Skip to content or Skip to navigation

Pete’s Gear: Gibson ES-335 guitars

Pete Townshend used Gibson ES-335 thinline semi-hollow archtop guitars during U.S. shows in 1967 and 1968.

Basic specs: double cutaway, semi-hollow body with solid maple block down center, two PAF (Patent Applied For) humbucker pickups, two volume and two tone knobs and a switch, dot or block inlay neck, rosewood fingerboard.

Photo gallery

Ca. 1967.

22 Nov. 1967, Southfield, Michigan, with Sunn 100S amplifiers.

Ca. 1967, with Gibson.

18 Nov. 1967, Cow Palace, San Francisco.

Ca. 1967.

Ca. 1967.

Ca. 1967.

18 Nov. 1967, the Cow Palace, San Francisco.

Click to view larger version. Southfield High School, Detroit, Michigan, 22 Nov. 1967, with two Sunn 100S amplifiers and 2×15 cabinets, playing a Gibson ES-335. (Photo: SoundCityChris)

Click to view larger version. 22 Nov. 1967, Southfield High School, Detroit, Michigan, with two Sunn 100S amplifiers and 2×15 cabinets, playing a Gibson ES-335 — with trapeze tailpiece in place. (Photo: SoundCityChris)

Click to view larger version. Southfield High School, Detroit, Michigan, 22 Nov. 1967, with two Sunn 100S amplifiers and 2×15 cabinets, playing a Gibson ES-335. (Photo: SoundCityChris)

Click to view larger version. 22 Nov. 1967, Southfield High School, Detroit, Michigan, with two Sunn 100S amplifiers and 2×15 cabinets, playing a Gibson ES-335 — with no trapeze tailpiece. (Photo: SoundCityChris)

Click to view larger version. Southfield High School, Detroit, Michigan, 22 Nov. 1967, with two Sunn 100S amplifiers and 2×15 cabinets, playing a Gibson ES-335. (Photo: Bob Elliott)

Click to view larger version. 22 Nov. 1967, Southfield High School, Detroit, Michigan, with two Sunn 100S amplifiers and 2×15 cabinets, playing a Gibson ES-335 — with trapeze tailpiece. (Photo: Bob Elliott)

25 Nov. 1967, at the Village Theatre (later the Fillmore East), New York, with two Sunn 100S amplifiers and 2×15 cabinets, smashing a Gibson 335.

25 Nov. 1967, at the Village Theatre (later the Fillmore East), New York, with two Sunn 100S amplifiers and 2×15 cabinets, smashing a Gibson ES-335.

25 Nov. 1967, at the Village Theatre (later the Fillmore East), New York, with a Gibson 335.

25 Nov. 1967, at the Village Theatre (later the Fillmore East), New York, post-smashed Gibson ES-335.

Resources and Information

This page last updated 19 May, 2016