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Gibson ES-335
After Gibson had initially made a name for itself with jazz guitars, the Les Paul caused a sensation in the mid-1950s as the first solid-body electric guitar model from the American cult manufacturer. Gibson then experimented with a mixture of solidbody and jazz guitars. The new guitar was intended to combine and emphasise the advantages of solid and hollowbody guitars, thereby reducing the problems that repeatedly occurred with both guitar types.
The best features of each guitar
The result of this spec combination got the name ES-335 and was intoduced in 1958. The ES-335 is a semi-hollow guitar. This design combines the warm sound of archtop full-resonance guitars with the clean, low-feedback tone of the solid-body electric guitar. This sound makes the ES-335 particularly popular with jazz and blues musicians, but the ES series is also very popular in rock and pop. The ES-335 has been in Gibson's model catalogue without interruption since its introduction and it looks set to stay that way.
Here at session you will find a large selection of different Gibson ES-335 models. Below you will find more information about the history and model development of the ES-335 and we will show you how the different model variants differ.
All Gibson ES-335 models at a glance:
All about the Gibson ES-335
Concept and construction
With the ES-335, an attempt was made to combine the best characteristics of a hollowbody guitar with those of solidbody guitars - such as the Gibson Les Paul - in one guitar.
The Gibson ES-335 is called a semi-acoustic or semi-hollow electric guitar. A semi-hollow guitar is similar in design to a semi-resonance guitar with the characteristic shallow sides and F-holes in the body. In contrast to semi- and full-resonance guitars, semi-acoustic guitars have an 8 to 10 cm wide solid wood blockbuilt into the body, the so-called sustain or center block. The purpose of the sustain block is to avoid feedback, while at the same time the body provides better sustain than an electric guitar with a completely hollow body.
The ‘ES’ in the name stands for the ‘Electric Spanish’ series, under this name the ES-335 and the guitars structurally related to it are summarised.
The arched body top, the likewise arched back and the sides are initially manufactured individually and then glued together during production. Plywood is usually used for the top, back and sides. A block of solid maple or spruce wood about ten centimetres wide is inserted into the centre of the body from the base of the neck to the foot of the body, which fits perfectly with the top and back of the body. The neck, tailpiece and pickup are attached to this sustain block. The wooden block prevents the body top from resonating, which reduces the instrument's susceptibility to acoustic feedback, especially at high volumes, and extends the sustain of the guitar. The hollow chambers in the body wings also give the guitar better resonance characteristics than solidbody electric guitars. The glued-in neck, the length of which is adapted to the scale length of 629 mm, is made of mahogany and has a glued-in fingerboard made of rosewood or ebony with 22 frets.
The special strengths of the ES-335
The Gibson ES-335 has a warm, rich sound that is characterised by a more natural, slightly ‘woody’ tone compared to other electric guitars. This acoustic sound is due to the partially hollow body, which allows a limited resonance similar to acoustic instruments. For this reason, the ES-335 is preferably used in musical styles in which the guitar sound should only be slightly distorted or otherwise alienated.
The ES-335 is very popular in jazz and jazz rock, but also in blues. It can also often be heard on rock recordings from the 1960s. Today, the ES-335 is still popular with many musicians in various genres and has even won over many pop musicians.
Model variations
The Gibson ES-335 is available in many different versions, e.g. with striking figured maple tops or a classic plain maple top. The classic model colours are Cherry, Vintage Sunburst, Ebony and Natural, but there are now also many interesting custom colours to discover. There are also vintage replicas that are modelled on the original models from the 50s and 60s down to the smallest detail and are also available in artificially aged form. You will also find more modern model variants in interesting new colours with modern specifications.
Below we have listed the most important model series and explained the differences between the individual guitars.
Gibson ES-335 Original & Modern
The Gibson ES-335 Original and Modern guitars are the most popular models among the Gibson ES guitars. They are the most affordable ES-335s available from the Gibson brand. Cheaper models are only available from the subsidiary Epiphone. These models have a top made of plain maple without the eye-catching flaming for which you pay a premium. The Original and Modern models have a maple body and are equipped with Gibson Calibrated T-Type humbuckers, which allow you to try out many different sounds. Thanks to the Gibson Vintage Deluxe tuners and the Tune-O-Matic bridge with stop tailpiece, good tuning stability and intonation are guaranteed. The Modern models have a satin nitro finish, while the Original models come in a chic high-gloss look.
All Gibson ES-335 Modern- and Original plain top models at a glance
Maple body with a maple top | Mahogany neck with Rounded "C" shape | Rosewood fretboard with dot inlays | Gibson Calibrated T-Type pickups | Gibson Vintage Deluxe tuning machines | Nitrocellulose lacquer finish
Gibson ES-335 Figured
The Gibson ES-335 Figured is the premium version of the ES-335 Original. Instead of a plain maple top, the ES-335 Figured is fitted with a flamed maple top. This flaming only occurs in less than 1% of all maple trees worldwide, so you have to pay a premium for flamed woods. However, you are rewarded with a particularly exciting, elegant and exclusive look. An additional eye-catching feature are the high-quality block inlays in the rosewood fingerboard.
All Gibson ES-335 Figured models at a glance
Maple body with a figured maple top | Mahogany neck with Rounded "C" shape | Rosewood fretboard with block inlays | Gibson Calibrated T-Type pickups | Gibson Vintage Deluxe tuning machines | Nitrocellulose lacquer finish
Gibson ES-335 Custom Shop VOS
With the Custom Shop ES-335 models, Gibson has gone one better in terms of quality: the Custom Shop produces guitars that are based on the originals from the 1950s and 1960s and look just like them. A VOS guitar looks as if it is brand new but was bought in the 1950s or 60s. The instrument is made to vintage specifications, but has no signs of wear, faded finish, chipped hardware or other signs of age.
Discover all Gibson ES-335 Custom Shop VOS models
Maple body with a maple top | Mahogany neck with period-correct neck profiles | Rosewood fretboard with period-correct inlays | Gibson Custombucker pickups | Gibson or Kluson-Vintage Deluxe tuning machines | VOS nitrocellulose lacquer finish
Gibson ES-335 Custom Shop Murphy Lab
If you like a slightly rougher look, we recommend the Gibson ES-335 Murphy Lab models. As with the VOS instruments, you also get vintage-correct guitars here, but with a slightly rougher look. The guitars from the famous Murphy Lab are artificially aged to make them look like their ancestors from the 50s and 60s. However, this process is very time-consuming and costly, which is why the Murphy Lab guitars are the most expensive ES-335 models. However, the result is a unique guitar that cannot be found anywhere else in the world. That's why we photograph every Custom Shop Murphy Lab instrument ourselves when it arrives.
Discover all Gibson ES-335 Custom Shop Murphy Lab models
Maple body with a maple top | Mahogany neck with period-correct neck profiles | Rosewood fretboard with period-correct inlays | Gibson Custombucker pickups | Gibson or Kluson-Vintage Deluxe tuning machines | Murphy lab aged nitrocellulose lacquer finish
Which artists are playing a Gibson ES-335?
... just to name a few. The Gibson ES-335 is a very popular instrument in a range of genres such as jazz, rock, blues, country and pop. Among the many fans of this model are John Frusciante, Eric Clapton, B.B. King, Larry Carlton, Susan Tedeschi, Dave Grohl, Trini Lopez, Slash and many more. Some artists have even had their own signature ES-335 models customised by Gibson, which are very popular and have a high collector's value. Below you will find a selection of signature models of the ES-335 and its close relatives.
All Gibson ES-335 Signature models at a glance:
Models related to the Gibson ES-335
The ES-335 is just one of many semi-hollow models from the Gibson brand, but it is by far the most popular. In addition to the ES-335, the most important models for comparison are the ES-355, ES-345 and ES-347, which come with more modern features and fine gold hardware, the ES-330, which has two P-90 pickups instead of humbuckers, and the ES-339, which sits comfortably on the lap with its smaller body and is often played by women due to its smaller size. Here you will find a selection of close relatives of the Gibson ES-335, alternatively you can also take a look at the Gibson semi-acoustic guitars page.
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