1964 Gibson ES-335 Sunburst

1964 is widely considered to be one of the best years for ES-335's. The reason is simple. The neck. The late 63 through early 65 neck profile is considered among the best ever made. It is relatively slim at the first fret but has considerable shoulder making it feel bigger at that position. But then it starts getting bigger as you go toward the upper frets. And bigger. And bigger. By the 12th fret, it is over 1" deep-the equal to the highly regarded late 58 to early 59. In general, there are no PAFs on 64 ES-335's but it's good to know that the early nickel covered pickups are identical to the late PAFs except for the sticker. The fact that Eric Clapton played a 64 doesn't hurt its popularity either although his was red. This 64 is in very good condition...I would have called it excellent but for two issues. First, the red has faded away from the sunburst on the top. The back shows very strong red but the top shows virtually none. Not a big deal and most folks don't mind a bit of fade. The second issue can be a problem for some buyers and a "who cares" for others. The serial number has been defaced. It is priced in and saves you thousands. All of the parts are original or correct. As is fairly common among 62-64 ES-335's, Gibson repurposed the leftover wraptails from the LP Specials and Jrs having replaced them with the "lightning" tailpiece. This one was drilled so that the string ends don't stick out. The frets have been professionally replaced as has the nut. A stop tail 64 ES-335 for under $30K is just about impossible to find today.