuck Berry, B.B. King, Larry Carlton, and countless other groundbreaking guitarists.

With its historically accurate tonewoods, electronics, and hardware, the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD packs all the tonal versatility of the original, and proves once again why the design has remained a favorite of guitarists from every genre of music since its introduction half a century ago. All Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TDs come with a silkscreened Gibson Custom Shop hardshell case, a Certificate of Authenticity and a full complement of “how to” literature.

Body

Species

The body’s top, back and sides are made from three-ply maple/poplar/maple stock, with a solid maple centerblock that forms the “core” of the body.

Tonal Characteristics

The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD’s marriage of a solid maple core with hollow “wings” and laminated maple top and back yield the optimum blend of warmth and definition, a tone that countless major artists have turned to for five decades. The guitar really does present the optimum marriage of solidbody and thinline hollowbody characteristics, with the benefits of both, and none of the drawbacks.

Design

The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD follows the body lines of the original ’60 ES-335TD, with its arched top and back, and deep double cutaways for outstanding upper-fret access. The body is hot pressed into its arched proportions front and back, and glued with Franklin Titebond 50, the strongest wood glue in use today.

Weight

Weights vary slightly, according to wood supplies, but Gibson’s Custom Shop aims to attain the lightest quality wood stocks available for the construction of the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD.

Finish

VOS

The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD is available in three period-correct finishes, all aged with Gibson’s acclaimed VOS process or gloss: Antique Vintage Sunburst, Antique Faded Cherry, and Antique Natural.

Process

The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD is hand-finished in nitrocellulose in a process that closely replicates the finishing process applied to original ES-335s of the late ’50s and early ’60s. Like the great Gibson electrics made 50 years ago, this instrument is finished with minimum build-up, in an effort to produce a finish that breathes with the guitar and enhances natural resonance, and will age elegantly and naturally to continually enhance the appearance and tone of this reborn classic.

Surface Texture

The guitar is finished to a buffed gloss, but the VOS process applied afterward gives it a rich, naturally aged patina that results in somewhat less shine and more of a semi-satin texture in the final guitar. The model is available in VOS or gloss.

Neck and Headstock

Neck Species

The neck of the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD is constructed from one solid piece of mahogany with a maple spline for improved strength and resonance. The luthiers in Gibson’s Custom Shop carefully select the grain orientation of the mahogany used for necks to optimize tone, stability and sustain.

Tonal Characteristics

The wood, construction and headstock pitch all contribute greatly to the tone of the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD, aiding this guitar’s exceptional tonal richness, and yielding a resonance that can be felt right through the body.

Neck Profile

True to one of the significant evolutionary points of the model for 1960, the neck of the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD is carved to a fast, comfortable recreation of the ’60 slim-taper profile that has been based on new scans of several original 1960 ES-335TDs.

Tolerance

When fitting the neck and body together, we take advantage of our precise measuring equipment so that all angles, pitches and alignments maintain a proper tolerance. Not only does this help to keep your guitar in tune but it also maintains proper string alignment relative to the fingerboard.

Joint

Gibson uses what is known as the Mortise & Tenon joint to bind neck to body so that the two pieces form one solid unit. On the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD, this technique incorporates the lauded “long neck tenon”, greatly enhancing resonance and sustain, as well as neck strength in general.

Joint Angle (Pitch)

4° (+/- 15 seconds)

Headstock Angle

Just like the original ES-335s of the late ’50s and early ’60s, and many other classic Gibson models, the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD headstock is carefully angled at Gibson’s traditional 17 degrees. This subtle yet crucial element of the guitar’s design increases pressure on the strings. An increase in string pressure means there is no loss of string vibration between the nut and the tuners, which equals better sustain.

Truss Rod

Gibson’s traditional truss rod is highly responsive to the individual adjustments you’ll want to make to personalize and optimize string action and sustain.

Logo

The traditional, period-correct Gibson logo is inlaid in mother of pearl across the top of a holly headstock veneer, with the traditional “split wheat” mother of pearl inlay in the center of the headstock face.

Adhesive

The adhesive used to join neck and body is Franklin Titebond 50, one of the strongest glues on the market today.

Fingerboard and Nut

Fingerboard Species

The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD carries a rosewood fingerboard, the traditional fingerboard of the original ES-335TD. Rosewood is both hardwearing and sonically superlative adding sweetness and depth to the guitar’s overall sound.

Frets

The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD’s fingerboard carries 22 frets, all are precision leveled on the Plek, then immaculately dressed and polished.

Tonal Characteristics

Rosewood fingerboards are legendary for their rich, round tone, attributes that blend beautifully with the depth and dimension of the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD to add further complexity to this guitar’s voice.

Radius

Gibson’s traditional 12-inch radius, used on the fingerboard of the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD, provides smooth note-bending capabilities and eliminates “dead” or “choked out” notes, common occurrences on fingerboards with lesser radiuses, and is another feature that has helped to make this guitar a blues-rock legend.

Hardware

Tuning Keys

The headstock of the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD is equipped with Kluson-style, green tulip-button tuners with two bands at the base of the button (or key), representing a minor evolution in the component in the course of 1960. These tuners provide a classic look in line with the model’s lineage, and smooth, robust performance, with an efficient 14:1 turn ratio.

Strap Buttons

The guitar’s aluminum strap buttons are the same style and design that Gibson has used since the early 1950s.

Pickguard

The guitar carries an accurate reissue five-ply b/w/b/w/b plastic pickguard, made in the shape and style of the ’guard on the original 1960 ES-335TD.

Truss Rod Cover

The truss rod cover on the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD follows the period-correct “antique bell” shape of the originals, and is made from black and white vinyl plastic.

Bridge

To mirror its inspiration, the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD carries a Tune-o-matic (ABR-1) bridge that is made from zinc and plated in polished nickel. This bridge provides a firm seating for the strings, allowing the player to adjust and fine-tune the intonation and string height in a matter of minutes. It also yields excellent coupling between strings and body, maximizing resonance, tone and sustain.

Tailpiece

Every Tune-o-matic bridge is combined with a separate “stopbar” tailpiece, which is essentially a modified version of the earlier wraparound bridge that’s designed to further enhance the connection between the strings and the body. The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD’s stopbar tailpiece is made from lightweight aluminum, like the original, and is plated in polished nickel.

Control Knobs

With its Antique Faded Cherry finish, the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD carries the black top-hat knobs with silver inserts, while the models with Antique Natural and Antique Vintage Sunburst finishes wear gold top-hat “insert” knobs that display the Volume and Tone legends.

Pickups

Pickups Model

The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD is equipped with a pair of Gibson’s popular ’57 Classic humbucking pickups. The ’57 Classics accurately recreate the tone and performance of original PAF humbuckers with a few tonal enhancements that players appreciate.

The ’57 Classics are wound to a DC resistance toward the lower range of the original PAF pickups, for a warm, round, rich tone from the neck position with plenty of definition and clarity, or an open, clear, punchy vintage voice from the bridge position. The coils are wax potted to combat microphony and feedback squeal at high volumes so, while vintage voiced, they are suited to high-gain playing, too.

The number of windings in the two coils are also equally matched, an enhancement that provides a creamy, balanced performance that many players enjoy.

Magnet Material

Gibson’s ’57 Classics use unpolished Alnico II bar magnets, just like many of the most prized original PAF humbuckers.

Tonal Characteristics

In the bridge (lead) position, the ’57 Classic offers a bright, clear jangle through clean amps and more midrange snarl and bite through overdriven amps, accurately capturing the versatility of an original PAF humbucker in the bridge position. In the neck position, the ’57 Classics present the optimum blend of warmth, depth, and clarity, a tone that is equally suited to blues, jazz, and sweeter, mellower pop and rock styles.

Electronics

Volume and Tone Controls

Just like the original, the Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD uses an independent Volume and Tone control for each pickup. These consist of a quality CTS 500k audio-taper potentiometer for a smooth, natural roll-off, with .022mF “bumble bee” tone capacitors on the Tone pots for a broad, usable range from this control.

Toggle Switch

The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD features the classic three-way Switchcraft toggle switch with cream plastic tip, a standard in the industry.

Output Jack

The guitar features a 1⁄4” output jack made by Switchcraft for years of trouble-free service.

Accessories

Case

Your Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD comes protected in a black Gibson hardshell case with “Gibson Custom” silkscreened in gold on the black pleather covering.

Strings

The Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD is fitted with vintage style strings, sizes .010 - .046.

Extras

Each Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD comes with a leather-bound 50th Anniversary Certificate of Authenticity, owner’s manual, and adjustment literature, and documentation for the guitar’s limited lifetime warrantee.

Links

50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD

Personal History

Purchased on 06-28-10 from American Musical Supply. They sent the wrong guitar. Gloss instead of VOS. Sending it back on 06-30-10 and waiting for one from Sweetwater.