When it was first introduced in 1958, the ES 355 style was the world’s first thinline archtop semi electric guitar, a bold new design that combined the cutting, bell like sustain of a solid body with the darker, complex tones of an archtop. The ES 355 also incorporated the humbucker pickup, a relatively new design that would also be quickly embraced by both rock and blues players.
Many think of the ES 355 as one of the best electrics ever made and it’s found in the collection of all discriminating guitarists including B.B. King, Keith Richards, Jorma Kaukonen, Chuck Berry, and Noel Gallagher. Now with this Limited Edition Epiphone ES 355 you can have one in your collection, too.
The Limited Edition ES 355’s unique tonal range was the result of its groundbreaking design. A wood block runs through the center of the body so the pickups are mounted much the same way as in a solid body guitar allowing for two hollow chambered areas over the violin style f holes and in the double cutaway wings.
This Alpine White Limited Edition ES 355 body is constructed of 5 layer laminated Maple. The solid Mahogany 24.75” SlimTaper 1960s “D” profile neck features an Ebony fingerboard with a 12” radius and a 1.68” nut width. The neck has classic Mother of Pearl “Block” inlays and a vintage style Mother of Pearl “Split Diamond” headstock design.
To top off the vintage styling, Epiphone have included a “Tortoise” style pickguard with multi binding. Tuning stability is assured with gold Grover 14:1 ratio machine heads, a gold Epiphone LockTone Tune o matic bridge and a gold Bigsby Tremelo. The volume and tone knobs, one for each pickup, are Black Speed with pointers for easy reference while on stage.
No detail of the original ES 355 has been missed. The Limited Edition ES 355 incorporates Alnico ClassicTM humbuckers in the neck and bridge position. Patterned after the original Gibson 57 Classics, the Alnico Classic pickups use Alnico V magnets with enamel wire to give you a tone that is warm and subtle with full, even response that will still give you that classic humbucker overdrive when you need it
The 3 way Epiphone Toggle pickup selector switch is a deep, aged vintage yellow and is wired for the standard configuration with position one controlling the neck pickup’s volume and tone while position two controls the bridge pickup’s volume and tone.
