Gibson ES-345TD Cherry (1961)
Semi-Hollow · Vintage
If you've longed for an early 60s Gibson ES with more mojo, vibe, and tone that you can handle, this 1961 Gibson ES-345TD Cherry could be your guitar!
Recently in from its longtime local owner who'd purchased it in the early 1970s having already lost its original PAFs, Bigsby tailpiece, and Kluson tuners. It still had its original Cherry finish, naturally aged and lacquer checked in all the right ways. There were no breaks. Its Stereo Varitone circuitry remained along with the original wiring harness, and a combination of rewound Patent # and T-Top pickups were installed. Picking it up and playing it, however, we knew there was the diamond in the rough potential with this guitar. We sent the pickups off to Ron Ellis, whose impact on the guitar pickup market is widely acclaimed. He quickly went to work, rewinding each pickup with NOS wire and installing old Alnico 5 magnets, breathing new life into old materials.
The original medium jumbo frets were too worn to salvage, so Glenn Nichols refretted the guitar with Jescar 45100 wire. And with a newly installed Crazyparts no-wire ABR-1 bridge and milled brass saddles (made just like the originals), the guitar was back in top-performing shape. We re-wired the original stereo input jack to mono, and as soon as we plugged in for the first time post-restoration, we knew we had a special one.
The guitar's incredible acoustic energy and power is harnessed perfectly with these Ron Ellis vintage-resto humbuckers, yielding punchy articulate tone with natural bloom and sweet top end response. They're just so well matched in this guitar! Add in the original Varitone circuitry and you've got access to all of the great quirky tone settings that found fame on countless Funk, R&B, Soul, and Motown recordings through the years.
This '61 ES-345TD is the ultimate in player-grade vintage.
| Style | Semi-Hollowbody |
| Body | Laminated Maple with centerblock |
| Finish | Nitrocellulose |
| Color | Cherry |
| Pickups | Pat # / T-Top Ron Ellis | 7.20k Neck / 7.23k Bridge |
| Electronics | Original Centralab Pots | 134 6043 date codes |
| Controls | Volume (x2) / Tone (x2) / Varitone Switch / 3-Way Toggle |
| Bridge | Crazyparts ABR-1 w/ vintage lightweight gold stopbar tailpiece |
| Tuners | Vintage Grover Rotomatic |
| Pickguard | Original |
| Neck | Mahogany |
| Binding | White |
| Carve | Slim Taper C | .81" -.87" |
| Fingerboard | Brazilian Rosewood |
| Radius | 12" |
| Inlays | Parallelogram |
| Frets | Jescar 45100 (Refret) |
| Nut | Original |
| Scale Length | 24 3/4" |
| Serial # | 24093 |
| Weight | 7lbs 14oz |
| Case | Vintage Hardshell (Relined) |
Every instrument is thoroughly checked and set up before shipping fully insured via UPS with tracking to your door. We reuse boxes and materials to cut waste when they meet our protection standard.
Inspect it, play it, and if it isn't right, contact us within 48 hours of delivery to arrange a return or one-time exchange. Returns are subject to a 5% restocking fee, and the buyer covers shipping both ways.
Pricing
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Tasteful Restoration
When restoration is needed, we approach it with respect and restraint - always in service of preserving the instrument’s integrity and extending its musical life for decades to come.
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Shipping
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