Gibson ES-355TD 1974 — Stereo Walnut

Since its introduction in 1958 the ES-355 has been the flagship of the whole 335 family. Where the 335 was conceived as an honest working instrument, the 355 got everything Gibson had by way of luxury: bound ebony fretboard, elaborate inlays, multiple binding, gold hardware. It's no accident that B.B. King and Chuck Berry — two of the most influential guitarists there have ever been — both chose this particular model.

This 1974 example is unusual in more ways than one. First, the TD in stereo: the two humbuckers are sent out separately through a special stereo jack, so you can split them across two different amps. Anyone who has run a neck pickup through a clean amp and the bridge through a driven one at the same time knows what that opens up. It's a feature Gibson reserved exclusively for the top models.

Then there's the Varitone, that six-position rotary switch producing different colours through filter circuits. The range runs from the full, unfiltered tone through thinned-out, nasal middle settings to genuinely throaty sounds. The Varitone still divides opinion, but it opens up colours you simply can't reach with an ordinary two-channel layout.

And then there's the finish. Walnut is a distinctly rare option for this model, which you otherwise almost always see in cherry or ebony. That warm, deep brown with cream binding comes across far more restrained than the usual versions, and that's exactly where the appeal lies.

You get the classic semi-hollow sound: an open, woody core with three-dimensional depth, plus the sustain and feedback resistance the centre block contributes. At the neck it turns warm and jazzy-round, at the bridge wiry and cutting, and pushed it develops that creamy saturation you love this design for.

A rare flagship in an unusual specification, from Ede's Private Stock.