True Vintage Guitar Blog

1960 Gibson ES-355tdsv Feast your eyes upon Gibson's top of the line thinline, semi-hollow arcthop electric guitar, the ES-355td Stereo+Vartione! Gibson offered three versions of the thinline electric arcthop guitar with solid center block: the ES-335 debuting in 1958, then the ES-345 and ES-355 which both debuted a year later in 1959. The ES-355 exhibited similar features to the Gibson Les Paul Custom model including a large pearl headstock inlay, ebony fretboard with large pearl inlays, thick binding and gold plated hardware. 1960 Gibson ES-355tdsv headstock This clean vintage example of Gibson's ES-355tdsv…Read more

1957 Gibson Les Paul Special Gibson's solid body electric guitar line endorsed by popular guitarist Les Paul was in full swing with five models by 1955. The most affordable Les Paul was the Junior, then the Special, then the "Model" which was later called the Standard, and the Custom at the top of the line. A fifth Les Paul was available that Gibson called the TV Model but it was essentially a Junior with a unique finish that Gibson called Limed Mahogany. The Special also featured this unique color option that appeared to…Read more

1957 Gibson Les Paul Junior Gibson's Les Paul Junior model debuted in 1954 as an affordable, stripped down alternative to the Les Paul Model or the Les Paul Custom. The beautiful gold finished Les Paul Model, Gibson's first solid body electric guitar, was introduced only two years before with two pickups, trapezoid shaped pearloid fretboard inlays, and a carved Maple cap over the Mahogany body. The humble Les Paul Junior model had only one pickup, Sunburst finish, and a solid Mahogany body with no cap and no carve. I'm always looking to buy…Read more

1963 Gibson Hummingbird Maple Gibson's iconic Hummingbird model debuted in 1960 but it doesn't trace its roots from other Gibson guitars. Do I have your attention? Let's dive into some sacrilege: the Gibson Hummingbird has more roots with Martin and Epiphone than it does with Gibson. Ok, let me back that up. The CF Martin & Co guitar company has an incredible history of making world class flat-top acoustic guitars but that's not all they're known for. Martin's ukuleles are also known for being some of the finest ever made. They're wildly collectible…Read more

Fender Color Chart 1964 The Fender color chart! This one is from 1964. I received this rare bit of Fender paper with a 1964 Fender Jaguar that was factory finished in super rare Black! Custom color Fender guitars are often misidentified as the wrong color. The difference in shades can be very subtle which can make it difficult to determine. Not only that, but different colors received different amounts of clear coat over the color which yellows over time. This can drastically change the hue of the color! Lake Placid Blue Metallic especially…Read more

Here's one from the archives: a beautiful Gibson Les Paul Custom made in 1969! The story I have is that it was purchased new by a professional player in Jasper, Alabama. He played it a few years, replaced the tuners, bought other guitars, and eventually forgot about the Gibson Les Paul Custom. He had a niece at the time who wanted to learn to play the electric guitar. Instead of having the poor thing sit unplayed in the closet, he gave it away to his niece to learn to play on. What an…Read more

Roadtrip! Some vintage guitars are too special to ship. This one called for an almost 24 hour drive time road trip. I received a call from a very nice owner of a 1962 Gibson ES-335tdc with stop bar tailpiece. A quick check with google maps revealed that she was only a 10 hour drive from my home in Birmingham, AL. I hopped in the driver's seat of my 2005 Ford Crown Victoria and settled in for a long drive. My first stop was in Franklin, TN for the guitar show! I knew it…Read more