Gibson ES Series

The Gibson ES series of semi-acoustic guitar (hollow body electric guitar) are manufactured by the Gibson Guitar Corporation. The letters ES stand for Electric Spanish, to distinguish them from Hawaiian-style guitars which were played flat on the lap.

Series includes

ES-150

ES-250

ES-125

• ES-5    (1949-1955)   Three-pickup, full depth hollowbody.
• ES-5 Switchmaster   (1955-1962)
• ES-100   (1938-1941)   Entry-level archtop hollow-body model.

   (Renamed to ES-125)

• ES-120T (1962-1971)   Most basic student model, thinline.
• ES-125   (1941-1970)   Successor of ES-100.

   1956/1960   ES-125T thinline model added.

• ES-130   (1954-1956)   (Renamed to ES-135)
• ES-135   (1956-1958)   Thick-body version of ES-125TDC.

   (1991-2002)   Thin semi-hollow-body with center-block.

ES-175

ES-295

ES-137

• ES-137   (2002-)    Upscaled ES-135 with Les Paul sound.
• ES-140   (1950-1957)   3/4 size, short scale ES-175.
• ES-140T (1956-1968)   Thinline ES-140 3/4T.
• ES-150   (1936-1956)   Gibson's first electric guitar, based on L-50.^[1]

   (1937-?)    EST-150 (tenor) and EPG-150 (plectrum) were shipped.

   (1969-1974)   ES-150DC resembling thick ES-335.

• ES-165   (1991-)   Single pickup ES-175 based on Herb Ellis's.
• ES-175   (1949-)   Full depth, florentine cutaway, maple top, 24 3/4" scale.

   (1953-)   ES-175D (dual pickup)

   (1976-1979)   ES-175T (thinline hollow-body)

Byrdland

ES-350T

ES-330TD

• ES-225T (1955-1959)   Variation on ES-125T (thinline, florentine cutaway), with trapeze bridge.
• ES-250   (1938-1940)   Rare, fancier version of ES-150.
• ES-260   (1982-1983)   Resembling ES-125T/ES-225T (thinline, florentine cutaway), but semi-hollow with center block, stop tailpiece, and humbuckers instead of P90 pickups. Knob placement differed slightly from other ES-series.
• ES-295   (1952-1959)   ES-175 resembling Les Paul Goldtop with trapeze bridge.
• ES-300   (1940-1952)   Slant-mounted long pickup.
• ES-320TD (1971-1974)   Similar to ES-330TD but with tune-o-matic and metal control plate.^[2]
• ES-325   (1972-1979)   Similar to ES-330TD but with mini-humbuckers, single f-hole, and a half-moon shaped plastic control plate.
• ES-330TD (1958-)      Double rounded cutaway, thinline hollow-body.
• ES-333   (c.2001-2003) Stripped down version of ES-335.
• ES-335   (1958-)   World's first thinline archtop semi-acoustic. (semi-hollow-body with center-block)

   (2013-)   ES-335 Bass

ES-335

ES-345

Lucille

• ES-336   (1996-2001)   Replaced by CS-336.
• ES-339   (2007-)   Size of CS-336 with construction of ES-335.
• ES-340TD (1968-1973)   ES-335 with a master volume/mixer and phase switch.^[3]
• ES-345   (1958-1981)   ES-335 construction, but with parallelogram inlays, Varitone, and stereo outputs.
• ES-347   (1978-1990s?) Alternate ES-345 with a coil-tap switch instead of Varitone.
• ES-350   (1947-1956)   Rounded cutaway ES-300.

  (1955-1981)   ES-350T as a plainer Byrdland.

• ES-355   (1958-1982)   Upscaled ES-345 (ebony board, extra binding, etc.) with vibrato unit, optional Varitone and stereo outputs.
• ES-359   (2008-)     Upscaled ES-339 (ebony fretboard, extra binding, gold hardware, block inlays).^[4]
• ES-369   (late1970s-1980s?)^[5]

• ES-390   (2013-)   Similar in size to the ES-339, but with the fully hollow construction of ES-330. Equipped with mini humbuckers.
• ES-775   (1990-1993)   ES-175 with higher quality components.
• ES Artist   (1979^[6]-c.1985) Upscale model of ES-335 without f-holes, with active circuit by Moog.^[7]

Barney Kessel Custom (prototype)

Johnny Smith

Tom DeLonge ES-333

Signatured models

• Byrdland   (1955-) Thinline, short-scale L-5 CES,

  named after Billy Byrd and Hank Garland.

• Barney Kessel (1961-1974)   Barney Kessel model.

  3" deep, double florentine cutaway hollow-body (Two versions, Regular and Custom).

• Johnny Smith  (1961-1989?)  Later renamed as Gibson LeGrande.
• Tal Farlow    (1962-1971)   Tal Farlow model.
• Trini Lopez   (1964-1971)   Trini Lopez two versions:

  one based on ES-335, other similar to Kessel model with diamond-shaped sound holes and a single-side headstock.

• Les Paul Signature (c.1972-c.1975)^[8]
• Lucille     (1980-1985)   B.B. King model based on ES-355TD-SV without f-holes.
• Howard Roberts Fusion (1980-)   Howard Roberts model.^[9]
• Chet Atkins Country Gentleman (1987-2000s)
• Chet Atkins Tennessean    (1990-2000s)

  Gibson version of Chet Atkins models.

• Tom DeLonge Signature ES-333 (2003-)
• DG-335 (2007-?)   Dave Grohl model based on Trini Lopez.

Related models

CS-336 (24.75" scale)

EB-2 (30.5" scale)

• 335-S     (1980-1983) Solidbody guitar similar to ES-335.
• CS-336   (2001-?) Custom Shop's first "tonally carved" guitar.
• CS-356   (2001-?) Upscaled CS-336 with goldplate parts, etc.
• Les Paul Bantam/Florentine (1995/1996–2003?)

  Custom Shop models with thinline semi-hollow-body with center-block. (Note: "Gibson USA Florentine" released in 2009 is a solid-body model^[10])

• ES-Les Paul (2015)  Mash up of Les Paul and ES-335^[11]
• Les Paul Signature bass (1973-?)
• EB-2 bass (1958-1972)^[12]
• EDS-1275 Double 12 (1958-)

  Doubleneck, hollow-body (1958-1962) or SG-shaped solid-body (1962-) guitar with 12 and 6 string guitar necks.^[13]

  Other doubleneck models include:

  • EMS-1235 Double Mandolin (mandolin^[13] or short neck guitar^[14] & normal guitar, hollow-body (1958-1962) or solid-body (1962-))
  • EBSF-1250 Double Bass (4 string bass & guitar, built-in fuzz effect)^[15]
  • EBS-1250 Double Bass (6 string bass & guitar)^[13][15]
  • EDS-1250 (6 string bass & 4 string bass)

Tree chart

origins 1930s	L-50 L-4 Les Paul L-5 L-5 CES ES-150 ES-250 ES-100 (ver.2) ES-125 ES-300 (postwar) ES-175 ES-5 ES-350 ES-130 ES-140 ¾ ES-295 ES-135 ES-125T ES-5 SM Byrdland ES-350T ES-225T ES-140 ¾T ES-330TD ES-335 ES-345 ES-355 ES-120T Trini Lopez ES-150DC ES-340TD ES-175T Les Paul Signature ES-320 ES-325 ES-347 CRS/CRR ES Artist Lucille Dot Pro ES-369 ES-135 ES-165 ES-775 ES-336 Les Paul Florentine ES-137 ES-333 CS-336 CS-356 Tom DeLonge ES-339 ES-359 ES-Les Paul	origins 1930s
1940s		1940s
1950s		1950s
1960s		1960s
1970s		1970s
1980s		1980s
1990s		1990s
2000s		2000s
2010s		2010s

References

Bibliography

• "Gibson Electric Archtop Model Descriptions", Vintage Guitars Info
• "Gibson Thinline Model Descriptions", Vintage Guitars Info

Citations

1. "Gibson Electro Spanish-150, Prototype Batch 1058-9 B (1936)", exhibition label, Museum of Making Music, The body was basically that of the acoustic Gibson L-50.
2. "Gibson Es 320 TD ( 1971-1974 )", Vintage Gibson Guitars
3. "Gibson Es 340 TD Archtop (1968-1973)", Vintage Gibson Guitars
4. Gibson Custom ES-359, Gibson Guitar Corporation (2008)
5. "Gibson ES 369: TONE to the BONE", Best Guitars World
6. The Active Sound Of The 80s (advertisement), Gibson Guitar Corporation (1979)
   An advertisement in 1979 for Artist series: "RD Artist Active" released around 1977, and two new models added in 1979, "ES Artist Active" and ""Les Paul Artist Active".
7. "ES Artist", 1980 Gibson guitar, bass and banjo catalogue, Gibson Guitar Corporation (1980), p. 33
8. 1975 Les Paul catalogue, Gibson Guitar Corporation (1975), p. 5
9. Holder, Mitch, The Jazz Guitar Stylings of Howard Roberts, Mel Bay Publications (2006), p. 100, ISBN 9780786674091
10. Gibson USA Les Paul Florentine with Bigsby, Gibson Guitar Corporation (2009)
11. "Gibson Memphis ES-Les Paul 2015". Gibson Guitar Corporation (2015).
12. Moseley, Willie G. (January 2012). "The Gibson EB-2: Kalamazoo Biggest Bass Innovation?". Vintage Guitar. p. 60.
13. 1963 Gibson Guitar and Bass catalog, Gibson Guitar Corporation (1963), p. 15
14. 1960 Gibson Guitar and Bass catalog, Gibson Guitar Corporation (1960), p. 17
15. "Elvis' 1965 Gibson EBS-1250 Double Bass", Scotty Moore Official Website — comparing the 1962/1963 & 1964 EBSF-1250 (4 string bass + guitar + fuzztone), 1964 EBS-1250 (4 string bass + guitar), and Elvis' 1965 EBS-1250 (6 string bass + guitar)

External links

• ES Series on Gibson website