Gibson ES-350 T

[garthmoore]

I finally got to play a 1958 Gibson ES 350 today at Annapolis, MD. Garrett Park Guitars just got on in this week. Great condition, good action, flatwounds, played through a Henriksen they had on hand. Hard to sound bad while playing that guitar. It was big, but felt very comfortable and was very easy to play. And it was only, uh, $15,000.

I can see why people like playing them

[gitman]

I owned 2 different Byrdland models (same specs except solid woods and an ebony board) from the early+mid 60's and while they both had very good tone I couldn't get the hang with a) the narrower fret-spacing up on the neck due to the shorter scale and b) the natural playing position of my right hand fell directly above the front pickup since the neck is shorter (it extends farther into the body) and the pickups are closer together than on a long-scale guitar. My pick would touch the pickup cover and cause a click-sound and even after several months of trying to adapt (twice within a 10 year stretch...) it didn't work for me.
Last winter a colleague sold a great looking, clean and cool sounding 1960 ES-350 T for an attractive price (MUCH lower that this one !) but I didn't bite, would've been money badly spent in my case. I admire Anthony Wilson and the tone he gets out of his Byrdland, he somehow made it work for himself. The basic concept of the large 17" body and the 2.5" depth
is really cool since you get less bass-feedback and the guitar is very comfortable to hold.

[omphalopsychos]

I had one of these for a year. Sounded amazing. Couldn’t get used to the scale length.

[deacon Mark]

The scale length is like taking a bath in the kitchen sink...............it cannot quite get completely into the sink.

[Chris236]

I played a Byrd for years. Scale length is a non-issue after playing for a few minutes. The real problem with the Byrd and 350T is that for a while they were ‘black sheep’ and priced accordingly, now you need to take out a second mortgage to buy one. Plenty of variation (in the Byrds anyway). Highly recommend if you find one you like the sound of.

[Len R]

I owned 2 different Byrdland models (same specs except solid woods and an ebony board) from the early+mid 60's and while they both had very good tone I couldn't get the hang with a) the narrower fret-spacing up on the neck due to the shorter scale and b) the natural playing position of my right hand fell directly above the front pickup since the neck is shorter (it extends farther into the body) and the pickups are closer together than on a long-scale guitar. My pick would touch the pickup cover and cause a click-sound and even after several months of trying to adapt (twice within a 10 year stretch...) it didn't work for me.
Last winter a colleague sold a great looking, clean and cool sounding 1960 ES-350 T for an attractive price (MUCH lower that this one !) but I didn't bite, would've been money badly spent in my case. I admire Anthony Wilson and the tone he gets out of his Byrdland, he somehow made it work for himself. The basic concept of the large 17" body and the 2.5" depth
is really cool since you get less bass-feedback and the guitar is very comfortable to hold.

Gitman, have you tried a modern L5 CT? Standard scale, 17", 2.5" body, great tone.

[gitman]

Gitman, have you tried a modern L5 CT? Standard scale, 17", 2.5" body, great tone.

I've never ever seen one in the flesh, they are the proverbial hen's teeth, unobtainium, etc. pp.
For about 10 years I owned and played (a lot) a custom-ordered Victor Baker lam-top that was patterned after the L5CT :
2.5" depth, 25" scale, 17" width, one built-in KA humbucker.

I sold this last year because I switched to my Trenier 16" lam-top as my main gigging archtop. This "Jazz Special" model is an inch
smaller in the lower bout but makes up for the loss in width by having a slightly thicker body so the air-volume inside the sound box should be around the same.
I find this important for the bass-content in the tone. The Trenier actually has a more balanced tone and a quicker attack - overall it's a better guitar.

[Archie]

I had a stunning 350T.

I found the tone a little sterile.

Here is a sideways pic because for some reason, uploading directly from my phone does this.

[Woody Sound]

And it was only, uh, $15,000.