Hidden Charms
MUCH HAS BEEN written about Gibson’s most famous thinline semi-acoustic model, the ES-335. Virtually an overnight success upon its release in 1958, it has remained a classic and abiding design ever since, virtually defining the popular marriage between the solid- and hollowbody electric formats. Far less discussed, however, is the incremental way Gibson worked up to that shallowbodied electric built with laminated woods and a solid center block — and the ES-225 of 1955–’59 was a major stepping-stone along the way.
Once the solidbody electric proved more than just a flash in the pan in the early ’50s, Gibson and other
