1965 Gibson ES-335-12 Image Heritage auctions
The twelve string version of Gibsons classic thinline semi-acoustic guitar, the ES-335TD. Twelve-string guitars increased massively in popularity, first, with the late 50s folk movement; then with the mid-60s beat boom. George Harrison's Rickenbacker 360/12 helped define the Beatles sound, at least from early 1964 when he was first gifted it. But this popularity wained into the seventies. The ES-332-12 (OR ES-335-12TD) was launched in 1965, and shipped until 1970, with a total of 2062 instruments shipped in this time.
Gibson twelve string guitars were not a new in the late 50s, but were largely out of production, until the B45-12 (1960) and B25-14 (1962) models arrived. And they immediately sold well. The ES-335-12 was first listed in the June 1965 Gibson US price list at $395 for a sunburst example (ES-335-12TD), and $410 for Cherry (ES-335-12TDC). At the same time, a new non-reverse body Firebird XII was listed with a price tag of $309.50
Sparkling Burgundy was added as a finish option in 1967 and 68, with Walnut available in 1968 and 1969. It was finally included in the September 1970 price list, offered only in it's original finishes of Sunburst And Cherry, with a list price of $495.
$5000
$16500
$5999
€5500
€5500