Probably one of the nicest, playing and sounding guitars we have ever had here and dare I say it, the finest dot neck ES-335 available for sale right now. Anywhere.

These first generation, early ES-335’s are really something quite special. The combination of the thin top and the PAF pickups is pretty magical and together with a beautiful round, chunky-ish neck and unbound fingerboard it really is one guitar to consider being at the top of your hit list and this is probably the nicest one you will see.

This is an early, 1958 Gibson ES-335 TD in a very strong, excellent plus condition. It has a beautiful dark sunburst, pre Micky Mouse ears and is one of the early ones with an unbound fingerboard. There are estimated to be only around 150 of these early versions made.

It is serial number A28098 with a FON number of T 4893 26 and has a brown Lifton 5 latch case with pink lining plus all the lovely case candy you see pictured. Both (double black) PAF pickups have never been opened and all solder we can see on the pots etc is totally undisturbed. It has a very good neck angle with a full height ABR-1 bridge and a really nice action just as it is.

It is a joy to play even though the bridge is flat on the top, I cannot imagine that anyone would want the action any lower but if you do, you will have to shave the bottom of that ABR-1 a tad.

Everything about this lovely guitar sings. You barely need an amplifier as it is so resonant acoustically and if we ever get round to doing a video, I will record it acoustically too so you can hear yourselves. The neck is just beautiful and feels perfect. Frets are original and in superb shape with just s small amount of play wear. 

Aside from a few dings on the edge of the headstock, the guitar looks to be near MINT - have a look at the photos and you will see what I mean. A strong vibrant finish with no buckle rash and hardly any wear on the back of the neck or fingerboard.

There is none of the usual cracking around the jack socket on the first layer of ply, just a small amount of checking in that area. Rest of the guitar has zero checking and still retains that shiny new look. Almost time capsule in appearance.

All hardware is correct, including the long guard, single line Kluson tuners with tips in perfect shape (they did not start to rot until a year later) and the short seam tailpiece. The PAF’s have been unopened and are both strong and balanced with readings at 7.6k and 7.8k. The pots are the correct style Centralab 500k with bumble bee caps and all plastic, rings, knobs switch tip are correct.

This is probably the finest ES-335 for sale right now and a rare sight over here. Any questions, just ask or pop in try it out and prepare to be blown away...