In 1972 Gibson produced a series of 'Guitar of the Month' brochures, each dedicated to one of their high end models, the Les Paul Recording guitar, L5-CES, ES-175D, Super 400-CES, ES-355TD-SV and Byrdland. Each brochure was a single sheet folded into four panels, with details of the instruments themselves, their features, musical purpose, and a little history behind the development of each guitar. Only the Les Paul Recording was a new model; the others were all well established in the Gibson line. Follow the link to see scans and further information on these leaflets and other Gibson guitar catalogues from the CMI and Norlin periods.

1966 Kalamazoo KB-1 bass

Gibson assembled these 30 1/2" scale Kalamazoo KB-1 basses in their electronics plant in Kalamazoo, MI - separate from the main Gibson plant. They used the same components and hardware as on the Gibson EB bass series; but with a pre-painted masonite body and a bolt-on maple neck; a very different construction to Gibson's usual output. Initially the KB bass had a Mustang-shaped body (see the 1966 Kalamazoo KB-1, left), which was soon redesigned with the classic SG shape (see the 1967 Kalamazoo KB-1, right). Have a listen to sound clips of this bass here.

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Gibson ES-330TD
Thin line semi-acoustic guitar

Gibson ES-330TD - Some Guitarists Have All the Fun
1968 Guitar Player advert featuring examples of much of Gibson's late 1960s range: the Gibson B25-12 flattop acoustic, GSS-100 solid-state amplifier, and two electrics, the solid-body Firebird III and the hollow-body ES-330TD. This was one of the first Gibson advertisements not to focus on high-end jazz guitars, or famous musicians, rather instruments more likely to appeal to the general guitar-buying public.

The layout of this advertisement takes it's styling from the then current catalogue (the 1966 Gibson full-line).

Gibson ES-330TD - People Change To But Never From
1967 Selmer advert for the Gibson EB2 bass, ES-330 TD, ES-345 TD thinline electrics, and the S.J.N. acoustic. This British advert features the Gibson EB2 Bass as a background although it is not mentioned in the text. Selmer distributed Gibson guitars in the UK in the 60s and 70s

The sucess of the Gibson ES335, ES345 and ES355 models, launched in 1958, lead to a new cheaper model; the ES330. Although the same shape as the other models, the 330 had significant differences; the main being the lack of central maple block, and hence trapeze tailpiece; and a shorter neck (check) joining the body at the 16th fret (as opossed to the xxth of the 335.

It came in two variants; the one-pickup ES330T, and the two pickup ES330TD. The pickup was a single coil P90 rather than the humbucker of the other models.

A paragraph about shipping figures

A paragraph about colours

The following description is taken from the 1970 Gibson catalogue

ES-330TD East to hold and play, the beautifully styled ES-330TDW produces clear, distinctive tones. Double cutaway body and thin silhouette with twin adjustable pickups. Available in three striking finishes.

FEATURES: Constructed from the finest curly maple. Chrome-plated metal parts. Slim, low-action, laminated mahogany neck, adjustable truss rod. Rosewood fingerboard, pearl dot inlays. Adjustable Tune-O-Matic bridge. Powerful pickups with individually adjustable pole-pieces. Separate tone and volume controls. Three-position toggle switch to activate either or both pickups. 16" wide, 19" long, 1 ¾" thin; 24 ¾" scale, 22 frets.

ES-330TD - Sunburst finish
ES-330TDW - Walnut finish
ES-330TDC - Cherry finish
529 - faultless plush-lined case
304 - Archcraft plush-lined case
104 - Durabilt case
ZC-19 - Zipper cover for 519 case

similar models 335, fender coronado, hofner verithin

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