tone-index.com

Home / Browse Instruments / Gibson ES-335 Dot 1991 - 2014

Gibson ES-335 Dot 1991 - 2014

Generic depiction of the instrument model, not the specific item offered on a linked platform.

Electric Guitar

Gibson ES-335 Dot 1991 - 2014

Gibson · ES-335 Dot 1991 - 2014

Price: 2.199 EUR – 4.827 EUR

Price history 07.09.2026 19.09.2026
Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

Availability: 9/10 (Common)

The guitar that invented the semi-hollow format: a laminated maple body with hollow wings either side of a solid maple centre block, built to capture some of a solid-body's sustain and feedback resistance without losing a hollow-body's warmth. This 1991-2014 production run - initially sold as the ES-335 Dot, renamed the ES-335 Reissue partway through - recreates the late-1950s original's slim '60s neck profile, dot inlays and vintage-style spec.

Where available? Go to the best price – 2.199 EUR About this instrument

About the Gibson ES-335 Dot 1991 - 2014

The ES-335's entire design logic comes down to one piece of wood: a solid maple block running the full length of the body's centre, flanked on either side by genuinely hollow chambers rather than a solid slab. That block is what makes the semi-hollow format work as something more than a compromise - it gives the top enough rigidity to resist feeding back at stage volume the way a fully hollow archtop would, while the hollow wings still vibrate and contribute real acoustic warmth a solid-body Les Paul or Stratocaster simply can't produce.

This particular production run carries a genuinely unusual detail even by Gibson's own naming standards: the guitar started out sold under the name ES-335 Dot, then was officially renamed the ES-335 Reissue partway through this same 1991-2014 window - meaning an early-1990s example and a 2010s example of what's catalogued here as one continuous model actually wore two different official names during their respective production years. The spec itself stayed close to late-1950s vintage territory throughout: a one-piece mahogany neck with a slim '60s taper, bound rosewood fingerboard with dot inlays, and 57 Classic humbuckers voiced to recreate the original PAF-era character rather than a modern hot-output alternative.

Where to buy

Some links below are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

Source: https://reverb.com/item/97896512-gibson-es-335-dot-1991-2014-figured-cherry

Sound character of the Gibson ES-335 Dot 1991 - 2014

As a semi-hollow, the ES-335's fundamental character sits between the two poles most guitars researched in this project occupy: more acoustic air and resonance than a solid-body Les Paul or SG, but tighter and more feedback-resistant than a fully hollow archtop. The 57 Classic humbuckers are voiced to recreate the warmer, less compressed character of original late-1950s PAF-style pickups rather than a modern hot-output alternative, keeping the guitar's overall voice consistent with the vintage recipe the rest of the spec chases.

Warm Resonant Vintage-voiced Airy

What owners of the Gibson ES-335 Dot 1991 - 2014 say

The slim, flat '60s neck is consistently treated as a defining preference point rather than a universal positive - players who find Gibson's chunkier '50s carves too much reach for this profile specifically, framing the choice between the two eras as a genuine fork rather than one being simply better.

The semi-hollow construction's feedback tendency at high volume is treated as a known, accepted characteristic of the format rather than a defect specific to this production run - players who choose an ES-335 generally know what they're signing up for and value the tonal trade-off deliberately.

Playability & handling of the Gibson ES-335 Dot 1991 - 2014

The slim '60s-taper neck profile is noticeably thinner and flatter in the hand than the substantial '50s carves found on the Les Paul Standard '50s already researched in this project - a genuine, immediately felt difference for players moving between the two, not just a spec-sheet number.

Documented individual examples weigh around 8 lb 10 oz, within the roughly 7.5 to 9 lb range typical for ES-335-family guitars depending on specific configuration - lighter than an unrelieved solid-body Les Paul of comparable size, a direct benefit of the hollow wings either side of the centre block.

Recommended accessories & strings for the Gibson ES-335 Dot 1991 - 2014

The 24.75-inch scale takes the same .010-.046 starting point as other short-scale Gibsons researched in this project. Because the semi-hollow construction is more feedback-prone than a solid body, especially at high stage volume or with heavy gain, some care with amp placement or a noise gate becomes more relevant here than it would on an equivalent solid-body Les Paul or SG - not a flaw, just the honest trade-off of the format the guitar was specifically designed around.

Technical data for the Gibson ES-335 Dot 1991 - 2014

Type Semi-hollow electric guitar, double cutaway, laminated body with solid centre block
Production Gibson USA, 1991-2014; sold initially as the ES-335 Dot, later officially renamed the ES-335 Reissue within this same window
Body Laminated maple (maple/poplar/maple), solid maple centre sustain block with genuinely hollow wings
Neck One-piece mahogany, slim '60s taper profile
Fingerboard Bound rosewood, 12 in. radius, pearl dot inlays
Frets / scale 22 medium jumbo frets; 24.75 in. scale
Pickups 2x Gibson 57 Classic humbuckers (PAF-inspired voicing)
Dimensions Approx. 41.0 x 16.0 x 1.75 in.
Weight Documented individual example at 8 lb 10 oz; ES-335-family guitars generally run approx. 7.5-9 lb depending on configuration
Finish note Gibson moved to a thinner lacquer finish on ES-335 models starting in the mid-2000s
Origin note Introduced 1958 as the industry's first semi-hollow production electric guitar under Gibson president Ted McCarty, designed to combine solid-body sustain/feedback resistance with hollow-body warmth

Price history for the Gibson ES-335 Dot 1991 - 2014

Cheapest seen: 2.199 EUR  ·  Most expensive seen: 4.827 EUR

4.842 EUR2.023 EUR 07.09.2026 14.09.202616.09.202617.09.2026 19.09.2026
Cheapest seen Most expensive seen

The history of the Gibson ES-335 Dot 1991 - 2014

The ES-335 is, by consistent accounts, the music industry's first semi-hollow electric guitar, introduced in 1958 under Gibson president Ted McCarty. McCarty himself described the thinking behind it directly: "I came up with the idea of putting a solid block of maple in an acoustic model to get some of the same tone as a regular solid body, plus the instrument's hollow wings would vibrate and we'd get a combination of an electric solid body and a hollow body guitar." It solved a genuinely practical problem of the era - hollow archtops fed back badly at the volumes electric players increasingly needed, while solid-bodies, though feedback-resistant, lacked the acoustic warmth many players wanted to keep.

Within this specific 1991-2014 production window, the model's own name changed partway through: it launched as the ES-335 Dot and was later officially renamed the ES-335 Reissue, an unusually documented mid-run naming shift for a single continuous production era. Throughout, the guitar was built to recreate late-1950s vintage specification closely - the slim '60s neck taper, dot inlays, and PAF-inspired 57 Classic pickups - rather than incorporating the more dramatic modern updates Gibson applied to some other lines during the same decades.

About Gibson as a manufacturer

This guitar belongs to the same Ted McCarty-led golden era of Gibson design already touched on in the Les Paul Studio 1990-1997 research in this project, but where that guitar's story centres on the Norlin-to-1986-buyout corporate turnaround, the ES-335's significance is purely about the engineering problem McCarty's team solved: proving a guitar didn't have to choose between solid-body reliability and hollow-body character.

That single design decision - the centre block - proved influential enough that Gibson built an entire ES family around variations on it (the ES-345 with its Varitone circuit, the ES-355 with ebony fingerboard and Varitone options, among others), each adjusting the formula slightly rather than replacing it, a rare case of a single mid-century engineering solution still defining an entire guitar category more than six decades later.

Notable players & recordings featuring the Gibson ES-335 Dot 1991 - 2014

Larry Carlton has the most direct, sustained connection to this exact model: his nickname "Mr. 335" comes from his late-1960s ES-335, which he used as his primary session guitar for decades across work with Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell and many others, and Gibson eventually built him his own signature ES-335LC based on it. Eric Clapton played a 1964 ES-335TDC through his Cream years, a guitar central to defining British blues-rock's sound, and Chuck Berry famously wielded a cherry red ES-335 through his most iconic stage performances.

An important correction: B.B. King is frequently and incorrectly associated with the ES-335, but his famous "Lucille" is actually based on the ES-355, not the 335 - a related but genuinely different model with its own Varitone circuit and other spec differences, deliberately checked and corrected here rather than repeated as a common but inaccurate assumption.

Related guides

  • Do Tonewoods Matter on Electric Guitars? The Ongoing Debate View details
  • Buying a Used Electric Guitar: What to Check View details
  • Vintage vs. Reissue: Is an Old Electric Guitar Worth It? View details

Similar instruments

Gibson Les Paul Special (2019-Present) 10+

Gibson Les Paul Special (2019-Present)

1.150 EUR – 4.690 EUR

Gibson Les Paul Junior 10+

Gibson Les Paul Junior

30 EUR – 5.590 EUR

Gibson Slash Collection Les Paul Standard 10+

Gibson Slash Collection Les Paul Standard

1.799 EUR – 3.789 EUR

Gibson ES-335 Block (2020 - 2026) 6

Gibson ES-335 Block (2020 - 2026)

2.997 EUR – 3.441 EUR

Gibson SG Standard (1991-2012) 10+

Gibson SG Standard (1991-2012)

964 EUR – 4.456 EUR

Gibson Les Paul Classic (1990-2008) 10+

Gibson Les Paul Classic (1990-2008)

1.282 EUR – 3.820 EUR

Gibson ES-335 Dot (2020-2026) 9

Gibson ES-335 Dot (2020-2026)

2.360 EUR – 3.441 EUR

Gibson Les Paul Standard '50s 10+

Gibson Les Paul Standard '50s

1.736 EUR – 3.250 EUR

← Back to all instruments