Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

So, who here knows - is it a Gibson ES 350T on all the Chess sides, or was he using an ES335 for those records too?

There's actually two answers for this, Kenny. The sides from the original Chess classics are the ES-350T, either a 1955 or 1956 model (my total dream guitar).

The tracks from the '50s feature the guitar fitted with its factory P90s.
http://designingthehuman.com/interface/ ... 62x300.jpg

Then @ '59 or early '60, he was using the same ES-350T but it had been fitted with a set of PAF pickups at Gibson's Kalamazoo plant.
http://cookingwithjames.googlepages.com ... l-full.jpg

He ended his affiliation with the Chess brothers in 1966 and signed with Mercury. It was with Mercury that he started using a cherry red Gibson ES-345TD.
http://guitarfixation.com/images/pic/ch ... hology.jpg

Then he resigned with Chess in 1970. Somewhere during his second stint with the label he started playing an ES-355TD which he's most commonly seen playing.

I also have pics of him playing a '54 Les Paul Custom but I don't believe that he ever recorded with it. He did however use a Gibson Electraharp -- a pedal steel type of instrument -- to record a few songs during his first stint at Chess.
http://musicmansteve.com/guitars/images ... arp-9d.jpg

That's great, Mike, thanks!

So: The '50s Chess stuff was done with a guitar with P-90s? COOL.

At the top of the list of my favorite non-Rick guitar sounds are guitars with P-90s. Townshend, Lennon, and now this!

Plus a friend of mine has a real '52 goldtop with stock P-90s that KILLS.

My favorite pickup hands down, Kenny. I had an ES-5 w/ three P90s and a master tone control that just dripped that old T-Bone Walker tone. My dream for years has been to eventually land either a full bodied late '40s or early '50s ES-350 or a mid '50s Es-350T; but it has to have the P90s either way. My #1 guitar is a 2001 Gibson Historic Authentic '56 goldtop reissue with vintage 1955 guts and a '50s stop tailpiece with case hardened studs. This deal sounds as good as the original 1954 Les Paul I had in the mid 1980s -- just a killer guitar for Rock or Blues and even get a "jazz box" tone from the neck pickup by playing back on by bridge with the tone slightly rolled back. I love a great set of P90s!

Wow, cool picture!

Just last week I bought an identical ES-345 to this one, '68 , cherry red etc etc.

Stereo and Varitone, too, Collin?

Hate to say it, but I remember when the '64 Gibson catalog was my evening reading, and these were new...

It was a very classy piece of collateral, matching Gibson's standing in those days.

Congratulations Collin!

Was it the one at GC Fountain Valley?

Killer guitars, Collin! The varitone is really such a hip feature. They actually made a few custom order ES-335s with the varitone back in the day; how many is not known. Check B.B. King's Live at the Regal for a recorded example -- a 'dot marker' 1959 ES-335 w/ varitone cranked through a 4x10 tweed Fender Bassman. Probably my favorite live recording of all time and certainly one of my favorite B.B. records!

jingle_jangle wrote:Stereo and Varitone, too, Collin?

Hate to say it, but I remember when the '64 Gibson catalog was my evening reading, and these were new...

It was a very classy piece of collateral, matching Gibson's standing in those days.

Yep, stereo and Varitone too!

ES-335's typically sell for more than their more "deluxe" ES-345 and ES-355 cousins, and I do know that people swear by the simplicity of the ES-335 circuitry, mono and sans varitone, but......every time I've plugged into a nice vintage 345/355, it had the tone. Why pay more for less? I'm sure there is an audible difference, but personally I like the set tones from the varitone, and a cranked ES sounds like a cranked ES, no matter what it is.

It's a '68, so it's on the early Norlin-era cusp, without the typical Norlin characteristics (like it doesn't have a "volute" or whatever you call it, behind the nut, and it has an orange label, smaller headstock profile, patent # pickups etc. ). Looks pretty good in person, I'll have it Friday and post some pictures.

Cool that you remember these guitars when they were new---it seems like ages ago, but they're not really that old in the "big scheme."

Danotron wrote:Congratulations Collin!

Was it the one at GC Fountain Valley?

Thanks! Funny---I stopped by F.V.G.C today, and just before I left, I noticed that '68 on the wall. Identical to the one I just bought, though mine has more wear. That one was also priced to the moon ($6K I think..). More than twice what I paid, for sure. Sure looked good though.

Got it in today.

Man oh man.....what a sweet guitar. This thing plays itself and screams the blues.
It's even a great match for my ES-345 based MCI Guitorgan !

You have a Guitorgan! Cool!

kennyhowes wrote:You have a Guitorgan! Cool!

Oh yeah. I've had a few of them.

.....preeeeetty much the coolest thing ever. I'm fairly certain.

Very cool Collin-nice score!