SOLD! - 1960 first year Cherry Gibson ES-345TD Stoptail Stereo Varitone

The first Cherry ES-345's were introduced in 1960 and only 251 were made that first year!!
 
This very original Stoptail 345 has the brightest, most stunning and vibrant Cherry finish I have ever seen on a 60 year old guitar!!!
 
Has the original Patent Applied For stickered PAF pickups, Cherry finish (that lights up like a Christmas tree under blacklight with no overspray, touch-up's, spots etc.) tuners, pickguard, knobs, pots and so on. There are no cracks, no breaks, no repairs, no touchups, no hidden repairs. The Stereo wiring was changed into Mono with a mono jack output (original in the case) and the pot covers were removed (also in the case). The case is the original as well, has a piece missing on the bottom top.
 
It sounds so cool. Unplugged it has a rich and super loud ring to it and plugged it is very versatile with a loud and crisp bridge pickup and a rounder sounding jazzy/bluesy neck pickup. What a thrill to play..
 
Since its debut in '59 (sunburst) this classic has been seen on stage by everyone from Dicky Betts and Chuck Berry to Elvin Bishop, B.B. King, Freddie King, Marty McFly and Joe Bonamassa.
 
With the ES-345 Gibson brought back the concept of a stereo guitar that Gretsch had experimented with in the late 40’s (Project-O-Sonic). Rather than splitting the treble and bass strings into a stereo image like Gretsch, Gibson took the simpler solution of splitting the neck pickup from the bridge pickup with the use of a special “Y” cable into a newly designed Gibson GA-88S stereo amplifier. The new stereo guitar was also outfitted with a Varitone circuit which provided 6 preset tones. Super cool and way ahead of its time.