1961 GIBSON ES-330TDC

Stunning Gibson ES-330TDC from 1961, in excellent condition.

Introduced in 1959 to replace the ES-225TD, the ES-330TD is the youngest of the siblings that make up Gibson’s late 50s ES-3XX line, the only one to still be equipped with the older style P-90 pickups while the others adopted the newer humbuckers.

The example presented here comes from the first generation running from 1959 to 1962, more precisely from the second year of full production (the ES-330TD appeared in the Gibson catalog in 1960). It condenses all of the model’s original features, which include a rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays, the rounded double cutaway that earned the body the nickname “Mickey Mouse”, and two original P-90 pickups with their black plastic covers (these will be replaced the following year by metal covers). The year 1961 definitively marks the consecration of a new finish introduced to the model the previous year, Cherry red. This color, which was previously used only on the luxurious ES-355, was a great success and in fact catapulted sales of the model to exceed several thousand of examples sold annually from the second half of the 1960s. For the year of production of this guitar, 645 identical instruments will have left the Kalamazoo factory, or 6 times more than the previous year – however, this production is absolutely minimal when compared to modern industrial production and the ES-330TDC from the early 60s remains a rare guitar today.

The ES-330TDC was in any case a successful model, as evidenced by its production period spanning into the early 1970s – a longevity record for a Gibson hollowbody equipped with P-90s! For good reason, although grouped with the 335, 345 and 355, all thinline models, it is in fact a very different instrument: the body is entirely hollow, without the central beam present on the other models, which makes it significantly lighter and more resonant. This also led to another distinctive feature of the ES-330: the body-neck junction is located at the 16th fret instead of the 19th in order to reinforce the construction, which necessarily influences on playing sensation.

The neck profile of this guitar is typical of the early 60s, thinner and flatter compared to the 50s, a characteristic specific to this period. The headstock has a simple Gibson pearl inlaid logo, without any other embellishment, the tuners are the original Kluson Deluxe with their round plastic buttons. Finally, we find the standard wiring with a 3-position selector associated with a volume and tone control for each pickup. All of the electronics are original, perfectly unaltered over the 60 years of existence of the guitar with the potentiometers and the Sprague Black Beauty capacitors with intact solder joints, as well as the hardware with the sole exception of the bridge which is a modern TonePros part. We note a slight stress which occurred at the rear of the neck at the location of the truss-rod, this area is nevertheless perfectly stable to date. The Cherry finish is superbly preserved, the varnish has barely detectable crazing and minimal wear. The condition is, in fact, exceptional – so much so that no one has yet even attached a strap button to the heel of the neck! Connected to an amp, we immediately find all the raw sounds of the two P-90s which made the model a true icon in the 60s, alongside its twin produced by Epiphone, the Casino, in the hands of a Beatle or a Rolling Stone, a Chuck Berry or a young B.B. King – they’ve all been there!

The guitar went through our workshop for complete optimization of its setup elements, including full planning of the frets and adjustment of its action and intonation at the nut and bridge, as well as the making of a new bone nut adjusted to the string gauge. It is now in perfect playing condition, ready for use. Sold in a Gibson-shaped case circa 1970s.

SOLD