Gibson ES-335
Solid body guitars had proven their worth but they were still the subject of ridicule by some old-school players.
They were referred to as planks, canoe paddles, sticks and all sorts of other less than complimentary names. They may have functioned well enough but they didn't have the visual impact of a typical archtop. One other problem was that they were tough to hear when unplugged and this made them less than useful for casual playing in the living room.
The idea of thin archtops was not unique. Gibson had made the Byrdland, the L-5 CT and the ES-350 T, all of which were thin archtop hollow bodies. Any of these could feedback easily and their biggest advantage over their full-bodied equivalents was that they were more comfortable to play while standing.
The
ES-335 took matters several steps further. It had a 4" wide block
of solid maple down the center which gave it feedback resistance and
sustain characteristics similar to a solid body while maintaining the
look of an archtop. It also had dual
cutaways which helped with upper neck access and gave the guitar a very
futuristic appearance. Add some dot inlays, two humbucking
pickups, a stop tailpiece anchored to the center block and a Tune-O-Matic
bridge and you have one of the most unique designs ever made. It
was also copied by other manufacturers with varying degrees of success.
This type of guitar has been used in a wide variety of musical styles. Chuck Berry played several Gibson semi-hollows, an ES-335 and later on an ES-355, the 335's big brother. BB King has used an ES-345 for years now and has his own signature model based upon the 345. Tony Mottola played Jazz on an ES-355 while Larry Carlton and Lee Ritenour took advantage of the 335's characteristic versatility using them as their main studio guitars during the '70s.
It's hard to believe it, but the ES 335 has been with us for over 50 years now. A lot of guitar innovations have come and gone along the way but the 335 has remained with us both in concept and in substance. I would imagine that it will prove difficult to materially improve upon a concept that so perfectly blends the advantages of an acoustic archtop and a solid body guitar.
