Sunburst is surely your favourite traditional Gibson colour and this nice 1964 Gibson ES-330 TDC wears it so well.

Introduced in 1959 as the successor to the ES-225 and the budget thinline alongside the ES-335, the ES-330 bridged the gap between the new centre block arch top guitars and Gibson’s classic arch tops of the previous decades becoming a firm favourite with players such as BB King and Grant Green not to mention the rhythm guitar of choice for many.

There's no hiding with this guitar round your neck. The vibrant sunburst finish has kept a good colour that really accentuates the grain pattern of the maple. There are a few dings here and there - take a look at the pics, but nothing at all structural.

You will also notice two additional small screw holes in the photos. It's unclear what there were  but they have been plugged and are hidden by the pickguard.

The same can be said for the neck which has worn very little. The fretboard is good with some signs of wear. The original frets show some minor signs of use but have plenty of life left in them.  

The plastics are in good shape as is the nickel though the plating has dulled on the pickup covers with some corrosion on the bobbins. This doesn’t detract from the look of the instrument.

Electronically the guitar looks to be correct, original harness, pots caps etc. Both pickups are strong and very evenly balanced which is not always the case with ES-330’s from this period.

The guitar comes with a hardshell case.

Acoustically this guitar has a pleasantly warm tone that certainly tips the hat to Gibson’s archtop heritage. Plugged in the guitar runs the gamut from warm neck pickup to a more honky, biting bridge pickup tone. 1963 saw Gibson revert back to fuller neck profiles and this is a fine example of that, being very comfortable in the hand

If 330’s are your thing and why would they not be, don’t let this one get away…