i think i see a varitone switch, open-g honey, and the fretboard inlays aren't clearly blocks to me ...
the peghead inlay sure seems to be a crown or whatever that is, not the diamond that 355s have.
but ... [scratchin head] ... it's not easy!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-06-20 19:29 by with sssoul.

I was starting to miss withSssoul's guitar threads!

Interesting quiz. After having a look at here [www.provide.net] I tend to think it's a ES-345, without pickguard and with a Bigsby: divided block inlays, Varitone switch, Crown inlay in the headstock... Could it be?

BTW, I don't like it too much: way too whitey. I prefer the usual black ES-355

[There'll be no wedding today...]

Uhuh yeah I saw a pic of it a few days ago and went looking but I couldn't find anything like it either.

We should ofcourse consider it a possibility that there may be a new neck, a paintjob, or a completely custom made guitar.

yeah, Reptile, it could be a uniquely revamped job, of course. it's lookin pretty 345-ish to me at the moment,
but as we know i am easily confused. :E

nice to see your typeface, Bruno! thanks for seeing that possible varitone switch too -
i wasn't 100% sure it's there, with the Bigsby sort of hiding it, but it looks like it.
(i'd love to hear your thoughts on the suspected 175D as well - it's a few posts back on this thread ... )

and thanks for that custom Gibson page, Open-G - i'm having a blast over there. the sound samples are a very cool touch!



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2007-10-15 10:40 by with sssoul.

Yeah ES-345 comes really close. But forget about the 175D. The 175D is a single cutaway guitar. This one's body is symmetric. My guess is a 60's(64 maybe?) ES-345.

Reptile, the guitar i'm suspecting of being a 175D is not this one.
the one i'm suspecting of being a 175D *is* a single cutaway.
the photos of it are a few posts back. you already commented on it, remember?
and i'm still interested in hearing people's thoughts about it.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2007-10-15 10:41 by with sssoul.

Oh ok. I apoligize for my stupidity. I still conclude I am superior to all of you. Thank you.

>> Thank you <<

smile: thank *you*, Reptile.
meanwhile here's yet another shot of the white Mystery ES - the good Arizojp posted it on shidoobee.
[peering hard] ... double-parallelogram inlays? i guess! have some popcorn.


- Sydney, apr 11th 2006, courtesy of Getty Images via Arizojp



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-10-15 10:41 by with sssoul.

It´s a ES345 through and through. It sure isn´t a vintage one, it looks like (I am 99% sure) a new Custom Shop ES-345 in the this year introduced Diamond White colour.

Also -someting don't know for sure but is a guess - everytime the Stones go to Australia they appear on stage with different guitars, normally not seen. This happened in 1973 (Taylor with a LP that wasn't his own, Richards with the white SG Custom, Bill with a Gibson EB-3), it happened in 1995, in 2003, and now again. Do they limit the amount of guitars they ship to Australia, and rent the rest?

Mathijs

Mathijs Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It´s a ES345 through and through. It sure isn´t a
> vintage one, it looks like (I am 99% sure) a new
> Custom Shop ES-345 in the this year introduced
> Diamond White colour.
>
> Also -someting don't know for sure but is a guess
> - everytime the Stones go to Australia they appear
> on stage with different guitars, normally not
> seen. This happened in 1973 (Taylor with a LP that
> wasn't his own, Richards with the white SG Custom,
> Bill with a Gibson EB-3), it happened in 1995, in
> 2003, and now again. Do they limit the amount of
> guitars they ship to Australia, and rent the rest?
>
>
> Mathijs

Limit the amount of guitars they ship to Australia? That doesn't sound like anything the Stones would do. It may be a coincidence or maybe they've got a pal that sells guitars out there.

ohh thank you Mathijs!
Keith had this white 345 in Japan as well, and he had that white SG at the Nicaragua Benefit in 73 too.
but that's an interesting behaviour pattern you've noticed.
maybe Keith does have a special AustralAsian Guitar Agent who has great deals on white guitars. :E

in any case, it's very fine to have this new one identified, thank you!
and ... how is a 345 different to play than a 355? Keith seems to be using this one to give the black 355 a break
(although i see he's still got that one too for some numbers) so i take it they are pretty similar to play?
and ... why does Keith like those Bigsbys? i mean: he doesn't use the vibrato arm, does he (or does he?) so what function does it serve for him?
since the cat could have any guitar he could dream up and then some, there must be some reason he goes for the Bigsby-equipped buddies so much.



Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 2008-02-21 01:31 by with sssoul.

Mathijs Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> - everytime the Stones go to Australia they appear
> on stage with different guitars, normally not
> seen. This happened in 1973 (Taylor with a LP that
> wasn't his own, Richards with the white SG Custom,

The white SG custom was used on the Nicaraguan Benefit concert, too, before going to Australia.There are lots of pics floating around in the cyberspace. That gig was the debut of some classic Keith guitars: the weird-shaped Ted Newman 5string, the SG Custom, the reddish Gibson LP Junior (or Special, I'm always confused about the name)...

[There'll be no wedding today...]

>> the reddish Gibson LP Junior (or Special, I'm always confused about the name) <<

smile: that very pretty dark one you and i like so much was a Junior. you seem to favour the dark ones, i see. :E
i generally do too, but this new white 345 looks pretty fine with Keith behind it.

Can we get some pics of that benefit show up here?

"When I was a junkie I learned to ski, and I recorded Exile on Mainstreet" Keith Richards

i'll try to post a couple, Apt # 9, but on some other thread -
this one's trying to be about Keith's semihollow/hollow guitars ...

... here you go, Apt #9: [iorr.org]
here's a thread with some of Keith's Newman-Jones-made guitars and other odd ones: [iorr.org]
and just so i can keep track a little, a link to a list of links to other guitar threads: [iorr.org]



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 2007-10-15 10:42 by with sssoul.

You guys are right, Keith seemed to have bougt a shipload of guitars for the Benefit gig, not for Australia.

Btw, the reason for the bigsby on the ES-355 is simply: the 355 was the most expensive 355 in the ES serie, so it has all the bells and whistles: Bigsby, gold plating, block inlay, triple binding, everything. I have never seen a 355 without a Bigsby. By the way, Keith's black 355 is special, as it's a MONO version (without the Varitone). 345's came both with stop tails, bigsby's and Lyre vibrato. There's no difference in sound or playability between the 355 and 345, only ornamentation.

Mathijs

thanks very much for these insights, Mathijs!
so since Bigsbys are part and parcel of 355s, maybe Keith got the 345 with one just because he's used to the ergonomics of it or something?
i reckon it must alter the balance/heft of the instrument, as compared to a stop tailpiece? and of course it looks a lot funkier than those lyre things. :E

The Bigsby DOES change the feel of a guitar a bit, as the strings run longer they tend to be feeling somewhat more stiff. Some people even say that due to the weight of a Bigsby the sound becomes less alive, but I never heard that myself.

Mathijs

Have a closer look!




Looks like it's obviously an ES-345.

You posted some fine pics, man
ty

Thanks, by the way, they're both from Melbourne. These are too:









There ya go!

By the way, it doesn't look like a reissue. Check out all the damaging and the knobs look like they're pretty old, not to mention the bigsby.. or the rusty pick-ups..

WOW - whoohoo

yeah


shall I wake up Miss sssoul?



So you're impliing - its a paint job on the ole black 'one?

open-g Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> WOW - whoohoo
>
> yeah
>
>
> shall I wake up Miss sssoul?
>
>
>
> So you're impliing - its a paint job on the ole
> black 'one?

Yeah go wake her up. But do wear a bullet proof vest, she always sleeps with a gun under her pillow.

I would have liked it to be a paint job on the black one, but no, it's got a different neck.

If it was a paint job - I would 've loved to watch the pain dry

damn - can't get over it , SOO great pix

you can even tell its 010 - 046 gauge

smile: looks as if Keith knew we wanted a better look at this guitar.
(or anyway as if Gypsy did - thanks for posting them, Gypsy! and Reptile for re-posting them.)

>> a paint job on the black one <<

Keith's got a black 345?? no no, course not ...
funny about that damage, isn't it - if it's a recent paint job it wasn't a very good one!
but as you say, a new reissue coming complete with rust seems a bit far out, so ...
so it's another mystery! i love it. have some popcorn. :E



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2007-10-15 10:43 by with sssoul.

with sssoul Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> but as you say, a new reissue coming complete with
> rust seems a bit far out, so ...
> so it's another mystery! i love it. have some

Well, the "relic"-ing bussiness are now one of Fender's and Gibson's biggest cash-cows! Fender basically gas three grades: Closest Classic (looks like a 40 year old guitar kept under a bed for 40 years), NOS (New Old Stock, looks like a 40 year old guitar that has been mildly played) and "Relic", which looks like a 40 year guitar that has travelled the world. Gibson has VOS (Vintage Original Specs), which basically is a nw guitar but all the nickel hardwar has been buffed so it doesn't shine anymore, and they have the "Murphy Aged", which is done by Ted Murphy, and he can make a guitar look like it has been hit buy a tank.

These days, with prices of vintage guitars really going throug the roof, there aare just a few bands that still play old, original instruments. Many bands only play new instruments that were "aged" to give them a look of road warriors.

I do not know what Keith's 345 is. I am not an expert on the ES-serie (a vintage Les Paul can be spotted from miles away and you won't be fooled by a new one) so I can not positively identify it as either vintage or a Custom Shop that has been aged. It could very well be an original vintage '63 to '68 (sharper horns instead of Micky Mouse ears). I would say that the tune-o-matic bridge is a new one, and I find the gold-plated Bigsby a bit too "manually aged" to be vintage, but the rest of the guitar looks very vintage to me -but I have been fooled before by the relic-ing people at Gibson. Against being vintage speaks the colour -I have never seen a ES335/345/355 in this white colour. Chery, sunburst, ebony and natural (the latter is extremely rare) are the known colours, with burgundy as a known one off.

Mathijs

>> the "Murphy Aged", which is done by Ted Murphy,
and he can make a guitar look like it has been hit buy a tank <<

smile: what a peculiar skill to turn into a profession - i find that downright inspirational. :E
but it sounds like this 345 is uniquely-revamped model after all, huh -
either a vintage instrument with a unique paint job or a new one with unique hardware and scuffmarks.
thanks as always, Mathijs!

I HATE people that make guitars "vintage". I mean it's such a lovely instrument, how could you take a take a big sanding machine over it? And scratch off the paint? I mean natural aging can look cool but that's because it's been damaged by love, ya know?