A Near Mint 1989 Gibson ES-335DOT Re-Issue in the Rare Natural Finish With the Original Gibson / Bill Lawrence Humbuckers

1989 Gibson ES-330DOT (Reissue).

A really great playing late eighties ES-335DOT reissue in a remarkably accurate natural finish. This 16-inch-wide, just over 1 3/4 inch deep guitar has a single-bound laminated 'light birds-eye' maple body with a maple central block and weighs 9.40 lbs. One-piece mahogany neck with a nut width of just over 1 11/16 inches, a standard Gibson scale length of 24 3/4 inches and a really comfortable and fast medium profile - rather like a '61… Bound rosewood fretboard with 22 original medium jumbo frets and inlaid pearl dot position markers. Headstock with inlaid pearl "Gibson" logo and pearl crown inlay. Serial number "80979543" impressed onto the back of the headstock. Individual Grover Roto-Matic tuners with half-moon metal buttons. Two original Gibson / Bill Lawrence "HB-R" (neck) and Gibson / Bill Lawrence "HB-L" (bridge) 'circuit-board' humbucker pickups with black plastic surrounds and outputs of 7.25k and 8.68k respectively. The inside of the neck pickup cavity is stamped in black "ANT. NAT". Five-layer (black/white) plastic pickguard. Four controls (two volume, two tone) plus three-way selector switch, all on lower treble bout. Gold plastic bell-shaped knobs. With the original 'Nashville' Tune-O-Matic bridge and separate stud tailpiece. All nickel parts. Inside the bass f-hole is the original white oval label with the serial number "80979543" and the model name "ES 335 DOT" written in blue ink. This guitar is in near mint (9.25) condition, with just a little bit of tarnishing to the nickel hardware. Housed in the original Gibson brown hardshell case with purple plush lining (9.25).

The Gibson HB-R (neck position) and the HB-L (bridge position) "The Original" Circuit-Board Humbuckers were the result of an exceptional collaboration between Bill Lawrence and Gibson when he re-joined the Gibson team in the late eighties. The HB-R & HB-L pickups are thought by many to combine the low-end aggressiveness of a Bill Lawrence 500-L with the precision of a Gibson Classic '57 Humbucker.

"Introduced in 1958, the ES-335T (originally no final D) truly ranks among the all-time Gibson classics, not only because of its enduring popularity but also because of its semi-solid construction which pioneered a new style of electrics" (A.R. Duchossoir, Gibson Electrics -- The Classic Years, p. 231).

The ES-335 was discontinued in late 1981 and replaced by the ES-335 DOT (reissue).