The Gibson

Gibson Guitar Corporation

The Gibson Guitar Corporation, formerly of Kalamazoo, Michigan and currently of Nashville, Tennessee, manufactures guitars and other instruments which sell under a variety of brand names...

 335-S was a solidbody version of their very popular Electric Spanish guitar, the ES-335

Gibson ES-335

The Gibson ES-335 is the world's first commercial thinline arched-top semi-acoustic electric guitar. Released by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of its ES series in 1958, it is neither hollow nor solid; instead, a solid wood block runs through the center of its body...

. Although a very similar shape (though a little smaller), and with identical controls, being a solidbody rather than semi-acoustic guitar gave this model a rather different sound.

The 335-S came in three varieties:

335-S Deluxe: Mahogany

Mahogany

The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored hardwood. It is a native American word originally used for the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Indian or Cuban mahogany....

 body and neck, bound ebony

Ebony

Ebony is a dense black wood, most commonly yielded by several species in the genus Diospyros, but ebony may also refer to other heavy, black woods from unrelated species. Ebony is dense enough to sink in water. Its fine texture, and very smooth finish when polished, make it valuable as an...

 fingerboard

Fingerboard

The fingerboard is a part of most stringed instruments. It is a thin, long strip of material, usually wood, that is laminated to the front of the neck of an instrument and above which the strings run...

, pearl inlaid headstock

335-S Custom: Mahogany body and neck, unbound rosewood

Rosewood

Rosewood refers to any of a number of richly hued timbers, often brownish with darker veining, but found in many different hues. All rosewoods are strong and heavy, taking an excellent polish, being suitable for guitars, marimbas, turnery , handles, furniture, luxury flooring, etc.In general,...

 fingerboard

335-S Standard: Maple

Maple

Acer is a genus of trees or shrubs commonly known as maple.Maples are variously classified in a family of their own, the Aceraceae, or together with the Hippocastanaceae included in the family Sapindaceae. Modern classifications, including the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system, favour inclusion in...

 body and neck, unbound rosewood fingerboard

All models were fitted with two humbucking

Humbucker

A humbucker is a type of electric guitar pickup, first patented by Seth Lover and the Gibson company, that uses two coils, both generating string signal. Humbuckers have higher output than a single coil pickup since both coils are connected in series...

pickups, and two volume and two tone controls. The pickups in the Deluxe and Custom were Gibson's "Dirty Fingers", with a coil-tap switch, to allow a single-coil mode, whilst the Standard had Gibson Superhumbuckers with no coil-tap facility.

All three versions were introduced in mid-1980, the Custom and Standard deleted in 1981, and the Deluxe deleted by the beginning of 1983.

External links

• Gibson 335-S — detailed information and pictures of the Gibson 335-S Standard, Custom and Deluxe.