1964 Gibson ES-120T

Gibson ES-120T Thinline Fully Hollow Electric Archtop.
Available: 1962 to 1971
Collectibility Rating: D- (Gibson's most basic and least expensive student model electric thinline archtop. Even cheaper than an ES-125t). The Gibson ES-120t was an inexpensive guitar for Gibson to produce because the pickguard assembly, which holds all the guitar's electronics, can be made off the guitar. It is then "dropped in" to the body as the last assembly step. The front of the guitar is routed like a small swimming pool to accomodate the pickguard and pickups/electronics. This is why the guitar only has one "f" hole. A common problem with this model is the overly thick pickguard can crack, since the output jack is part of the pickguard, adding lots of pressure to the pickguard upon jack insertion/removal.

1962 Gibson ES-120T specs:

16.25" wide, 1 "f" hole, Melody Maker style pickup mounted on the pickguard, knobs and jack also mounted on the pickguard, single bound top and back, dot fingerboard inlays, decal peghead logo, sunburst finish.

1971 Gibson ES-120TD discontinued.

  Left: 1958 ES-125T thin body.
Right: 1963 ES-125TDC thin body.

Gibson ES-125T, ES-125TD ES-125TC, ES-125TCD Thinline Fully Hollow Electric Archtops.
Available: 1956 to 1970
Collectibility Rating: D (Gibson's second most basic and least expensive student model electric thinline archtop). See the full body archtop guide for the thick bodied ES-125.

1956 Gibson ES-125T specs:

Thinline version of ES-125, 16 1/4" wide, P-90 pickup with "dog ears" in neck position, tortoise grain pickguard, trapeze tailpiece, single bound top and back, dot fingerboard inlays, gold decal logo, sunburst finish.

1957 Gibson ES-125TD specs:

Two pickup version of ES-125T.

1960 Gibson ES-125TC, ES-125TCD:

Pointed cutaway version of ES-125T, cherry sunburst finish. ES-125TC has one pickup, ES-125TCD has two pickups (the "D" means dual pickups, the "T" means thinline, and the "C" means cutaway). The ES-125TDC is the guitar George Thorogood made famous.

Gibson ES-125TD discontinued 1964. ES-125T, ES-125TC, ES-125TCD discontinued 1970.

1959 Gibson ES-140 3/4T thin body.

ES-140 3/4T Thinline Fully Hollow Cutaway Electric Archtop.
Available: 1956 to 1968
Collectibility Rating: D- (the full depth ES-140 version of this guitar is much more desireable; a 3/4 size, short scale, kid-sized guitar).

1956 Gibson ES-140 3/4T specs:

Thinline version of ES-140 3/4. 12 3/4" wide, pointed cutaway, 22 3/4" short scale, P-90 pickup with "dog ears" in neck position, tortoise grain pickguard, single bound top and back, dot fingerboard inlays, gold decal logo, sunburst finish.

1959 Gibson ES-140 3/4T specs:

Natural finish available.

Gibson ES-140 3/4T discontinued 1968.

1957 Gibson ES-225t with a single pickup.

Gibson ES-225 Thinline Fully Hollow Electric Archtop
Available: 1955 to 1959
Collectibility Rating: one pickup models: C, two pickup models: C (the models preceeding the ES-125tc and ES-125tdc).

1955 Gibson ES-225 introduction specs:

Much like a slightly fancier 1960's ES-125TC with different tailpiece. Thinbody, single pointed cutaway, fully hollow body, 1 or 2 P-90 pickups with black covers, trapaze bridge/tailpiece combo with strings looping over bridge, laminated beveled-edge pickguard, single bound top, back and rosewood fingerboard, pearl dot fingerboard inlays, pearl logo, sunburst or natural finish. The one pickup model is not very desirable because of the placement of the single pickup; it's neither in the neck or bridge position, but in between the two positions.

Gibson ES-225 discontinued 1959.

1964 Gibson Byrdland

Gibson Byrdland Thinline Electric Archtop
Available: 1955 to present
Collectibility Rating: C (even though this model is as fancy as an L-5ces, because of it's short scale it has very limited collectibility).

1955 Gibson Byrdland introduction specs:

Thinbody, short scale version of the L-5CES. 17" wide, rounded cutaway, 2 1/4" deep, carved maple back, 2 Alnico V pickups, triple-loop tubular tailpiece with "Byrdland" engraved on crosspiece, tortoise grain pickguard, 7 ply top binding, triple bound back, single bound F-holes, ebony fingerboard with block markers and 5 ply binding and pointed end, 23 1/2" scale, narrow neck and string spacing, flowerpot peghead inlay, 7 ply peghead binding, gold plated parts, sunburst or natural finish.

1957 Gibson Byrdland specs:

Humbucking pickups replace Alnico V pickups.

1961 Gibson Byrdland specs:

Pointed cutaway.

1969 Gibson Byrdland specs:

Rounded cutaway.

Gibson Byrdland still available.

1959 Gibson ES-350t thin body.

Gibson ES-350T Thinline Electric Archtop
Available: 1955 to 1981
Collectibility Rating: C- (the full body depth and full scale version of this model is much more desireable. Again, because of it's short scale, the ES-350T has even less collectibility than a Byrdland. Essentially a plainer version of the Byrdland.)

Gibson 1955 ES-350T introduction specs:

A plainer version of the Byrdland. Thinbody, short scale, 17" wide, rounded cutaway, 2 1/4" deep, 2 P-90 pickups, tailpiece with W-shape tubular design and "ES-350T" engraved on oblong crosspiece, laminated beveled-edge pickguard, triple bound top and back, single bound fingerboard with double parallelagram inlays, 23 1/2" scale, narrow neck and string spacing, crown peghead inlay, single bound peghead, gold plated parts, sunburst or natural finish.

1956 Gibson ES-350T specs:

The ES-350T replaces the full body and full scale ES-350, which is no longer available after 1956.

1957 Gibson ES-350T specs:

Humbucking pickups replace P-90 pickups.

1961 Gibson ES-350T specs:

Pointed cutaway.

Gibson ES-350T discontinued 1963. Re-introduced in 1977 with rounded cutaway, full 25 1/2" scale. Discontinued again in 1981.

1966 Gibson ES-330tdc.

Gibson ES-330 Thinline Fully Hollow Electric Archtop
Available: 1959 to 1972
Collectibility Rating: 1959 to 1962 dot fingerboard models: C+, 1962 to 1964 block fingerboard models: C, 1965 & later models: D.
(At first glace this model looks like an ES-335, but it isn't anything even close. Fully hollow instead of semi-hollow, neck meets body at the 15th fret instead of the 19th fret, and P-90 pickups instead of Humbucking pickups make this model far less than desirable than a 335. This model was really a replacement for the ES-225, and was not meant as a "cheaper" ES-335.) The "TD" after the 330 means Thinline Dual pickup. If there's only a "T" after 330, then it's a single pickup model. "TDN" means dual pickup natural finish, "TDC" means dual pickup cherry finish ("C" for cherry). For example "330TC" would be single pickup model in cherry finish.

1959 Gibson ES-330 introduction specs:

Thinbody, double cutaway, fully hollow body, 1 or 2 P-90 pickups with black covers, tune-o-matic bridge, trapeze tailpiece (Bigsby vibrato optional), laminated beveled-edge pickguard, single bound top, back and rosewood fingerboard, pearl dot fingerboard inlays, neck joins body at 15th fret, crown peghead inlay, sunburst or natural finish.

1962 Gibson ES-330 specs:

By mid 1962 the small block fingerboard inlays replace dots, nickel pickup covers replace black plastic pickup covers, cherry finish available. At first the pickup covers were nickel plated plastics (rare), but then quickly changed to nickle plated metal covers. Also the "ears" of the body became more pointy and less "Mickey Mouse" style.

1965 Gibson ES-330 specs:

Chrome parts replace nickel (including the pickup covers).

1967 Gibson ES-330 specs:

Sparkling Burgundy finish available.

1968 Gibson ES-330 specs:

ES-335 style neck joining body at 19th fret available as an option. Walnut brown finish available.

1969 Gibson ES-330 specs:

Sparkling Burgundy finish no longer available.

Gibson ES-330 discontinued 1972.

1964 Gibson ES-335 with block inlays,
a Bigsby vibrato tailpiece,
and a "Custom Made" plaque.

Gibson ES-335 Thinline Semi-Hollow Electric Archtop
Available: 1958 to present
Collectibility Rating: 1958-1960 "dot" models with "large" neck: A+, 1960-1962 "dot" models: A, 1962-1964 "block" models: B+, 1965 to 1969 models: C+.
A Bigsby vibrato on the 1958 to 1964 models hurts the demand of this guitar on 1958 to 1964 models. Also the 1960 to 1962 style "thin" neck also hurts demand (compared to the earlier "large neck" models, but this is a general fact of all Gibsons of this era). Also known as the ES-335TD, but the "TD" is really redundant (the "T" means thinline, and the "D" means double pickups, but this model was only available as thinline and with two pickups, so often the "TD" is left off the name).

Spring 1958 Gibson ES-335 guitar introduction specs:

Thinbody, double cutaway, semi-hollow body with solid maple block down center, 2 humbucking PAF (Patent Applied For) pickups, 2 volume and 2 tone knobs and a switch, tune-o-matic nickel plated bridge with no wire, stop tailpiece or Bigsby vibrato, laminated beveled-edge "long" pickguard that extends below the bridge, white plastic strap buttons, single-ring tulip Kluson tuners, single bound top, back and rosewood fingerboard (early 1958 models with no fingerboard binding), pearl dot fingerboard inlays, neck joins body at 19th fret, large chunky neck back shape, crown peghead inlay, sunburst or natural finish. If a Bigsby vibrato was installed often a black "Custom Made" plaque is used to cover the stop tailpiece holes (this feature is seen more on 1961 to 1964 models though).

Late 1959 ES-335 specs:

Cherry red finish available.

Late 1960 ES-335 specs:

Shorter pickguard that does not extend past bridge pickup, "chrome top reflector" volume/tone knobs, neck size gets a very thin back shape (neck back shape actually started to change about mid-1960).

1961 ES-335 specs:

Natural finish no longer available, Serial number now pressed into the back of the peghead between the D and G tuners, in addition to being on the orange Gibson label in the bass "f" hole. Switch tip changes from amber to a white color, strap buttons now metal instead of plastic.

Mid-1962 Gibson ES-335 guitar specs:

Small block fingerboard inlays replace dots, wire added to ABR tune-a-matic bridge, double-ring tulip Kluson tuners. The double cutaways change from being very rounded "mickey mouse ears" to be just slightly pointed. This was a transition feature, where models as late as 1963 still have the "Mickey Mouse ears", but some 1962 models have pointy ears. Saddles in the tunematic bridge change from nickel plated metal to white nylon. In late-1962 "Patent Applied For" pickup stickers on bottom of pickups changed to "Patent Number" stickers. Again a transition thing where PAF pickups can be seen as late as 1963 on some models. Neck back shape size starts to increase in size too with late-1962/1963 models having "normal" sized necks again (not the ultra-thin backshape of the 1961 models).

1965 Gibson ES-335 guitar specs:

Trapeze tailpiece replaces stop tailpiece (Bigsby vibrato is also still available), chrome parts replace nickel parts, neck nut width decreases from the standard 1 11/16" to 1 5/8" or 1 9/16" (known as the "small" neck, and this subtle 1/16" to 1/8" change is very noticible to anyone familar with these guitars). These changed transitioned in during 1965, so a 1965 model could still have a stop tail, nickle parts, and a 1 11/16" neck (or have chrome parts, trapeze, and a 1 9/16" neck).

1966 Gibson ES-335 guitar specs:

Indian rosewood replaces Brazilian rosewood on fingerboard, peghead angle changed from 17 degrees to 14 degrees, bevel angle on pickguard changed so the b/w/b layers are less noticible.

1968 Gibson ES-335 guitar specs:

Neck size increases back to 1 11/16" with a decently size back shape.

1969 Gibson ES-335 guitar specs:

Walnut finish available. "f" holes cutouts get wider.

1977 Gibson ES-335 guitar specs:

Coil tap switch added on upper treble cutaway.

Gibson ES-335 guitar discontinued in late 1981 and replaced by ES-335DOT (reissue). Since then many other versions of the 335 reissue model have been available.

1960 Gibson ES-345.

Gibson ES-345 Thinline Semi-Hollow Electric Archtop
Available: 1959 to 1982
Collectibility Rating: 1959-1960 models: B, 1960-1964 models: C+, 1965 to 1969 models: C-. The stereo varitone limits the popularity of this model. A vibrato tailpiece on the 1959 to 1964 models hurts demand of this guitar too.

1959 Gibson ES-345 introduction specs:

Thinbody, double cutaway, semi-hollow body with solid maple block down center, stereo electronics, 2 humbucking pickups, 2 volume and 2 tone knobs and a switch, Vari-tone rotary tone switch with black ring, tune-o-matic bridge, stop tailpiece or Bigsby vibrato, laminated beveled-edge pickguard that extends below the bridge, triple bound top, single bound back and rosewood fingerboard, double parallelagram fingerboard inlays, neck joins body at 19th fret, crown peghead inlay, gold plated parts, sunburst or natural finish.

mid-1960 Gibson ES-345 specs:

Shorter pickguard that does not extend past bridge pickup, gold ring around Vari-tone switch, cherry finish available.

1965 Gibson ES-345 specs:

Trapeze tailpiece replaces stop tailpiece.

1969 Gibson ES-345 specs:

Walnut finish available, tuners are Gibson Deluxe style.

Gibson ES-345 discontinued 1982.

1959 Gibson ES-355.

Gibson ES-355 Thinline Semi-Hollow Electric Archtop
Available: 1959 to 1982
Collectibility Rating: 1959-1960 models: B, 1960-1964 models: C+, 1965 to 1969 models: C-. The stereo varitone limits the popularity of this model. A vibrato tailpiece on the 1959 to 1964 models hurts demand of this guitar too.

1959 Gibson ES-355 introduction specs (10 examples shipped in 1958, but not officially introduced till 1959):

Thinbody, double cutaway, semi-hollow body with solid maple block down center, stereo electronics with Vari-tone rotary tone switch standard (mono electronics available), 2 humbucking pickups, 2 volume and 2 tone knobs and a switch, tune-o-matic bridge, Bigsby vibrato (stop tailpiece examples very rare), multiple bound tortoise pickguard that extends below the bridge, multiple bound top, triple bound back, single bound ebony fingerboard, unbound F-holes, block fingerboard inlays, neck joins body at 19th fret, 5-piece split-diamond peghead inlay, gold plated parts, Grover rotomatic tuners, cherry finish.

1960 Gibson ES-355 specs:

Shorter pickguard that does not extend past bridge pickup, sunburst and natural finish available.

1961 Gibson ES-355 specs:

Vibrato with side-to-side action. Mono electronics become much rarer.

1963 Gibson ES-355 specs:

Gibson vibrato with lyre on coverplate.

1969 Gibson ES-355 specs:

Walnut finish available, Bigsby vibrato.

Gibson ES-355 discontinued 1982.