The Gibson ES-5 is a guitar produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation as part of the ES, or "Electric Spanish" series of guitars. The ES-5 was intended to be an electric version of their popular Gibson L-5 acoustic jazz model. The ES-5 was introduced in 1949, and offered several innovative features which have become standard within the industry. The ES-5 was the first model of the ES-series to offer three pickups. Unlike other multiple pick-up models of its era, the ES-5 used 3 different volume knobs (one for each pick-up and one master tone) rather than a selector switch, to offer players improved control over their tone. The model was not as popular as other models of the ES-series, nor as popular as similar models by other manufacturers, such as the Epiphone Zephyr Emperor.[1] In 1955 the model became the ES-5 Switchmaster, which encorporated a 4 position selector switch, along with a new 6-knob configuration, encorporating a volume and a tone knob for each pickup. The ES-5 Switchmaster was produced until 1962. It remained discontinued until a 1995 reissue from the Gibson Custom division. New models of the re-issue are still available today. The original models used P-90 single coil pickups, but after 1957 the guitar used PAF humbucker pickups. [2][3][4]