THREE

THIRTY-FIVE

Although it arrived during the same

year as the sunburst Les Paul, Flying V

and Explorer, the ES-335 may be the

greatest and most versatile electric guitar

ever crafted within the hallowed walls of

225 Parsons St, Kalamazoo. Here, iconic

fi gures such as Ted McCarty, Seth Lover,

Mark Knopfl er and Larry Carlton recount

the tale of the model’s revolutionary

development and enduring infl uence...

WORDS TONY BACON

AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE GIBSON ES-335

T

his is the oral history of the ES-335,

the revolutionary semi-solid electric that

Gibson introduced in 1958. The 335’s new

construction placed a solid maple block in

an otherwise hollow laminated-maple body, which

had double cutaways for good access to the upper

frets, and the guitar had a pair of Gibson’s new

humbucking pickups.

Three associated models appeared following

the success of the 335: the stereo ES-345, the

high-end ES-355, and the fully hollow ES-330.

This 335 family of guitars would find favour with

many players through the years, including BB King,

Eric Clapton, Grant Green, Jorma Kaukonen, Alvin

Lee, Lee Ritenour, Andy Summers, Noel Gallagher

and JD Simo.

The voices here come from interviews I’ve

conducted for my various books about Gibson.

The people you’ll hear from are Larry Carlton, the

session guitarist who’s worked with Steely Dan, Joni

Mitchell, The Crusaders and more; Luther Dickinson,

guitarist with North Mississippi Allstars; Don Felder,

guitarist with the Eagles between 1974 and 2001;

Mark Knopfler, ex-Dire Straits guitarist and solo

artist; Seth Lover, who at Gibson (1952-67) devised

AN ORAL HISTORY OF THE GIBSON ES-335

GUITAR MAGAZINE 65