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.

   (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.
• 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

65px

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.
• 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).
• ES-369   (late1970s-1980s?)

• 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-c.1985) Upscale model of ES-335 without f-holes, with active circuit by Moog.

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)
• Lucille     (1980-1985)   B.B. King model based on ES-355TD-SV without f-holes.
• Howard Roberts Fusion (1980-)   Howard Roberts model.
• 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)

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

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

  Other doubleneck models include:

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

Tree chart

origins 1930s		origins 1930s
1940s		1940s
1950s		1950s
1960s		1960s
1970s		1970s
1980s		1980s
1990s		1990s
2000s		2000s
2010s		2010s

References

Bibliography

Citations

External links

• ES Series on Gibson website