The Guitar Player's Resource
When Vintage Dreams Meet Modern Reality. You've been there - scrolling through online auctions at 2 AM, heart racing over some beat-up '64 ES-335 with questionable provenance and a price tag that could buy a decent used car. Before you mortgage your future for someone else's garage-stored gamble, let's talk sense.
This Custom Shop recreation isn't playing vintage dress-up games. We're talking forensic-level accuracy here - the kind of obsessive attention to detail that would make original factory workers nod with approval. That three-ply maple/poplar/maple construction with solid maple centerblock? Exactly how Gibson was building them when Kennedy was president and the Beatles were conquering America.
Here's what separates the authentic from the imitation: those unpotted Custombucker pickups with Alnico III magnets. No modern shortcuts, no "improved" designs - just pure vintage voice that breathes with organic dynamics. Roll back your volume, and they clean up like a gentleman. Dig in hard, and they growl with that smoky authority that made jazz cats and blues legends fall in love with semi-hollowbodies in the first place.
That SlimTaper 60s C neck profile feels like shaking hands with history - substantial enough for serious players, but never fighting your technique. Those small block cellulose nitrate inlays aren't just pretty faces either; they're period-correct details that complete the time machine experience.
The real magic happens when you plug in. That semi-hollow construction creates acoustic resonance that solid-body guitars can only dream about, while the solid maple centerblock prevents the feedback nightmares that plague fully hollow instruments.
Paper-in-oil capacitors, CTS pots, Switchcraft everything - Gibson's Custom Shop didn't cut corners anywhere. The result? Vintage tone without vintage headaches, complete with that gorgeous nitrocellulose finish that'll age gracefully over decades of serious playing.
Body Style - ES
Body Shape - ES-335
Body Material - 3-ply Maple/Poplar/Maple
Centerblock - Solid Maple
Binding - 1-Ply Royalite
Body Finish - Nitrocellulose VOS (Vintage Patina)
Weight Relief - None
Neck
Profile - SlimTaper™ 60s C
Scale Length - 628.65 mm / 24.75 in
Fingerboard Material - Indian Rosewood
Fingerboard Radius - 304.8 mm / 12 in
Neck Material - Solid Mahogany
Fret Count - 22
Frets - Authentic Medium-Jumbo
Nut Material - Nylon
Nut Width - 42.85 mm / 1.687 in
Inlays - Small Block Cellulose Nitrate
Joint - Long Tenon, Hide Glue Fit
Hardware
Finish - Nickel
Bridge - ABR-1
Saddle Material - Nylon
Tailpiece - Lightweight Aluminum Stop Bar
Tuning Machines - Kluson Single Line, Double Ring
Pickguard - Black 5-Ply Wide Bevel
Truss Rod - Authentic 1950s No-Tube
Truss Rod Cover - Authentic Stepped 2-Ply
Control Knobs - Gold or Black Top Hats w/ Silver Inserts
Switch Tip - Cream
Strap Buttons - Aluminum
Mounting Rings - Black M69 Medium & Tall
Pickup Covers - Authentic Profile Nickel Silver
Electronics
Neck Pickup - Custombucker Alnico III (Unpotted)
Bridge Pickup - Custombucker Alnico III (Unpotted)
Controls - 2 Volume/2 Tone CTS 500K Audio Taper Potentiometers, Paper-in-Oil Capacitors
Pickup Selector - 3-Way Switchcraft
Output Jack - Switchcraft
