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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