Gibson ES-345
1960 Gibson ES-345TDC
ManufacturerGibson Brands
Period1959-1981
Construction
Body typeSemi-hollow body thinline
Scale24.75"
Woods
BodyMaple
NeckMahogany
FretboardRosewood
Hardware
BridgeTune-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.

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 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]

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

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Brakes, Rod (2 December 2020). "Classic gear: Gibson ES-345". Guitar World. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  2. 1 2 "Gibson ES-345TD". Vintage Guitar and Bass. 2022. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Old gold: 1965 Gibson ES-345". Music Radar. 26 August 2015. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Schu, Peter (1 October 2016). "The Varitone Circuit Demystified: Scott Sharrard and the Gibson ES-345". Reverb. Retrieved 6 December 2022.
  5. Batey, Rick (2003). The American blues guitar (1st ed.). Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard. p. 143. ISBN 9780634027598. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  6. Duchossoir, A. R. (1998). Gibson electrics : the classic years : an illustrated history from the mid-'30s to the mid-'60s. Milwaukee, Wis.: Hal Leonard Corp. p. 234. ISBN 9780793592104. Retrieved 29 November 2022.
  7. Saulnier, Jason (4 May 2010). "Bob Welch Interview, Fleetwood Mac Guitarist on Nashville Flood". Music Legends Online. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  8. https://www.es-335.com/2012/01/12/pssst-hey-beatle/. Retrieved 3 March 2023. {{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
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