vondee Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 I've inherited a Gibson ES 330 TD. Can someone tell me the year and value please? Any info or trivia regarding this guitar would be appreciated as well. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Hollyer Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 You would have to post more information in order to find out much. I am guessing you mean ES-330TD? They changed quite a bit over the years. From 59-60, they did not have serial numbers. But on the inside back of the guitar, looking through the f-holes, you might be able to see the Factory Order Number (FON). It will be ink-stamped somewhere inside, could be through either f-hole, it varied. It will be something like S2801 10. The S means 1959. If it is an R, it is 1960. Q is 1961. The 10 in the example could be anything from 1-40 and the four digits following the letter could be just about any four digits. All later years (61-72, except the few very early 61s with the Q prefix FONs) will have a serial numbers stamped into the back of the peghead. Other clues to look for are the fingerboard inlays, blocks or dot? The pickup covers, black or chrome? Also, at which fret does the neck join the body? What type of tailpiece it has. What color is it? Condition? Originality? All of this will effect the value as well as aid in dating. Pictures would help a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vondee Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 Thank you Tom for the reply. Yes it is a 330TD, S/N 123840 all original as far as I can tell. I haven't done anything to it. Here are some pics: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Hollyer Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 vondee, Looks to be a 63 to me. Looks like it's in great shape. Tuners may have been changed at some point. I think they came standard with white plastic buttons, but then again, they could be original. Either way, no big deal value wise. Value is difficult to peg right now. The vintage market, which soared over the last decade, is correcting itself right now, so values are hard to pin down. Prices are definitely down from the last couple of years. If you check on eBay for 330's of the era, asking prices are from 3k to 6k. Pretty much the same for dealers. The higher end is for the earlier ones before the change to metal pickup covers and block inlays. The most I have ever seen a 59 in excellent shape actually sell for was around 8K at the peak of the boom. 63's will be worth substantially less, even in the best of times. There are a lot more of them and vintage aficionados the earlier ones, for some legitimate and some mythical reasons. If I were you, I'd hang on to it for at least a couple of years to see if vintage prices come back up. They may or they may not. If you absolutely have to sell it, you should feel real good if you can get close much above $3k. Hope this helps. You will probably get some other opinions here as well, which may be quite different from mine. So certainly don't take any action based on mine alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vondee Posted May 13, 2009 Author Share Posted May 13, 2009 Thank you very much Tom. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Mick Posted May 13, 2009 Share Posted May 13, 2009 yes it's a '63 Eye confirmed it with the serial and model Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pohatu771 Posted May 15, 2009 Share Posted May 15, 2009 Gruhn has a '67 Cherry for $3000 right now, but it doesn't look as nice as yours. They also have a few single-pickup models for less. The ES-330 isn't an incredibly popular model, compared to the 335 and its fancier brothers, but it does benefit from its connection to the Epiphone Casino and The Beatles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vondee Posted May 15, 2009 Author Share Posted May 15, 2009 Thanks for all the info. I think I'll hang on to it for a while. You've all been very helpful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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