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Lot Essay
This sunburst finish Gibson semi-hollow-body was described by Rodgers as a "gorgeous guitar". It serves as the perfect improvisational instrument for practicing a sound. Said Rodgers: "I play them all the time. I don’t practice on a solid body guitar, I only practice on jazz guitars."
Please see Lot 14.
Gibson Innovation
Of the many innovations that Gibson president Ted McCarty brought to market during his tenure, the thin and semi-solid-body (or semi-hollow-body in today's parlance) electric guitar was a game changer for many musicians. Since 1936 Gibson had been producing and successfully marketing electric guitars starting with the ES-150. From these early beginnings Gibson's "Electric Spanish" line grew with improvements and upgrades to body design and materials, along with pickup design and placement. But viewed as a whole, these were all essentially arch-top acoustic guitars with added electronic amplification. Though serving well as a rhythm instrument in big bands and jazz accompaniment the electrically amplified hollow-bodies suffered from feedback issues at higher volumes. In 1952, under McCarty's leadership, Gibson introduced their first solid-body guitar, the Les Paul Model. The solid-body, with little acoustic properties, solved the issue by controlling feedback from the pickups while increasing tonal sustain and a tenor tambour.
Realizing the needs of the guitarist who desired an electric guitar with the outline of a traditional arch-top (without the typical 3 3⁄8 inches of depth nor the weight of the Les Paul), Gibson merged their already successful "Thinline" models with the ideas that drove a solid-body to create a guitar that had the attributes of both. McCarty is quoted as saying: "I thought we should have a new instrument that would have some of the sharp tone you get from a solid-body instrument, and some of the mellow tone from an acoustic hollow-body. I came up with the idea of putting a solid block of maple in an acoustic model and then make the pickups rest on the block. It would get some of the same tone as a regular solid-body, plus the instrument's hollow wings would vibrate and we'd get a combination of an electric solid-body and a hollow-body guitar."
The new model, released in 1958, was the ES-335TD. The width of the body was 16 inches but only 1 5⁄8 inches in thickness. It would have two Humbucker pickups mounted into a solid maple tone block attached to the top and back and running the full length of the body. No one can deny the design theory mirrored that of Les Paul's guitar from 1941 he called "The Log".
The success of the semi-hollowbody was swift and Gibson added new and upgraded models to the line. 1959 saw the release of the ES-355. The multi-bound body was fit with a bound ebony fingerboard with pearl block inlay, "split diamond" pearl inlay at the headstock, and gold-plated hardware. Through the production history of the ES-355 it was almost always fit with a vibrato tailpiece. The earlier examples used a Bigsby vibrato and by 1961 Gibson's "side-pull" vibrato was standard while the Bigsby was available by special order. The stock finish would be a deep and brilliant red lacquer which today is referred to as "Cherry Red" and by the end of 1959 the guitar would be available with a stereo wiring and six position tone control Gibson called the Varitone. It now carried the model designation of ES-355TDVS. The versatility of the instrument proved successful and by 1960 the 355 had quickly found a dedicated following among electric guitarists of all genres. Keith Richards, Alvin Lee, Chuck Berry, Elvin Bishop and David Justin Hayward are all dedicated 335 and 355 players but the guitar received its widest exposure and was made iconic among blues players by the virtuosity of B.B. King.
Please see Lot 14.
Gibson Innovation
Of the many innovations that Gibson president Ted McCarty brought to market during his tenure, the thin and semi-solid-body (or semi-hollow-body in today's parlance) electric guitar was a game changer for many musicians. Since 1936 Gibson had been producing and successfully marketing electric guitars starting with the ES-150. From these early beginnings Gibson's "Electric Spanish" line grew with improvements and upgrades to body design and materials, along with pickup design and placement. But viewed as a whole, these were all essentially arch-top acoustic guitars with added electronic amplification. Though serving well as a rhythm instrument in big bands and jazz accompaniment the electrically amplified hollow-bodies suffered from feedback issues at higher volumes. In 1952, under McCarty's leadership, Gibson introduced their first solid-body guitar, the Les Paul Model. The solid-body, with little acoustic properties, solved the issue by controlling feedback from the pickups while increasing tonal sustain and a tenor tambour.
Realizing the needs of the guitarist who desired an electric guitar with the outline of a traditional arch-top (without the typical 3 3⁄8 inches of depth nor the weight of the Les Paul), Gibson merged their already successful "Thinline" models with the ideas that drove a solid-body to create a guitar that had the attributes of both. McCarty is quoted as saying: "I thought we should have a new instrument that would have some of the sharp tone you get from a solid-body instrument, and some of the mellow tone from an acoustic hollow-body. I came up with the idea of putting a solid block of maple in an acoustic model and then make the pickups rest on the block. It would get some of the same tone as a regular solid-body, plus the instrument's hollow wings would vibrate and we'd get a combination of an electric solid-body and a hollow-body guitar."
The new model, released in 1958, was the ES-335TD. The width of the body was 16 inches but only 1 5⁄8 inches in thickness. It would have two Humbucker pickups mounted into a solid maple tone block attached to the top and back and running the full length of the body. No one can deny the design theory mirrored that of Les Paul's guitar from 1941 he called "The Log".
The success of the semi-hollowbody was swift and Gibson added new and upgraded models to the line. 1959 saw the release of the ES-355. The multi-bound body was fit with a bound ebony fingerboard with pearl block inlay, "split diamond" pearl inlay at the headstock, and gold-plated hardware. Through the production history of the ES-355 it was almost always fit with a vibrato tailpiece. The earlier examples used a Bigsby vibrato and by 1961 Gibson's "side-pull" vibrato was standard while the Bigsby was available by special order. The stock finish would be a deep and brilliant red lacquer which today is referred to as "Cherry Red" and by the end of 1959 the guitar would be available with a stereo wiring and six position tone control Gibson called the Varitone. It now carried the model designation of ES-355TDVS. The versatility of the instrument proved successful and by 1960 the 355 had quickly found a dedicated following among electric guitarists of all genres. Keith Richards, Alvin Lee, Chuck Berry, Elvin Bishop and David Justin Hayward are all dedicated 335 and 355 players but the guitar received its widest exposure and was made iconic among blues players by the virtuosity of B.B. King.