The team at Wildwood Guitars is proud to present the 1963 ES-335 Varitone with Bigsby, a tribute to the ES-335s that left the production line decked to the nines with custom appointments in the sixties. Back then, if you wanted to be the coolest guitar picker on your block, you could order your 335 with a Bigsby vibrato and a Varitone circuit. These top-of-the-line customized semi-hollows came with a plate bearing the inscription “Custom Made” over the spot where the Tune-o-matic tailpiece would normally go (conveniently, this also covered up the anchor studs!). Now, the good people of Gibson’s Memphis division have brought back these fearsome custom creations with all their original appointments, including vintage-accurate narrow horns and a dark rosewood fretboard with rolled binding.
So, these ES-335s are an awesome homage to cool piece of semi-hollow history, but how do they sound? The magic starts with the quartersawn Adirondack spruce bracing, which gives these guitars a woody, percussive attack. After the attack, the Silverleaf maple center block starts vibrating, and you can hear it add crisp, bright high-end to the note.
From there, the Memphis Historic Spec Humbuckers pick up the vibration from the three-ply top, and you suddenly feel like you’re back in 1963! These incredible pickups have warm, deep low end to go with woody midrange and sweet, singing trebles. You would be hard-pressed to find a style of music where such a tone doesn’t wow the crowd!
Now, on to the question on everyone’s mind: what the heck does the Varitone do? Guitar players are leery of additional switches and wires in their axes, because they’re afraid that additional circuitry “kills tone.” This fear is completely unfounded, but it has motivated many misguided guitar players to rip the Varitones out of their Gibsons. This is a shame, because Varitones are quite a bit of fun and you can use them to dial in some cool, unique tones! First things first: position one of the Varitone switch bypasses the circuit entirely. So, if you want full-on roaring Gibson tone without any filters, this guitar has you covered!
Site: https://wildwoodguitars.com/product/80128/2018-limited-1963-es-335-varitone-wbigsby-2/
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/11aLDN5
Amp: Tone King Imperial MKII
Serial Number: 80128
Brand Gibson Memphis
Model 1963 ES-335 Varitone w/Bigsby
Finish Color VOS Sixties Cherry
Weight 8.80 lbs
Top Wood 3-Ply Maple/Poplar/Maple
Body Wood 3-Ply Maple/Poplar/Maple
Centerblock Silver Leaf Maple
Bracing Quartersawn Adirondack Spruce
Neck Wood Quartersawn Mahogany
Neck Shape Mid-60s Taper with Rolled Binding
Neck Dimensions .820 1st - .940 12th
Fingerboard Rosewood
Fingerboard Radius 12"
Inlays Celluloid Small Block
Scale Length 24 3/4"
Width at Nut 1.687"
Pickups Memphis Historic Spec Humbuckers
Controls MTC Premiere with New Mono Varitone : 2 volumes, 2 tones, 1 toggle switch, 6 position Varitone switch, hand-wired with matched 550K potentiometers and orange drop capacitors
Hardware VOS Nickel
Bridge ABR-1 with Nylon Saddles
Tailpiece B-7 Bigsby Vibrato
Tuners Kluson Double Ring Tuners w/Keystone Buttons
Case Gibson Hardshell
COA Yes