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NVGD: 1967 ES-345

The Guitar Hunter

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Jun 22, 2016
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240
Just picked this one up from Norm's! Got a great deal from Mark and am happy to welcome this one to the family. [
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Arch D. Bunker

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Jul 9, 2015
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I am happy for you - I know I really like my 345. :dude:

Looks more like a late '68-'69 model - big F holes, pant logo without dot. The 'official' Gibson 1960s serial no ranges are not always correct.
 

fakejake

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I am happy for you - I know I really like my 345. :dude:

Looks more like a late '68-'69 model - big F holes, pant logo without dot. The 'official' Gibson 1960s serial no ranges are not always correct.

Yes, thats what I thought as well. Pretty sure this is no '67. Is that what the folks at Norm's told you?
Really nice guitar btw! I love those late 60ies necks!
 

The Guitar Hunter

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Jun 22, 2016
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Yes, thats what I thought as well. Pretty sure this is no '67. Is that what the folks at Norm's told you?
Really nice guitar btw! I love those late 60ies necks!

Yeah, that's what this was tagged at at Norm's and I'll trust that they know what they are selling. The neck is awesome and the guitar is awesome. I'm really happy with this one.
 

1jamman

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Feb 28, 2013
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HNGD , That's fine looking . Always like that color stain ,even though most? don't . I need to start looking at Norms more often .... I miss my '59 345 RI (waiting in Brazil) and NEED 1 to play here :lol
 

Wally

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The walnut finish made me wonder. Gruhn and Carter's book puts the introduction of the walnut finish for the ES-345's in 1969....fwtiw. The serial number list does show that number as a high number in 1967 and not fitting for 1968 or 1969.....but who knows what went on in the factory, right?
As for the '68.....again those numbers are not reliable. Example...the number on the OP's "1967" adn that "1968" also fit for 3 years in the '70's.....'73-'75. that orange lable in the OP's guitar is a big tell that it can't be from the '73-'75 range. I have a '66 ES-345 whose number is good for 1966, 1969, or those years '73-'75. The details and the fact that I bought it new in June, 1967 establishes that it is a 1966.
At any rate, good looking guitar, Enjoy.....
 

deytookerjaabs

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I thought it was around mid-'68 that they started coming with 3 piece necks so if it's a 1 piece I wouldn't doubt '67 if the serial lines up that way.
 

Wally

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'69 is point of departure for the neck change for these guitars, as I understand it. So, it could be that this guitar could have that solid mahogany neck with wings on the headstock....3-piece to us...and still be an early '69. Dating the pots might yield some info....but they may be enclosed in shielding pots.

Side note: While we out here call the one-piece of mahogany with two wings for the headstock a 3-piece, Gibson calls that a one-piece. For Gibson, the 3-piece neck occurs on higher line guitars with a laminate stripe down the middle of the two pieces of maple. ...according to the Gruhn&Carter. I had never caught this 'confusion' on this term before.
 

fakejake

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It is the headstock logo that looks neither 67 nor 68 but later. No dot on the i and different font than earlier models.
 

Arch D. Bunker

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I guess it is time to rewrite some of the ‘official’ Gibson figures. Here's what Gibson says:

828002 to 847488 1966 or 1969
847499 to 858999 1966 or 1969
859001 to 895038 1967
895039 to 896999 1968
897000 to 898999 1967 or 1969
899000 to 899999 1968

Let’s take a look at a few Gibsons that only on the basis of their serial number would date to 1967:

Example 1: the OP’s guitar, with post late ’68 features (large f-holes, pantograph logo with no dot on the i – don’t know if it has a 3-piece neck), serial # in the 894,000s.

Example 2: this walnut 345, same features as OP’s guitar, serial in the 892,000s:

http://www.rosewoodandrare.com/gibson-es345-stereo-1967/

Example 3: the 345 in the following thread, no dot on the i, 3 pc neck (unfortunately some pics no longer show), serial # in the 894,000s:

http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?199969-Vintage-ES-345-with-no-dot-over-the-i

Example 4: SG, 3 pc neck, small volute, no i on logo, 6934 pots, serial # in the 893,000s:

http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?102778-1969-Gibson-SG-or-not

Example 5: EB-0, pantograph logo w no i dot, serial # in the 889,000s (can’t see if it has a 3 pc neck though the pics are big):

https://www.thebassshopseattle.com/collections/basses/products/gibson-1967-eb-o

All in all it seems that (at least) part of the Gibsons in (at least) the 889,000-894,000 range were not made in 1967, but likely in 1969.

Lemme correct this:

859001 to 895038 1967 or 1969

So there is some debunking for ya.
 
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Frutiger

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Oct 17, 2007
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As others have said, the logo, crown, finish, f-holes, nut material and knobs all point to '69.

I don't care what the serial number says, that is not a '67. The logo and crown dispel that immediately.

If you're happy with it then that's all that matters.
 

Arch D. Bunker

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Just to add - the missing dot on the i alone does not mean '69 or so.

Plenty of examples of a pre-'69 Gibson, with the OLD style logo, on which the dot is missing. I guess the factory dudes goofed, forgotting to scrape off the black paint over it. Here's one:

http://www.lespaulforum.com/forum/showthread.php?191001-No-quot-dot-quot-over-the-i-on-my-65-335

and a EB-0:

wnc218sm1rqahk2pyrkf.jpg


Here's a puzzle for you all - 335 - Gary Dick says it's a '67...but how about that wide headstock... and the crown inlay position? :hmm

https://reverb.com/item/1334042-1967-gibson-es-335-gie0856


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fakejake

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If you're happy with it then that's all that matters.

Well... if Norm advertised and sold it as a '67 than that sort of sucks. Those people should really know about vintage guitars, so either they don't or they are fooling their buyers. I thought Norms was a respectable shop?
 

Wally

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I once walked into a show with a huge homemade case.....big and heavy. I knew that the first person who saw it was going to know that the HAD to be something special in such a big, awkward case. Sure enough, Norm had the booth right by the front door and hit me up almost before I got in the door.."What's in that thing?" There was a 1960 ES-5 in really good condition.....at least, that is what the A serial number said it was. I didn't question the serial number on such a guitar...I figured it was accurate, and I had not had enough time to do much more investigation. I had just come across the guitar the day before. He didn't get the guitar right then because I had promised a fellow from Virginia a look/see. And...I wanted to walk it through the building at least once, right?
When I had made it all the way through the aisles and was at the other end of the building, I looked down the middle aisle and there comes Norm. He gave me what I wanted and walked away happy. My friend and I spent some more time taking in the sights. When we left, I looked in Norm's booth....there was that guitar...sitting in a correct case with a sign on it "1958 ES-5". I don't know what made him think/know that it was not a 1960 as the number indicated but rather a 1958. Maybe he knew something I did not know????? I didn't think that Gibson was sloppy with those A serial numbers back at that time???? IT was a killer guitar....ideal rock and roll guitar, imho.
At any rate, we all know that those Gibson numbers for most of the '60's and half of the '70's are sometimes meaningless and often misleading. I once had a young player come to me crowing about playing a1964 Les Paul. I told him I didn't think he had played such a guitar. He asked me how I could know that...and I told him that they did not build any L.P.'s that year. Then I asked him where he had played this guitar. When he told me, I then told him how the owner of that guitar had gotten really upset at me for trying to help him understand that, unlike Martin, Gibson numbers needed to be taken with a grain of salt from the years from 1963 through 1975. You can lead a horse's ass to information...but it might not inform him.
 

The Guitar Hunter

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Jun 22, 2016
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Thanks to all of you for your comments, examples, and detective work regarding this guitar. I appreciate the time and interest that you have shown. :salude
 

deytookerjaabs

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Thanks to all of you for your comments, examples, and detective work regarding this guitar. I appreciate the time and interest that you have shown. :salude


So is that neck a 1 piece or 3 piece???? Got any more pics? For some reason I just assumed 1 piece since Norm had it as a '67. Oh, and EMBRACE the vari-tone if you haven't already!
 
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