JimR56

I'm not even a flat-top enthusiast, but I would guess the same. I'm not sure I've ever seen an instrument of this type with a plywood top. Sorry about that, Clayton. I hope you got it cheap. If you enjoy playing it, then none of this analysis really matters.

Hi Taco, please post some photos here. A basic full front view, and whatever close-up photos you would care to add of the fretboard area. You can post as many photos as you like, if you host them on a photo-sharing site and link them here. Congratulations on getting the 330!

1956 is correct. You're also correct regarding the tuners not being original. They are nice tuners, though. I had trouble getting the photobucket pages to load, seemingly due to their ads. I tried it in another browser where I use an ad blocker, and nothing loaded at all. Anyway, from the quick glimpses I got of your main page, I think it might be a J-160E. They were introduced in 1954. Hopefully some of the flat-top guys (which I am not) will come along and add more expertise.

A 1970's guitar would (should) have "Made In USA" stamped below the serial number on the back of the head. It might also have a volute.

If it has no sentimental value, and you like your J45's case better, I would just search current and completed listings (sold items) on ebay, and maybe check prices on Reverb.com to get a feel for what it's worth. Since it's a little roughed up, it may not fetch a premium price. Just my opinion, and I hope this helps.

I really couldn't give you an accurate estimate without seeing the guitar, and knowing more about its originality. Naturally, if he is selling it to a dealer who needs to buy at a price where he can make enough of a profit to justify the purchase, your friend isn't going to get as much money as he would if he sold it himself or even consigned it to a dealer (who would then take a smaller percentage of the final sale price). I think it's possible that $1800 is a fair offer, but I just couldn't say for certain. I also have no idea what is involved in the $400 of repairs. Anyway, I hope this is helpful in some way.

Hi Taco, The serial number 174425 would date to either 1964 or 1965 (part of Gibson's confusing period of keeping records). Knowing the number alone is not enough information to identify anything about the guitar's origins (other than the year it was made), unless one had a copy of the original Gibson log page showing that guitar in the listings (and even then it may not indicate the specifics of a customization). So yes, an ES-330 from 1964-1965 would normally have had rectangular block inlays on the fretboard. I have seen a few ES-330's and ES-335's with double parallelogram inlays (the type normally found on the 345), but it's not always clear as to why we see these. One possibility is that they were originally custom-ordered that way, but it's probably just as likely that it could have been a later modification. If the guitar could be examined by a vintage expert, they could probably determine whether a modification was done. If the guitar had been custom-ordered that way, this would of course be better than if it had been modified, in terms of the guitar's value. If the different inlays were in fact the result of an original custom order, this complicates the process of assigning a value to the guitar. The reason for this is that not everyone agrees on whether a variation from stock features is a good thing or a bad thing. It makes the instrument more rare (and in this case I think it makes it more appealing visually, and the ornamentation on ES-345's was fancier than ES-330's- or ES-335's), but there are those who think that guitars are more appealing if they conform to the original model specs. In my personal opinion, I think a custom order like this makes the guitar more special and should make it more valuable. How much more is subjective. I hope that his helps.

Hi Ed, It looks like your serial # begins with two letters (GO), followed by 1070642. This would date differently from a number read as a G followed by the number 01070642. In other words, if that second digit was a zero rather than a letter O. If the number is correctly read as beginning with the letters 'GO', followed by 1070642, then I would read that as a guitar made in July, 2010 (using the code YYMRRRR). If the number is actually G followed by the number 01070642, this would suggest a manufacturing date of July 2001 (using the code YYMMRRRR). An explanation of the above codes, and more details can be found under "Epiphone", here: https://www.themusiczoo.com/blogs/news/gibson-and-epiphone-guitars-serial-number-guide Hope this is helpful.

Hi Emo, Without a letter prefix, your 8868 FON (factory order number) would fit into the 1951 range (6000's to upper 9000's). More info here: http://www.guitarhq.com/gibson.html#serial That's an absolutely beautiful example of an ES-125!

You're probably better off asking your question in the Epiphone forum: https://forum.gibson.com/forum/90-epiphone-electrics/ You can also look at the Epiphone Wiki page for the Sheraton: http://www.epiphonewiki.org/index/Sheraton.php

Yes, it looks like it might have been an ES-125. Here's an image of a 1953 ES-125: First of all, the metal piece you refer to is called a tailpiece. Your ES-350T tailpiece is nice, but it's not original to that guitar. The original single P-90 pickup (with the black plastic cover, shown above) was removed, and two humbucking pickups (a type that wasn't introduced on Gibsons until 1957) were installed. You can still see the P-90 mounting holes and the shadow of the P-90's outline in the finish adjacent the humbucker closer to the neck. The volume and tone knobs all came from a Gretsch (brand) guitar, and a switch was added. The way it was done, the location of the knobs no longer conforms with what you would normally see on a stock two-pickup Gibson archtop guitar of this type. You still have a nice old musical instrument there, it's just not as valuable or collectible due to the modifications. The exception to this would be if your humbuckers are vintage "paf" (patent applied for) models, dating from 1957 to around 1962. If they are original paf's, then they are quite valuable. Also, your 350T tailpiece and Gretsch knobs will have considerable collector's value on their own, to the right people.

Olá Maria. I would try posting your question here: https://forum.gibson.com/forum/90-epiphone-electrics/

355's had all gold hardware, and a Bigsby was typical also. So I'm not sure what "differences" the guitar really had from a stock 355. The price may have reflected something special about it, or maybe it was just over-priced?

Did you play football at Del Mar and WSU?

Hi Lisa, This forum is for identifying guitars, but a quick internet search (Google) turned up a few sources that look like they answer your question: http://www.bluebookofpianos.com/serial1.htm#BALDWIN https://www.total-piano-care.com/baldwin-pianos.html There may be more sources out there if you want to try a search yourself. Anyway, it looks like your piano dates to 1983. Info on the company's history can be found here (you can perhaps figure out where yours was built): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin_Piano_Company

I would post your question in the Epiphone forum ( https://forum.gibson.com/forum/90-epiphone-electrics/ ), and try to include photos (a serial number alone isn't enough information).

Since it's an Epiphone (asian), and not a Gibson, you might want to post your question in the Epiphone forum: https://forum.gibson.com/forum/90-epiphone-electrics/

According to Duchossoir's "Gibson Electrics: The Classic Years", 215 was the number produced only from 1962 to 1967. According to Gruhn's 1991 reference guide, the TF model was discontinued in 1971, but I don't know how many were produced from 1968-1971. Pretty small numbers, I would think. As far as the 90's and beyond, I have no idea.

Sound advice from Jed and Pip. No need to go beyond the cleaning/polishing that you've done. The headstock logo looks just fine too! Very sweet looking old guitar. I'd get a nice replica pickguard for it, but that's just my opinion.

Nicely done, jt! Thanks for sharing that.

You bet. Nice to find something to talk about around here (for a change). That says it all right there. Gibson's history with serial numbering included a lot of messes and confusion. Yes. Yes, you sorted things out well. The hyphen thing is just one example of Gibson's inconsistencies. Hope you're enjoying that guitar! Cheers.

1951 http://www.guitarhq.com/gibson.html#serial

This has been discussed before, including here: http://forum.gibson.com/index.php?/topic/108170-decomposing-pickguards/ In the world of vintage guitars, this is all too common. It has happened to two guitars that I've owned. In both instances, the pickguards were 40+ years old. I've always thought that this had more to do with the age of the guard than anything else. It does make sense that changes in temps/humidity as well as amount of time in storage might contribute to the chemical breakdown starting, but my general advice has always been that if you have an old tortoise-type pickguard, keep an eye on it (regularly) for signs of cracking and crystallization. Once that begins, get rid of the pickguard IMMEDIATELY, because it doesn't take long for the gas to affect metal parts. So, the guards on your 70's guitars were ticking time bombs. The 2006 L4 is a puzzler. Do you have any photos of the corrosion on that? What part of the guitar did it happen to?

Dean, the "double 90" image you posted is close, but not quite right. Compare the body shape (waist curves and cutaways), the pickguard, the knobs (4 vs 2), etc. Looks like you definitely had a version of a Marlin-Idol PA10T: I still think those looked very cool... ever since I saw these records back in the 1970's... (this guitar was a Silvertone, but I loved those cutaways)

"Noisy" generally refers to humming or crackling from the amp when the room is quiet. It doesn't mean that the pickups are necessarily noisy while being played (although a 60-cycle hum can occur while playing, as I unfortunately know all too well thanks to an overloaded power transformer near our house).