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****NGD 1959 ES345****

boogieongtr

Active member
Joined
May 16, 2006
Messages
937
Earlier this year I had this all original 1959 ES345 in my shop for some maintenance. This guitar destroyed every guitar I own (even my 60 Burst and a couple of 50's conversions) Since then it has haunted me endlessly.

IMG_2398_zpsd65b4f99.jpg


The hunt was on! I finally found what I hope to be the end all to my ES335 jones. I bought this 1959 ES345 that someone had gutted. (NOT ME!!) No breaks, cracks, repairs and it has the original factory finish. I'm going to put it back together with some good repro parts and make a player out of it.

IMG_20140809_115649_945_zps3cd25004.jpg
 

Ryan Givhan

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Apr 13, 2009
Messages
3,220
awesome score man, who would gut that thing?? i get gutting a broken guitar. but man. that thing looks almost mint.
 

JimR56

Member
Joined
Oct 20, 2012
Messages
588
Whew, when I first opened the thread, I thought you were going to say you'd just bought that blond one. :ganz But seriously, congrats! It looks like you've got a nice gem there to bring back to life. How about posting updates as you progress with it? So cool that you're doing this.
 

ultra

Member
Joined
Dec 7, 2001
Messages
958
Whew, when I first opened the thread, I thought you were going to say you'd just bought that blond one. :ganz But seriously, congrats! It looks like you've got a nice gem there to bring back to life. How about posting updates as you progress with it? So cool that you're doing this.

Me too. Either way, you have what looks like good bones to work with so keep us in the loop as to what you add to it.

I have 2 '59s myself and they are the best ES ever made. Congrats
 

boogieongtr

Active member
Joined
May 16, 2006
Messages
937
Yes I will post follow up pics of the completed guitar. I should have it back together in a couple of days. I'm going with all gold hardware as I love the look of gold hardware on these tobacco finishes. I'll do a light aging to all the gold hardware so at least it looks period correct.

Love the blonde, what's the story there?

One of my customers just bought the guitar and I did a full set up. Talk about a Burst Killer!!
 

Jumping@Shadows

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 11, 2003
Messages
1,330
Looks great Jim- would you consider a same year 335 to be an equal to a 345 or is there something special about the latter? I've seen repeated references to 'first rack' 345's being exceptional guitars, and wondered what your take might be?
 

Steve Craw

Formerly Lefty Elmo
Joined
Sep 9, 2004
Messages
5,295
Congrats Jim! If you remember meeting Johnnyslim and me in Cleveland in April last year, he had just bought a 1961 ES-345. These are just incredible guitars! It's unbelievable that these amazing instruments might wind up on the "hit list" of guitars, like the ES-175D that will be pillaged and robbed of their vintage parts. Good grief!
 
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boogieongtr

Active member
Joined
May 16, 2006
Messages
937
Congrats Jim! If you remember meeting Johnnyslim and me in Cleveland in April last year, he had just bought a 1962 ES-345. These are just incredible guitars! It's unbelievable that these amazing instruments might wind up on the "hit list" of guitars, like the ES-175D that will be pillaged and robbed of their vintage parts. Good grief!

Steve, Hi & yes I remember, hope all is well. I agree it's a shame to part out such a wonderful instrument. I don't think the parts could equal the price of an original 59 ES345.

I made the harness today. I'm using RS super pots and NOS Russian PIO caps. I'm using .022 for the neck and .033 for the bridge. We'll see if I need to tweak the values. I remember back in the day (late 70's-early 80's) that Larry Carlton use to do a cap mod to his 335's. I can't remember but I think it was .033 neck / .047 bridge. Anyone remember his mod?????

IMG_20140810_134440_553_zps0df9daf3.jpg
 

hogy

Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2005
Messages
715
I had a very similar experience with a blonde 345 about 20 years ago. It was a '60, and to this day, I think it's the best humbucker guitar I've ever played.

It set me on a quest for my guitar, and it took a long time (and many dead ends with PAF 335s) before I got there.

THE guitar ended up being a carcass just like the one in this thread, a '60 345 that had been gutted. Incredibly, I had followed the sad gutting process over a few years and had already bought the original PAFs from that guitar. I had all the other period correct parts to make it whole again.

It's an absolute monster. In the process of hunting down this guitar I realized that there is something about 345s in particular that works for me. That center block cutout for the Varitone gives those bodies a different response compared to the slightly more "solid" 335s.

I rewired mine as a 335 mono, with original '60 pots. Left the Varitone switch in as a dummy.

And with that ended my search for semi-hollow Gibsons. I'm done.

I do have a "spare", a '68 345, also converted to 335 electronics. It's very different from the '60, but in its own way just as good. '68/'69 is another magical period for 345s.
 

boogieongtr

Active member
Joined
May 16, 2006
Messages
937
Whats the plan for the hole from the varitone switch?

Probably a dummy knob or I might plug it with a maple plug. I haven't decided yet.

That is a beauty, Nice Score :salude

Thanks :dude:

I had a very similar experience with a blonde 345 about 20 years ago. It was a '60, and to this day, I think it's the best humbucker guitar I've ever played.

It set me on a quest for my guitar, and it took a long time (and many dead ends with PAF 335s) before I got there.

THE guitar ended up being a carcass just like the one in this thread, a '60 345 that had been gutted. Incredibly, I had followed the sad gutting process over a few years and had already bought the original PAFs from that guitar. I had all the other period correct parts to make it whole again.

It's an absolute monster. In the process of hunting down this guitar I realized that there is something about 345s in particular that works for me. That center block cutout for the Varitone gives those bodies a different response compared to the slightly more "solid" 335s.

I rewired mine as a 335 mono, with original '60 pots. Left the Varitone switch in as a dummy.

And with that ended my search for semi-hollow Gibsons. I'm done.

I do have a "spare", a '68 345, also converted to 335 electronics. It's very different from the '60, but in its own way just as good. '68/'69 is another magical period for 345s.

I never thought about the center block cut out for the varitone but it makes sense thanks. :3zone I'm putting in a set of OX4 pickups for the trial run. I have a set of 59 pots and maybe I'll go the distance and buy a good set of PAF's. I've played a lot of 335's and this is my first run at the 345. Can't wait to get it together!!
 

J.D.

Well-known member
Joined
May 24, 2006
Messages
10,030
.033/.047 cap combo is gonna sound pretty dark IMHO.
 

boogieongtr

Active member
Joined
May 16, 2006
Messages
937
.033/.047 cap combo is gonna sound pretty dark IMHO.

For some reason I thought that's what Larry Carlton used as his cap mod. It's been too many years and I can't remember. I sent him an email but I'm not holding my breath for a return. I went with .022-neck and .033-bridge.

Now I remember why I don't like working on 335's. The wiring is a hassle...

IMG_20140810_143235_824_zps26ef77e1.jpg
 

RAB

Active member
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Messages
2,122
I owned a first rack '59 ES-345T and it was a fabulous guitar...HUGE neck profile and strong PAFs (neck was an all-white), nice birdseye wood grain front and back...like a total moron I sold it because, ya know, I HAD to have a dotneck 335...it was a '61, nice guitar but not in the same league as the 345. My '63 factory stoptail and mono 355 comes close to the 345 tonewise but a little brighter methinks due to the ebony fingerboard...
 

Ken Fortunato

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Feb 26, 2006
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Now I remember why I don't like working on 335's. The wiring is a hassle...

Yup! Real pain in the ass...

I saw a picture of somebody using surgical tubing to pull the pots through... Looked like a good idea... Although I can't think of anywhere that you could readily buy some... :hmm

Great lookin' guitar, by the way... :salude
 

chuckNC

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Apr 24, 2012
Messages
1,261
I bought a small amount on ebay just for that purpose. Only cost a coupla bucks.
 

JJ Blair

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Joined
Jan 9, 2011
Messages
3,462
Now I remember why I don't like working on 335's. The wiring is a hassle...[/IMG]

It's even worse with the Varitone circuit in the mix. At least you don;t have that headache.

I will say that my '61 ES-345 is probably my favorite guitar. Getting both pots north of 500kΩ made a big difference, too.
 
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