1951/1965 Gibson ES-350 Blonde

Back in the day when customer service meant more than lip service, Gibson would be happy to take back your old guitar and modernize it. Sometimes with not so great results (skinny neck replacements, chrome hardware) and sometimes with spectacular results. The ES-350 back in the P90 days was a wonderful guitar. Big deep body, big fat neck and a couple of P90's that did everything well including feed back. Then, in 57, Gibson changed the ES-350 to a thin line. The big deep acoustic tone was gone but a pair of those new humbuckers and the thin body kept the feedback down and made for a decent electric guitar. Except that they got a whole lot of stuff wrong. The pickups are too close together and that can cause odd harmonics and a clear lack of versatility as the two pickups sounded almost the same. Next, the neck profile got really slim and, while slim "fast" necks were a thing back in the 60's, they kind of aren't today. Also, the short 23.5 inch scale isn't a favorite anymore. So, what's this? Well, it's gorgeous for one thing. It's a big, deep 1951 ES-350 that went back to Gibson, probably in 65 or 66, for an upgrade. Humbuckers went in, an ABR-1, a new guard and new tuners were installed. The finish is original. The work is top quality-look at the effort that went into converting it to humbuckers. Pickups are probably the early patents which are the same as PAFs. They could be the later ones but I didn't open them. They aren't t-tops. Both are narrow spaced which is correct for a 350. Big fat neck with a 25.5" scale. case is from the mid 60's. Controls take a little getting used to. The upper knob is master tone. The lowers are volume for each pickup. No three way, you have to dial the pickups in. 60's case.