SOLD - Gibson 1968 ES-335 Alpine White One of a Kind Custom Color
$0.00SOLD!
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Call 530-570-1525 or email sales@maharsvintageguitars.com to sell your vintage guitar, bass, amplifier, etc - one piece or a collection! We are always ready to buy instruments, amps and effects from Fender, Gibson, Martin, Epiphone, Rickenbacker, Gretsch, Marshall, Vox and just about anything else related to musical instruments. You can also click here for more info on selling us vintage instruments, amps, parts, etc.
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This 1968 Gibson ES-335 is one of those guitars that you never expect to find. When I happened upon it I was truly amazed. Searching deeply throughout the internet for another from the era revealed only one other, a 1967 with chrome hardware.
The guitar is stunningly cool in person. The checking is perfect, and the original gold hardware on the white finish is spectacular.
See a quick demo of this guitar through a 1965 Fender Deluxe Reverb here.
Published records show that Gibson officially made zero white ES-335s in the 1950s, 1960s or 1970s. It appears that they only conceived of how cool one would be until the 80s. Previous to the 80s production runs, Gibson reserved the color for ES-345s and 355s.
It was obvious to me that the white finish is original when I saw the guitar in person, having seen many Gibson SGs, Les Paul Juniors, etc. refinished in white over the years.
For one thing, the original finish color always seeps into white finish on a refinished guitar, especially from color retained in mahogany. SGs and Juniors will slowly show traces of finish into the white, despite all attempts to remove the original finish from the guitar. Eliminating original color from binding is also extremely challenging.
A close look at dings around the edges of the headstock, the small wear spot on the side of the neck, the binding all show that the finish is original, as does a peek under the pickups.
After perceiving some doubt from a couple people I decided to send the guitar to Joe Riggio for his expert opinion on the finish while he handled a couple fixes for me. He made this video as he gave the guitar a once-over.
There are some changes to the guitar, including a bone nut and a refret. The stopbar tailpiece was added in the 70s by the previous owner. The original trapeze tailpiece is included. At that same time, the tuners were changed to Schallers. The original gold Klusons were retained after the change.
I wanted to put the original tuners back on the guitar, but when we removed the Schallers we found that the bushings weren't aligning well in the not-so-perfect work that accommodated the Schaller tuners. Joe performed a cool fix as he re-installed the original gold Kluson Deluxe tuners -he hit a few points on each tuner ferrule with solder to keep them aligned in the larger tuner post holes. He also did a light touch up on the old Schaller screw holes on the back of the headstock.
The pickup covers were changed out to shiny new ones at some point, but the originals were retained and were reinstalled before I bought the guitar. Unfortunately, in the process the previous owner caused an open short in both pickups when doing the work. Mr. Riggio repaired the pickups for us. It was confirmed during the process that the pickups are T Tops.
There are a couple dings the previous owner touched up with white on the edge of the guitar and one small black touchup on the front of the headstock. A straplock button was added that would otherwise be covered by the trapeze tailpiece. The screw broke off in the guitar. We put the original strap button back on the guitar where it was originally mounted. The original label within the F hole is missing.
The frets have been replaced.
All other parts are original. We could see that the pickups are original, pre-T-top patent-sticker humbuckers when we removed the changed covers, and that the pickups were otherwise unaltered.
It is clear that there are no other repairs to the guitar.
This is an excellent player with great feel and tone, and it is a truly rare piece that has seen some use, so you can plan on playing it and enjoying it yourself.
The original case is included.
- Color: Alpine White
- Weight: 8lbs 6.5ozs
- Top: Maple
- Body: Maple
- Neck: Mahogany
- Fretboard: Rosewood
- Inlays: Mother of pearl blocks
- Frets: Re-fret
- Fret count: 22
- Nut: Non-original bone
- Nut width: 1 9/16"
- Scale: 24.75"
- Radius: 10"
- Neck thickness at 1st fret: 0.83"
- Neck thickness at 12th fret: 0.99"
- Action 1st String at 12th Fret: 2.0mm
- Action 6th String at 12th Fret: 1.5mm
- Total length: 41.25"
- Lower bout: 16"
- Waist: 9.125"
- Upper bout: 11.25"
- Body depth/thickness: 1.625"
- String gauge: .010-.046"
- Hardware Color: Gold
- Bridge Pickup Brand: Gibson
- Pickup Original?: Yes
- Neck Pickup Brand: Gibson
- Pickup Original?: Yes
- Bridge: Stopbar tailpiece added. Original gold trapeze in the case. Patent number ABR-1 is original.
- Tuners: Replaced - original gold tuners in the original case
- Switch: Original
- Pots: Original
- Case: OHSC
- Notes: The original tuners have both the A and high E tuner button shafts bent causing a wobble
Shipping policy:
There are two shipping cost options for purchases made on our site for these states and those to the east of them: Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas. Select Standard shipping at checkout and your item will be shipped via UPS three-day-air. Select Economy shipping and your item will ship via UPS ground. For Reverb purchases, there is one cost option for these Eastern states and shipment will be made by UPS three-day-air. Shipments will require signature on delivery, no exceptions. If there is damage, the buyer must retain all packing materials intact and picture them immediately and send them to sales@maharsvintageguitars.com. Less than 1% of our shipments are damaged in transit, and we are committed to making sure your item arrives safely, but we are taking these additional measures to make sure you are happy with your purchase.
