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Looking a for a guitar I fell in love with 40 years ago.


mjmorris335

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Around the late 70s or early 80s I picked up a  Gibson catalogue in a local guitar shop in the UK.  I was already in love with the 335 (and it would take me until 1990 to be able to afford one) and I saw a guitar that I just immediately fell in love with. It was a 347 in powder blue. I've seen plenty of VSBs, CSBs, Ebonies, etc., but I've never seen a powder blue one since.

Does anybody know if there was an actual run in this colour or was it a one-off?

Regards,

Mike.

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I was a big Santana fan in those days and I remember scouring catalogues for pictures of the L6S, which I'd seen him playing.

But this 347 grabbed me in a way that was, well, visceral really. Never forgotten it. 

And while I'd love to pick up a '60 or '61 335 Natural before I die, I think a powder blue 347 might be slightly more achievable...

Regards,

Mike

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've never seen one, but I suppose it could have been a custom order (or perhaps a refin).  Even in the 60's, before the advent of the 347 model, Gibson had used a light blue (named 'frost blue') as a custom color option.  Here's an article with  more information:  https://www.vintageguitar.com/26671/gibson-custom-colors-in-the-1960s/

Also, I tried a web search and found an example (sold a year or two ago) in purple that was advertised as having been a custom order.  https://reverb.com/item/11655269-1980-gibson-es-347-td-metallic-purple-custom-ordered-original-finish-gibson-hard-case?gspk=VHJvZ2x5&gsxid=bbDbF7yC61G6

 

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On 12/4/2019 at 12:50 PM, mjmorris335 said:

Thanks Jim.

If it was a custom order, would Gibson have used it in a widely-distributed catalogue, do you think? 

Doesn't seem very likely, to be honest.  I wonder whether you might be able to find the image somewhere online.  I just tried some searches of vintage catalogs, including those marketed in the UK, and so far no luck.  I did find a couple of potential links that looked promising, but the links were dead.

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