| Gibson ES-345 | |
|---|---|
 1960 Gibson ES-345TDC | |
| Manufacturer | Gibson Brands |
| Period | 1959-1981 |
| Construction | |
| Body type | Semi-hollow body thinline |
| Scale | 24.75" |
| Woods | |
| Body | Maple |
| Neck | Mahogany |
| Fretboard | Rosewood |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Tune-o-matic |
| Pickup(s) | Humbuckers |
| Colors available | |
| Sunburst, Cherry and Natural | |
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.
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 and 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]
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]
The Gibson Les Paul is a solid body electric guitar that was first sold by the Gibson Guitar Corporation in 1952. The guitar was designed by factory manager John Huis and his team with input from and endorsement by guitarist Les Paul. Its typical design features a solid mahogany body with a carved maple top and a single cutaway, a mahogany set-in neck with a rosewood fretboard, two pickups with independent volume and tone controls, and a stoptail bridge, although variants exist.
The Fender Jazzmaster is an electric guitar designed as a more expensive sibling of the Fender Stratocaster. First introduced at the 1958 NAMM Convention, it was initially marketed to jazz guitarists, but found favor among surf rock guitarists in the early 1960s. Its appearance is similar to the Fender Jaguar, though it is tonally and physically different in many technical ways, including pickup design, scale length and controls.
The Gibson ES-335 is a semi-hollow body semi-acoustic guitar introduced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES series in 1958. It has a solid maple wood block running through the center of its body with hollow upper bouts and two violin-style f-holes cut into the top over the hollow chambers. Gibson has released numerous variations and models based on the ES-335.
An archtop guitar is a hollow acoustic or semi-acoustic guitar with a full body and a distinctive arched top, whose sound is particularly popular with jazz, blues, and rockabilly players.
The Gibson ES-175 (1949–2019) is a hollow body Jazz electric guitar manufactured by the Gibson Guitar Corporation. The ES-175 became one of Gibson's most popular guitar designs.
The Gibson ES-355 is the top of the line semi-hollow body Thinline Dual Pickup Stereo Varitone (TDSV) manufactured by the Gibson Guitar Company. The guitar is a stereo guitar with a varitone circuit and it was manufactured from 1958 to 1984. In 2018 Gibson began producing a version of the 355 again.
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The Gibson Blueshawk is a discontinued model of semi-hollow body electric guitar. It was available between 1996 and 2006 as a Gibson model designed mainly for blues players. It superficially resembles the Les Paul in that the body outline is similar. The Blueshawk was discontinued by Gibson in Spring 2006, and returned in 2015 under the Epiphone brand.
The Fender Coronado is a double-cutaway thin-line hollow-body electric guitar, announced in 1965. It is manufactured by Fender Musical Instruments Corporation. The aesthetic design embodied in the Coronado represents a departure from previous Fender instruments; the design remains an uncharacteristic piece of Fender history.
The Epiphone Casino is a thinline hollow body electric guitar manufactured by Epiphone, a branch of Gibson. The guitar debuted in 1961 and has been associated with such guitarists as Howlin' Wolf, Phil Upchurch, George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Noel Gallagher, Keith Richards, Dave Davies, Brad Whitford, Shirley Manson, Paul Weller, The Edge, Josh Homme, Daniel Kessler, Brendon Urie, Gary Clark, Jr., Glenn Frey, John Illsley, and Peter Green.
The Gibson ES-135 is a semi-hollow body electric guitar made by the Gibson Guitar Corporation. Originally introduced in 1956, it was discontinued in 1958. Some guitars were stamped with and marketed as an ES-130. The original run amounted to 556 instruments produced. The model, with some modifications, was reintroduced in 1991 and remained in production until 2004.
The Gibson L6-S is a solid body electric guitar. It was the descendant of the L5S jazz solid-body electric guitar. It was the same shape, very much like a wide Gibson Les Paul, but with a 24-fret neck, the first Gibson guitar to have this.
The Gibson ES series of semi-acoustic guitars are manufactured by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.
The Epiphone Sheraton is a thinline semi-hollow body electric guitar. Though the Sheraton and all its variations were introduced under the ownership of the Gibson Guitar Corporation, Epiphone is the exclusive manufacturer.
The Gretsch 6128 is a chambered solid body electric guitar which has been manufactured by Gretsch since 1953.
The Gibson ES-333 is a semi hollow body electric guitar made by Gibson Guitar Corporation.
The Gibson ES-250 was the second edition of the Gibson ES-150 amplified guitar, though released in several different versions. It had 17" body width and a 21" body length. It had a curly maple back and a spruce top with a maple neck and rosewood fingerboard. It was used in combination with the Gibson EH-185 and EH-275 amplifier.
The Gibson CS-336 is a semi-hollow electric guitar manufactured by Gibson Guitar Corporation's Custom, Art & Historic Division. Introduced in 2001, the CS-336 was the Custom Shop's first "tonally carved" guitar, meaning that the back, center block, and sides are carved from one single piece of wood (mahogany). This solid block of wood is mated to a carved maple top. After over 100 years, the CS-336 also represented the realization of company founder Orville Gibson's goal to produce an instrument with one-piece back-and-sides construction.
The Gibson ES-225 is a thinline hollowbody electric guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation between 1955 and 1959. It is notable as the first thinline hollowbody guitar produced by Gibson.
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