1958 Gibson ES-335 Sunburst, Excellent+

I sell a whole lot of vintage 335's. I generally stay with the early ones from 58-64 and I've sold close to 600 from that era (including 345's and 355's), so I've earned some street cred when it comes to these guitars. The question I'm asked more than only other? What's the best year for 335's. Everybody loses their s**t over 59's and with good reason: 59's are great but if you ask me, the 58's get the nod. 58's are different from every other year. The top is thinner so they are more resonant. The neck angle is very shallow and I believe that has an effect on tone and maybe sustain. The low profile ABR-1 bridges all collapsed and Gibson handed out shaved bridges to compensate. So, they aren't a perfect design...and the tops often crack around the jack due to the thin top. But they sound amazing. Out of the twenty best 335's I've ever owned, nearly half are 58's. Many of the rest are 59's with leftover 58 thin top bodies. This is a near mint figured factory stop tail 58. Birdseye figure on the front and flame on the back. It sounds like a choir of angels (really happy angels). It is all original except possibly the tuner tips-they look original but are too clean, I think, to actually be original and two of the saddles. The guitar would have come from the factory with the low profile bridge and it's in the case and still useable. There is a slightly shaved no wire ABR-1 that Gibson likely supplied in 59 or 60. PAF's (unopened) of course. Huge neck measures .91" at the first fret and 1.03" at the 12th. There are two small holes from a string guide in the face of the headstock-you can't really see them in the photo. I knocked $2000 off the price because of those damned holes. Still, a killer sounding collector grade 58. It doesn't get much better than this. Case is super clean (made by Stone) with some minor case candy (hang tag, case key)