Gibson and Marcus King have joined forces for another signature guitar inspired by King’s legendary 1962 ES-345, aka “Big Red” – a guitar that was passed down from his grandfather to his father, then to him.
At first blush, you might ask what’s the difference. The new Marcus King ES-345 has the same big-bodied semi-hollow charm, the gold hardware and Sixties Cherry finish. But this is a slightly more streamlined version of the Custom Shop ES-345 version that debuted in 2019.
Just take a look at that Vibrola. King has it fixed on this new edition, all to enhance tuning stability. The six-position mono Varitone switch has been removed.
There are some subtle differences under the hood. As per Gibson USA production models, this ES-345’s Custombucker pairing is hooked up to a hand-wired control harness with Orange Drop capacitors – the Custom Shop version had Black Cat capacitors.
King admits that the original Big Red is so precious to him that he leaves it at home and takes his Custom Shop signature model out instead.
“With this model, you are going to have all the wonderful feel, all the love that you get from Big Red, and even from the Custom Shop model,” says King. “It’s going to give you that resonance, that sustain. And it’s something to hold onto. It’s got good curves. Nice hips, y’know.”
Think of this Gibson USA Artist model as a more pragmatic option for the gigging musician – that fixed Vibrola is not just more practical from a tuning POV, but when you consider that these units were originally designed for an SG, not an arch-top such as the ES-345, that maybe it makes sense to have it fixed down. Occasionally you could scratch the finish on these ES-345s when using the sideways bar.
“I remember being a kid and seeing people with their signature models. I never would have imagined that I could have my own signature model some day,” says King. “I don’t really like talking about myself but it being my grandfather’s guitar it really helps me out in a sense, in that I feel like I am able to carry on his legacy, and wanting to share with everyone else what he shared with me. It’s a real honour.”
Elsewhere, it’s pretty much business as usual. We have a pair of Custombuckers at the neck and bridge positions, each with their own volume and tone control. It has a 3-ply construction of maple/poplar/maple with a solid maple centre block. Three-ply cream and black binding has been applied to the body, with single-ply cream binding on the fingerboard.
The neck has a rounded profile, is mahogany and glued to the body. As per the electric guitar(s) that inspired this one, you have a 12” radius rosewood fingerboard inlaid with acrylic split parallelograms. The tuners are a set of Grover Rotomatics.
And it is considerably cheaper than the Custom Shop model retailing at $3,999. That price includes a hard-shell guitar case. For more details, head over to Gibson.
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