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what model is this ?


incognito

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That is an early 1970's ES-320. They were great guitars and I had two of them at different times. One was a natural (like the one pictured), and the other was Cherry Sunburst. I wish I still had the sunburst one.

 

Here's what I can tell from the picture: The rear pickup looks stock, they came with the same pickups as the Melody Makers of the same era and should have "Gibson" logo embossed on the top of them (which will also help date it). I can't really see the front pickup, but what I can see, it looks like it's been changed. The control panel, knobs and switches are stock. The finish, binding, logo and truss rod cover look original. The tuning machines look like they are replacements, in fact, I think the blonde one I had had Grovers on it. The bridge looks original, but my memory is a little vague on that (it was the seventies, you know). These were full hollow bodies (no center block) like the ES-330. In fact that could be the one I sold in St. Louis, Missouri about 1978 that has made it's way across the ocean, I've only ever seen three of them (four now), and I don't think Gibson made very many. It is really hard to find any documentation on these in any of the published books.

 

They had a great tone and the original pickups had a fantastic sound with the treble rolled all the way off. They also played very nicely. Certainaly an unsung hero of those dark Gibson years. I used the sunburst one on some fusion recordings I did in the late 70's. I wish I still had it, but it got replaced by a 1975 Sunburst ES-335, which has since gotten replaced by a Historic Series Sunburst ES-345.

 

As soon as I get a Photobucket account setup, I can post pics of the sunburst one I had.

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