Here is something you do not see every day. This is an original, ARGENTINE GREY Gibson ES-345 TDSV made in 1959 with the desirable proper 1959 big neck profile instead of the usual slimmer neck you get on most 1959 and later ES-345’s. It also has 2 x superb sounding original PAF’s, wide 43mm nut, original Bigsby plus the original brown and pink Lifton hard shell case.

This particular one is serial number A29664 and FON Number S 8539 which makes it one of the very first ES-345’s ever made and probably shipped with the first batch on April 22nd 1959. It is also very likely to be the very first ES-345 made in Argintine Grey which in itself is the rarest standard colour for these, rarer even than the blonde version, only a couple of dozen ever made. How cool is that..

Whats more, it is turely a near MINT example. In fact if it were not for the bit of wear on the gold plating I could probably describe it as totally mint. There is really hardly a mark on it anywhere, no significent scratches, no buckle wear and hardly a ding anywhere. If you get at just the right angle you can barely see some very fine checking in places but this is impossible to photograph - I tried. Even the original frets are mint and fingerboard looks like it has hardly been played which is a shame as it is a real joy to play. Even the case is in amazing shape with no fade and the interior looks almost new!

This was bought in 1961 by a Mr Orville D. Penrose (Opie) of Houston Texas for the sum of $495. Included are the lay away checks he used to purchace it, plus a custom engraved truss rod cover which is something you could order from Gibson at the time. There is also a chord book, case key with envelope and some old strings. I am pretty certain Mr Penrose was the original owner as $495 is what they cost new back then. I can’t imagine a s/h guitar would have cost that but I have no idea what happened between April 1959 and March 1961. Mr Penrose sadly died a few years ago and this was bought from his attorney.

One interesting feature of this guitar is unlike later Argentine grey ES's the sides are not bursted and the neck is not natural. Instead the sides and back of the neck are finished in the grey/black part of the sunburst you see on the top. This is similair to how Gibson used to finish their old acoustics that were shot in Argentine Grey and as this was highly likely to be the very first ES guitar made in this finish (it was not even announced until late 1960), they may have expimented a bit. Personally, I think the way they have done this is far better than the bursted sides and natural neck they did on later variants..

This guitar glows like a green genie under black light and there are no areas of overspray, refinishing or repairs. The only exception to this is on the back of the headstock where someone has very professionally filled in and blown over the holes left by the original Kluson tuners which have been replaced by some superb, old PAT PEND gold Grovers. These look so good in fact, it is almost like they have been there all the time and the patina on the gold perfectly matches the rest of the guitar.

I truely beleive this is an exceptional example of a very rare guitar. Probably the finest out there. Argentine Grey does not usually look as good as this because when the yellow part of the top gets darker and more orange-ish, it colour clashes with the grey. This guitar has hardly faded at all, the top is still light and looking at this you can see how breathtaking and beautiful this colour looked when new… This really does stand out from the rest of them.

If you do want to play it I can assure you it will not disappoint. It has a nice low action and both original PAF’s are evenly balanced with exceptional clarity and bite.

​Price includes full UK VAT