bridgen41 Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 Hi everyone! So I am currently living in Japan and went to a second hand shop in Hakodate and saw this beauty of a guitar. I decided to play it in the shop as there were a few amps kicking about and completely fell in love with it. Maybe emotions took over but I knew it was special and pretty much spent all my money on it. I picked it up for around $2500. I've done quite a bit of research but I'm still not exactly sure what I've picked up. From what I gather it's a 63' ES-335 Figured Sunset Burst. I'm not sure if it's an original or reissue or fake! It doesn't have a serial number on the headstock but does inside the guitar. Inside it says 'Gibson: 63 355' 'Serial: A-43027' Also I'm not sure if the case is the original or what as Custom Gibson Historic wasn't around until the 90'...unless it's a reissue and was made around that time. It has also come with a load of documents that I will attach. https://flic.kr/ps/3W3h5p Thanks in advance for any help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted March 10, 2021 Share Posted March 10, 2021 (edited) Hello This is a very nice re-issue, probably from the 90s or early 2000s. I am not sure how to interpret the serial number. Bit of a ding above the upper f-hole. For a genuine 1963 ES-335, you would almost add another zero to the price!!! Best wishes. Edited March 10, 2021 by jdgm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridgen41 Posted March 10, 2021 Author Share Posted March 10, 2021 7 hours ago, jdgm said: Hello This is a very nice re-issue, probably from the 90s or early 2000s. I am not sure how to interpret the serial number. Bit of a ding above the upper f-hole. For a genuine 1963 ES-335, you would almost add another zero to the price!!! Best wishes. Hi Jgdm, Thank you very much for your message! How could you tell it was from the 90s/early 2000s? From the research I've done it seems like the custom shop reverted back to that style of serial number for the re-issues so that makes sense! What made me think it might be an original was that it had naturally aged quite a bit but I guess that could just be because it's still 20/30 years old. Sounds absolutely amazing to me and I couldn't be happier with it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j45nick Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 2 hours ago, bridgen41 said: Hi Jgdm, Thank you very much for your message! How could you tell it was from the 90s/early 2000s? From the research I've done it seems like the custom shop reverted back to that style of serial number for the re-issues so that makes sense! What made me think it might be an original was that it had naturally aged quite a bit but I guess that could just be because it's still 20/30 years old. Sounds absolutely amazing to me and I couldn't be happier with it . The label inside an original 1963 ES 335 will say "Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA " on it. A modern re-issue will either say "Nashville, Tennessee USA" or "Memphis, Tennessee USA" on the label. the labels are all the same shape and same color. All of the documentation you have there is for a modern re-issue guitar, not a 1963 ES 335. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bridgen41 Posted March 11, 2021 Author Share Posted March 11, 2021 2 hours ago, j45nick said: The label inside an original 1963 ES 335 will say "Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA " on it. A modern re-issue will either say "Nashville, Tennessee USA" or "Memphis, Tennessee USA" on the label. the labels are all the same shape and same color. All of the documentation you have there is for a modern re-issue guitar, not a 1963 ES 335. Thank you very much for this info much appreciated! Is there a way using the serial number to work out the exact year? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdgm Posted March 11, 2021 Share Posted March 11, 2021 (edited) https://www.gibson.com/Support/Serial-Number-Search Copied from the above link - Historic ES MODELS (since 1995): (A or B)-MYRRR M is the model year being reissued Y is the production year RRR indicates the guitar's place in the sequence of Historic ES production for that year. Reissue model codes: 2= ES-295 3= 1963 ES-335 (block inlays) 4= ES-330 5= ES-345 9 with an "A" prefix = 1959 ES-335 (dot inlays) 9 with a "B" prefix= ES-355 Example: A-38005 is the 5th '63 ES-335 Reissue produced in 1998. I don't know why your number starts with a 4 (code for ES 330 according to this) when it is obviously a '63 ES335 and even says that on the label, but then there is a 3 which should mean 2003 (can't be 1993 as this numbering system only started in '95) and the 27th guitar produced that year. BUT if the model codes are/were sequential to the guitar model number - then ES 330 would be 3 and '63 ES 335 would be 4, like yours. Perhaps the above codes for 330 and 335 had been swapped by 2003.... Best wishes! Edited March 11, 2021 by jdgm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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