| Gibson ES-330 | |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Gibson |
| Period | 1958 — present |
| Construction | |
| Body type | hollow |
| Neck joint | Set |
| Scale | 24.75" |
| Woods | |
| Body | maple (laminated) |
| Neck | mahogany on most models in most periods; sometimes maple |
| Fretboard | rosewood on most models, ebony on some |
| Hardware | |
| Bridge | Fixed |
| Pickup(s) | 1 or 2 P90s |
| Colors available | |
| sunburst, cherry,black, natural | |
The Gibson ES-330 is a thinline hollowbody electric guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.
Though similar in appearance to the popular Gibson ES-335 semi-hollow guitar, the ES-330 is a fairly different guitar in construction and sound. While the 335 is a semi-hollow guitar (that is, the central part of the guitar body is a solid block while the wings of the guitar are hollow), the 330 is a fully hollow thinline guitar. Also, the 335 features two humbucking pickups, while the 330 features two single-coil P-90 pickups; these feature black plastic covers for the first few years of production and later switched to nickel covers. Together, the 330 body construction and the different pickups create a sound that is quite different from the 335. Also, the 330 neck joines the body at the 16th fret, whereas the 335 neck joines the body at the 19th fret; later, due to complaints of the lack of access to upper frets, the neck was elongated by joining it to the body at the 19th fret. This change, however, put additional stress on the neck/body joint and these guitars had a tendency to "fold" at the neck when stressed.
The guitar has been produced both as a single-pickup instrument (ES-330T) and as a dual-pickup instrument (ES-330TD). Somewhat unusually, the ES-330T had its pickup mounted halfway between the bridge and the end of the neck, not in one of the usual neck or bridge positions. It has been available in sunburst, cherry, natural, and sparkling burgundy finishes. Tailpieces used are usually trapeze or Bigsby vibrato tailpieces. Due to its lack of popularity compared to the other Gibson thinline guitars (such as the ES-335, ES-345, and ES-355), the ES-330 was discontinued by Gibson in the early 1970s. Since then, it has been reissued a few times by the Gibson Custom Shop division.
More notable than the ES-330 is its cousin, the Epiphone Casino (Epiphone is now a subsidiary of Gibson), which was played by John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney.