1955 Gibson ES-350ND

**Fred Archtop** · 07-23-2017, 12:50 PM

Dear fellow jazz guitarists,

It's been a while I've been after a Gibby ES-350. Probably due to my inner Barney. I've tried several of them over the last months but there was always something wrong: dead P90, beautiful sound but ugly (to me...) dark brown sunburst (some are nice but not the ones I've found around).

Then I've found that blonde ES-350. The sound is just gorgeous, and the look..mamma mia....

You'll find a couple of pics and also a demo of her below. The general color of the tabletop is difficult to render on the pics, it's more honey than yellow.

1955 Gibson ES-350ND-img_1042-jpg

Cheers.

**Stringswinger** · 07-23-2017, 01:40 PM

Congrats, a beautiful guitar both in looks and sound. And sublime playing as well. May she inspire your playing for years to come!

**Rob MacKillop** · 07-23-2017, 01:57 PM

Instantly beautiful sound. Wonderful, Fred. Glad you found her, and that she found you.

**TOMMO** · 07-23-2017, 03:08 PM

Georgeous! Congrats!

**mad dog** · 07-23-2017, 03:36 PM

Beautiful guitar. Just lovely. Sounds as good as it looks. Excellent playing, (and that's a longtime favorite tune in my house).
MD

**fws6** · 07-23-2017, 04:09 PM

Woooow

**BigMikeinNJ** · 07-23-2017, 04:32 PM

?Woooooow

**vinnyv1k** · 07-23-2017, 04:58 PM

Congrats Fred ! That is a Holy Grail Gibson right there. Gorgeous tone and superb playing as usual. I am hearing some Jimmy Raney in your voicings......nice, really nice.

**MacGringo** · 07-23-2017, 05:18 PM

Wow! Very nice guitar and great playing. Enjoy!!

**silverfoxx** · 07-23-2017, 05:40 PM

Beautiful tone , the 350 looks great I especially like the honey colour in the video
a wonderful acquisition ,may it serve you well Fred.

**Fred Archtop** · 07-23-2017, 05:43 PM

Dear all,

Thanks for sharing my enthousiasm.

Originally Posted by Stringswinger

Congrats, a beautiful guitar both in looks and sound. And sublime playing as well. May she inspire your playing for years to come!

Thanks Stringswinger. I am right into the honeymoon moment but I know she'll stay beside me on the long term. And the playability is incredibly good. All phrases come naturally with no effort.

Originally Posted by Rob MacKillop

Instantly beautiful sound. Wonderful, Fred. Glad you found her, and that she found you.

Thanks Rob. They are not so easy to find, especially here in Europe, but that one popped up at the right moment and place.

Originally Posted by TOMMO

Georgeous! Congrats!

Thanks Tommo. My pleasure to share her sound and look with you.

Originally Posted by mad dog

Beautiful guitar. Just lovely. Sounds as good as it looks. Excellent playing, (and that's a longtime favorite tune in my house).
MD

Thanks MD. You propably know the 2 iconic versions of Wes Montgomery and Pat Metheny. Masterpiece interpretations.

Originally Posted by fws6

Woooow

Originally Posted by BigMikeinNJ

?Woooooow

Thanks Frank and Mike. Exactely what I said when I saw her.

Originally Posted by vinnyv1k

Congrats Fred ! That is a Holy Grail Gibson right there. Gorgeous tone and superb playing as usual. I am hearing some Jimmy Raney in your voicings......nice, really nice.

Thanks Vinny. It's very kind of you. Jimmy is one of my very best heros. If one day I could ever play just one of his notes then It would be the happiest moment of my guitarist life. But this moment hasn't come. Jimmy was so inventive, fluid, effortless, rhythmicaly precise, etc...

Have a nice day, wherever you are.

Fred

**citizenk74** · 07-23-2017, 05:47 PM

Beautiful playing on a beautiful guitar. Congratulations, and play it in good health!

**Burrellesque** · 07-23-2017, 08:51 PM

Well, you know what I think.
She looks and sounds gorgeous.

Enjoy your guitar!

**oldane** · 07-24-2017, 09:46 AM

Beautiful guitar and beautiful playing. The 350 with its moderate and tasteful styling is one of my favorites (more so than the Tal) though I never have owned one. As you write there are not many of them in Europe. I don't think I have ever seen one for sale here in Denmark - and in I fact have only seen one of them in use. It belonged to Danish guitarist Fritz von Bulow who died about 20 years ago. I don't know what became of that particular 350 - maybe it stayed with his family.

**Fred Archtop** · 07-24-2017, 11:11 AM

Originally Posted by MacGringo

Wow! Very nice guitar and great playing. Enjoy!!

Thanks. I will try to record a solo chord melody interpretation in the next weeks, so that you can hear the guitar when played alone

Originally Posted by silverfoxx

Beautiful tone , the 350 looks great I especially like the honey colour in the video a wonderful acquisition ,may it serve you well Fred.

Originally Posted by citizenk74

Beautiful playing on a beautiful guitar. Congratulations, and play it in good health!

Thanks Silverfoxx and Citizen. More pics to come soon...

Originally Posted by Burrellesque

Well, you know what I think.
She looks and sounds gorgeous.

Enjoy your guitar!

Well Paul, you have almost the same model at home. So you know exactly out she sounds for real. BTW, I am very much impressed by the bridge mike. It delivers a very smooth and warm sound if you roll off the trebles. Very unexpected and very jazzy at the same time.

Originally Posted by oldane

Beautiful guitar and beautiful playing. The 350 with its moderate and tasteful styling is one of my favorites (more so than the Tal) though I never have owned one. As you write there are not many of them in Europe. I don't think I have ever seen one for sale here in Denmark - and in I fact have only seen one of them in use. It belonged to Danish guitarist Fritz von Bulow who died about 20 years ago. I don't know what became of that particular 350 - maybe it stayed with his family.

Same here in France Oldane. Prior to that one, the only ones have seen around were sunburst models with very dark finish. In comparison, the sunburst of ES 300 models I've seen were way ahead in terms of look.

Cheers.

**Fred Archtop** · 09-24-2017, 01:43 PM

Hey Jazzers,

Still honeymooning with my ES-350. Here I am exploring more modern sounds on the neck PU. This is by far my most versatile archtop in terms of sound, from classic bebop to contemporary sound. Here, I've added more reverb than I use to do, plus pinch of delay.

Now if someone could explain me why Gibson stopped building them in 1956...

Cheers.

**Stringswinger** · 09-24-2017, 02:13 PM

Tasty playing (really nice phrasing!) and a superb and beautiful guitar. Thanks for sharing!

**kevmoga** · 09-24-2017, 03:19 PM

Great guitar and great playing! What kind of strings are you using?

**fws6** · 09-24-2017, 04:54 PM

Thanks for the music , I am saying it again, just 'wow'

**Cunamara** · 09-24-2017, 07:14 PM

Wow. Jeez. Wow.

Articulate, ain't I?

That's just astonishingly lovely to look at and to hear. Congratulations. I don't usually covet the guitars folks post about here, but I covet that one. The 50s ES-350 are the pinnacle of Gibson's "electric" guitars.