1961 Gibson ES-335 Sunburst, Very Good, Original Hard, $16,000.00

This 335 has a 1960 factory order number and a very early (January) 1961 serial number. It is probably one of the last long pickguard 335's and one of the first built in 1961 (30 numbers into 61). It's been played hard for sure but still has all that sweet dot neck PAF tone. The guitar has just been refretted with jumbo wire and plays beautifully. It had been scavenged for parts but I dug deep into my parts stash to make it right. A matched pair of long magnet PAF's out of a different 60, along with a 1960 harness from the same guitar. Vintage no wire ABR-1 and short seam lightweight stoptail (it is a wrap tail from a Les Paul but works and looks the same). The guard is a good repro as is the switch tip but the rest of the plastic is vintage correct (as is the pickguard bracket). There are no Bigsby holes in the top but the guitar had an incorrect "floating" Bigsby at one time so there are holes by the endpin. It also looks to have had Schaller tuners but they are long gone and Kluson repros have been fitted. The guitar is in decent shape with one notable scratch in the top below the tailpiece and one missing dot marker. The case is original and although it isn't in very good shape, all the latches work and the Lifton badge is intact. It is certainly usable and fixable. This is how you get into a PAF dot neck without mortgaging your house.