Gibson Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD VOS (Antique Faded Cherry)

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Gibson Custom Shop 50th Anniversary 1960 ES-335TD VOS (Antique Faded Cherry)

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 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!