Gibson ES guitars - the hollow-body electric guitar direct from the Gibson Nashville factory. This is that new sound you've been looking for!
When you pick up a Gibson ES guitar, you're getting a product straight out of the Gibson Nashville plant - a guitar you can rely on, and one that will last a lifetime.
Gibson relocated its ES guitars factory from Memphis to Nashville in 2019. This was to ensure all Gibson ES guitars are now manufactured to the highest standards possible and to ensure a consistent approach to build quality and quality control.
By the end of the 1950s the supremely popular Gibson ES-335 had come along. This truly stunning guitar was from the Slimline category of Gibson's hollow body electrics, but unlike its predecessors came complete with a solid centre-block, giving the guitar plenty more string sustain and helping to keep feedback at high volume levels under control.
In short, ES stands for 'Electric Spanish'. In 1936 Gibson introduced the world to their first-ever electric guitar model: the "Electric Spanish" ES-150. These arch-top, semi-acoustic guitars (along with the ES-175) helped pave the way for high-quality guitar amplification in an ensemble setting, boosting the instrument from the background to eventually (by the early Rock and Roll era) the lead instrument in most popular music types.
A key feature to the Gibson line, Freddie King, Alvin Lee, Dave Grohl, and even fictional character Marty McFly from the movie Back to the Future (who inspired none other than Chuck Berry... in the film that is) lineup year after year, the Gibson ES guitars from the Gibson Nashville factory have been spotted in the hands of some of history's most prominent and influential guitar figures, including the likes of BB King and more.
Yes, Gibson ES guitars are suitable for a wide range of genres across blues, jazz and rock musical styles, these guitars always deliver impeccable tones, as and when they're needed: it's little wonder that their design has remained largely unchanged in more than seven decades.