New "1964 ES-345" on the horizon.....

Minibucker said:

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:2cool :wow

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Or that Showtime Hendrix movie from a little while back....

chuckNC said:

Maybe you read that in "Norman's Rare Guitars" (awesome book). Norman said he recommended -- and furnished -- a date-appropriate ES-5. After it sat on the set for a few weeks the director called him and said he really wanted a red guitar with a whammy bar. :hee Norman obliged.

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Also, considering the 'connection' in the story to Chuck Berry and the song, the 345 is probably more iconic of him. Man...imagine multiple takes of jumping around and crawling on the floor with that valuable of a guitar these days?

Minibucker said:

Man...imagine multiple takes of jumping around and crawling on the floor with that valuable of a guitar these days?

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Norm said his experience with that movie taught him that renting vintage guitars out for weeks at a time was a scary proposition. He quickly changed his policy to a purchase agreement. The studio would buy the guitar up front and Norm would promise to buy it back when they were done with it. Providing that it was still in the same condition.:q

So no more info and experience about these new runs? When will they be available? Im very interested in these new ES345s. :hmm

I would love a better video of this guitar

Progrocker111 said:

So no more info and experience about these new runs? When will they be available? Im very interested in these new ES345s. :hmm

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Available now at Sweetwater, Music Zoo, and Wildwood.

chuckNC said:

Norm said his experience with that movie taught him that renting vintage guitars out for weeks at a time was a scary proposition. He quickly changed his policy to a purchase agreement. The studio would buy the guitar up front and Norm would promise to buy it back when they were done with it. Providing that it was still in the same condition.:q

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Smart move.

Just played one of this new 345 through a tone king falcon at the platinum room of GC Orlando. Loved it!

chuckNC said:

Maybe you read that in "Norman's Rare Guitars" (awesome book). Norman said he recommended -- and furnished -- a date-appropriate ES-5. After it sat on the set for a few weeks the director called him and said he really wanted a red guitar with a whammy bar. :hee Norman obliged.

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A better choice might have been an "age appropriate" blond ES-350T with P-90's. But, those are insanely rare.

A couple of friends and I recently went down to Gibson/Memphis for a tour of the factory and spent the day checking out out all the new guitar models they're offering. I came away from that experience being mighty impressed by what Mike Voltz and Co. are doing down there.
They're making some real strides in neck profiles (more "vintage correct"... the "Rich Robinson" guitar's neck profile was a dead on copy of a couple of '62 335's that I'm very familiar with), pickups (the new ones sounds great, and they're not potted), finish (they're getting the colors closer and closer to the old ones), and construction... hide glue and non-condom truss rods for starters.

They're doing some great work in Memphis!:dude:

Minibucker said:

Funny how that was supposed to be 1955....and he was playing an ES-345 through a narrow-panel Tweed amp. eace2

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Yeah. :hee

... The tow truck in front of Biff's car, also, has taillights from a '70-'84 Chevy or GMC van! :##

As a teenager I remember watching some old movie on what they used to call 'the late show.' Some Roman gladiator epic, as I recall. As I sat there half-asleep watching two opposing armies clash, I had to blink. Yes, that's what I thought I saw! On the upraised arm of one of the swordsmen, resplendent in the California sunshine, was this man's wristwatch.

Anyone with these new series of ES345s?

Used to have a sunburst 64' ES345 back in the mid 90's. Had a terrific neck but I had to let her go. As a comparison, I owned a 2008 59' Historic reissue 335 for a while but it was way off the mark. This 64 looks close.

I tried a sunburst '59 reissue 345 a few days ago. Here is my report: (NB - all comparisons are made with respect to my own original sunburst 1959 ES345)

I had about 30 minutes with the instrument. I played it through one of the modern Fender Blues/Deluxe/Something amps.

Looks: It looks great with a few subtle shortcomings. The ears aren't quite true Mickey Mouse ears - but very close - to my eyes. The color has more brown and tan than what you might see on an actual 1959. I could not detect any of the "purple" one expects, but I didn't get to see it in the sun. I thought the pickup surrounds were too short as too much of the sides of the bridge pickup was exposed, but this could be a function of the neck angle (see below). The inlays on the neck were OK.

Build quality: Outstanding from what I could see. (Gibson is making some really great instruments these days!) It was very neat and tidy. Everything was clean and smooth. The long guard had a nice wide bevel. The wireless tune-o-matic looked pretty good too. It was light! However, the neck angle seems steep and the bridge was way up high.

Tone quality: I didn't get it loud enough to really tell, but it sounded healthy - but somehow sluggish. It sounds like the usual 3x5 with humbuckers...but what I didn't like about it was that it lacked quirkiness. It was a bit sterile and heavy. This is surprising especially with the bridge as high as it was. One would expect a very lively tone with the strings having such a sharp break angle over the bridge. I'm not saying the tone was dead, it just wasn't as lively as I expected. This could be due to 'guitar store strings' and being displayed out of its case. Moreover, it was not out of phase in the middle position! (This is one of my favourite parts of the 345!)

Varitone: It works exactly the way it should. (The Varitone can be useful!! Everyone should try it out and explore the possibilities!)

Playability: The frets were great and exactly what you'd expect. The size of the neck is HUGE and not my cup of meat. It is not like any late 50's neck I have ever experienced. It's even much bigger than the "first-rack" 345s from 1959 which already have big necks. It was a reissue "square D" baseball bat of a neck that got even bigger in the upper frets.

Summary: From far away you can't tell the difference. At arms length they still look pretty good, but you can distinguish a reissue from an original. Up close and personal, the similarities end. The reissue is much different than the original. If you like big necks (other brothers can't deny) then this has the possibility of being a great guitar.

If you have any questions or think I missed something let me know.

Thanks for great report. Perhaps the 64 RI would be better for me, cause i dont like too big necks.

I played the '64 345 reissue and the neck felt great to me, not too big not too small, just right. You should try one.

Minibucker said:

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My, that looks nice!

Many thanks for the report BrandtKronholm

Why are the pickups set up so high out of their mounts on these reissues? The originals were almost flush with them and the bridge was also much lower..

My guess would be a steeper neck angle or a higher neck set.
?? - good question.
I sure would like to play one, but I don't have the time to drive 1500 miles to the only place I know where they are.
There use to be dealers right here in town...