Gibson ES-345
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The Gibson ES-345 is a guitar manufactured by the Gibson Guitar Company. The guitar was produced from 1959 to 1981. It was designed as a jazz guitar and an upscale version of the ES-335.
History
The 345 was developed in 1958 as an upscale version of the Gibson ES-335. Gibson released the ES-345T in the spring of 1959. The Gibson ES-345T had a price of $345 in the standard sunburst finish.[1] From the guitar's 1959 introduction through 1979, 10,560 ES-345s were shipped.[2] Gibson designed the guitar to create a guitar which could be used to produce jazz but with a maple block running through the guitar to allow the versatility of a solid body electric guitar.[3]
Gibson released the guitar in three finishes, Cherry, Natural and Sunburst. The sunburst finish was called the ES-345TD, the cherry finish was called the ES-345TDC and the natural finish was called the ES-345TDN.[1]
Specifications
1958 saw the introduction of Gibson's new thinline series of guitars. The ES-335, 345 and 355, all came with a semi-hollow body: the wood of the top and back was maple and there was a maple center block inside the guitars which ran the length of the body all the way to the mahogany neck, with a rosewood fingerboard.[2]
The neck of the guitar has double-parallelogram fretboard inlays. The guitar also featured a stereo pickup configuration and Varitone circuit.[1] The varitone's positions were not properly defined by Gibson which left players to try describing the sounds of the varitone dial positions as: squishy, underwater, and guitar-in-a-box. What the variotone did is allow users to switch to predefined frequency scoops which kept highs and lows.[4]
Gibson also manufactured a Gibson ES-355TD-SV which was a fancier version of the ES-345TD. Both the ES-345TD/SV and the ES-355TD-SV did not become as popular as the simple ES-335. One reason was that the ES-345 and the ES-355 each required a 'Y' cable and a TRS jack to separate the pickup signals. The much simpler mono ES-335 did not require any special equipment. The original ES-345 came with nickel parts covered in gold and PAF (pickup)s.[1] In 1959 and 1960 the pickguard was long, extending all the way to the bridge but it was shortened in 1961.[3]
From 1959-1963 Gibson had a Stoptail bridge but beginning in 1964 they began installing a gold trapeze tailpiece on the ES-345s. It was not until 1982 that Gibson went back to the Stoptail bridge on the ES-345.[5] Some of the first Gibson ES-345s also shipped with a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece.[6]
Notable players
- Elvin Bishop[4]
- George Harrison[7]
- Steve Howe, main guitar on the 1972 album Close to the Edge.[8]
- Hiroki Kamemoto[9]
- Jorma Kaukonen
- B.B. King[4]
- Freddie King[4]
- Marty McFly[4]
- John McLaughlin bought in 1978, his 1976 instrument has been modified with a scalloped fingerboard and the Bigsby trem
- Bill Nelson
- Harry Vanda
- Bob Weir acquired an ES-345TDC in 1967, and from 1971 until early 1973 it was his primary guitar.
- Bob Welch used a Gibson ES-345 and a heavily modified Fender Stratocaster on their 1971 album, Future Games.[10]
References
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External links
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Template:Gibson ES Series Template:Gibson Guitar Corporation