Up for sale, a 1980 Gibson ES-335TD in excellent, 100% original condition and in perfect working order, complete with a hardshell case. Finished in gloss Wine Red nitro lacquer and featuring a pair of Gibson's "Tarback" humbuckers, this is a particularly clean and soulful vintage Gibson. By 1980, the ES line was just starting to revert to some of Gibson's most popular traditional features, and this ES-335TD reflects that transition, featuring a long tenon neck joint, a full 1 11/16" nut width, and a stoptail in lieu of a trapeze tailpiece.

Plugged in, this Gibson delivers the goods, and the bridge pickup is clear, defined, and plenty warm, with a surprising amount of chime and punch. The Tarbacks are potted for excellent feedback rejection, working well with higher gain and still providing a sparkling, dynamic response. With both pickups engaged, it's easy to dial in an ideal rhythm tone that has just enough percussive cut and roundness, and with the neck pickup singled out, things fatten up nicely with a bold wooly sweetness that is still quite clear. With semi-hollowbody maple body construction and a three-piece maple neck, the tone balances the immediacy of the center block and crisp top end of the maple with the soft attack and bloom of the semi-hollow construction. The guitar weighs 8lbs 6oz, professionally setup here at Mike & Mike's Guitar Bar with roundwound 11-49 strings, low action and accurate intonation

The three-piece maple neck has a slender C profile carve at the nut with moderate shoulders, offering a gentle increase in additional heft up the fretboard, measuring .810" deep at the 1st fret and .965" at the 12th. The rosewood fretboard features pearl small block inlay, retaining the original medium jumbo fretwire with Gibson's wide/flat fret dress of the era. The frets are notably clean, showing light wear almost exclusively relegated to beneath the B string on frets 1-9. The guitar plays cleanly in all registers up teh 24 3/4" scale with a straight neck and responsive, optimally adjusted truss rod. The nut width is 1 11/16", the full width associated with pre-1965 Gibsons and subsequent reissues (yet uncommon on Norlin-era Gibson models). On the headstock, the guitar features the original nickel-plated Gibson "flower" tuning machines with metal keystone buttons.

All of the electronics work as they should, with original Tarback humbuckers and individual Volume and Tone controls for each pickup. Additionally, the guitar has a two-way global coil-tap switch for the pickups located on the treble side body horn. The original "Union Made" label is visible through the bass-side F hole. The hardware includes the original Nashville bridge and stoptail. The chrome hardware is positively gleaming, and the plastic parts are also very clean, save for some light pick scuffing across the guard, including a quartet of witch hat knobs and pair of cream switch tips.

The Gloss Wine Red finish is particularly dark, and the guitar exhibits some scattered small marks on top, mostly behind the bridge and on the bass-side cutaway, light buckle wear central to the lower bout on the back, and a few additional light finish scratches and minor marks on the body as a whole. There is localized finish checking around the input jack (non-structural), and the smooth gloss is retained on the profile length, free of palm wear with just one shallow mark on the treble-side shoulder behind fret 12.

A modern black tolex hardshell case is included.