Vintage Vibes: 1960 Natural Gibson ES-335TDN

VINTAGE VIBES: 1960 Natural Gibson ES-335TDN with Custom Factory Split Parallelogram Inlays

Our marketing man Evan (don’t you call him no intern!) has the honor of showing you what he can do on the most viewed guitar in our entire online inventory: the 1960 Natural Gibson ES-335. Special-ordered from the factory with a natural finish, split parallelogram inlays, and a Bigsby, this semi-hollow body beauty was once a part of the Chinery collection and is all original down to the wiring harness and PAF humbucking pickups. Evan pairs it with a Fender Vibroverb, Vox AC-15, JHS Spring Tank Reverb, and J. Rockett Archer Overdrive to give you a comprehensive, clean-to-dirty look at this rarity, and speaking of rarity, scope that original Gibson ledger page!

Evan Skorepa describes the 1960 Natural Gibson ES-335

Hi everyone. My name is Evan, Formerly known as "The Intern" here at Chicago Music Exchange. Today I have the distinct privilege of sitting down with the most viewed listing and most viewed page on our website. The gorgeous 1960s Gibson ES-335 in extremely rare natural finish.

So what makes this guitar so special is that it was special ordered from the factory with this Split Parallelogram fingerboard. These are typically found on 345 models but this is a 335 model. It was also special ordered with this Bigsby. All the hardware on this guitar is original. It's got the original wiring harness original Gibson PAF humbucking pickups so it has all of the classic vintage tone if you will that you'd expect to find on guitar of this caliber. It was also part of the Chinery collection. The former owner of this guitar bought it from the auction of the Chinery collection after Scott Chinery had died.

Today I'm going to be playing through a 1964 Vox AC 15 for a little bit of dirt so let's see how it sounds.

The Technical Specs

Body: Semi-hollow laminate maple body
Neck: Mahogany neck with the slim 60' profile neck shape, 1 11/16” wide nut, 12” radius, and split parallelogram inlays, Mahogany neck with custom-ordered Brazilian rosewood split parallelogram inlay fretboard.
Pickups/Hardware: Kluson Deluxe tuners, two humbuckers (rated at 7.7kOhms in the neck and 8.0k in the bridge), three-way pickup selector switch, independent volume and tone controls, Bigsby. The Bigsby is original to the guitar. Factory pearl inlays cover the factory tailpiece holes. Original PAF pickups and original wiring harness with black beauty caps.
Cosmetic Condition: There are some fine checking lines throughout the finish but overall the guitar is clean for its age and one gorgeous piece of vintage gear. The body itself is in great shape with some light play wear and minor pitting on the pickup covers but no serious damage. The birdseye maple back is also very clean with some very slight signs of buckle rash in the lacquer but no chips or heavy wear to be found. The neck lacquer has some nice uniform checking lines as well as a small piece worn away behind the 9th fret but otherwise it is nice and smooth and feels great to play. The headstock has a few small chips and dings around the edges but no signs of cracks or repairs. This ES-335TDN is truly a unique find!
Playability: The strings are nice and low, play great, and ring out clearly across the board.
Modifications/Repairs: The hardware is all original except for the tuners. The original tuners are included in the case, but the tips are deteriorating. There is a ground wire added from the treble side bridge post, under the pickguard, and into the f-hole. The ground wire is not soldered in place; it is not permanent.
Weight: 8lbs 14oz
Case: Original hardshell