This vintage 1972 Gibson ES-355 TDSV guitar in original Cherry Red finish with Stereo output and Varitone switch came through the shop a few years ago. I'm always a vintage Gibson guitar buyer but I especially love the ES-355 guitars from the late 1950s, 1960s, and early 1970s. You can contact me here to sell a vintage Gibson guitar.
You can check out another vintage Gibson ES-355 TDSV guitar here: 1960 Gibson ES-355 guitar.
Gibson's ES-3x5 series debuted in 1958 with the ES-335 model. Its revolutionary design featured a 17" wide thin archtop body with a solid center block and hollow wings. The line was a huge commercial success and has been in production ever since.
The ES-355 T model, debuting in 1959, was a much fancier version of the ES-335 in that it featured thicker layered binding throughout, Custom inlay on the headstock, Ebony fretboard with large block style pearl markers, bound celluloid pickguard instead of plastic, and gold hardware. It was soon offered with the Stereo output and Varitone switch as the ES-355 TD-SV.
This vintage 1972 Gibson ES-355 TDSV guitar is one of very few made that year with gold Gibson embossed pickup covers and Gibson Deluxe Vibrato tailpiece often called the Maestro vibrato. The Gibson Shipment Totals book indicates that only 113 Cherry Red ES-355 TDSV guitars shipped from Gibson in 1972.
A Cherry Red 1972 Gibson ES-355 TDSV with gold hardware and embossed pickup covers was the guitar of choice of blues guitar great Freddie King. You can check out a video of Freddie playing his '72 ES-355 TDSV here: https://youtu.be/HXXkD7Dvq_E
