NAMM 2016: Gibson Memphis unveils 2016 electric guitar range

Introduction

NAMM 2016: While Gibson's core USA range announcements can sometimes prove controversial, the Memphis division's new lines of hollowbodies and semi-hollows rarely provoke anything other than pure desire, and 2016 is no different.

Most notable among this year's 16-strong line-up are enhanced period-correct features on Historic models (hide glue, quarter sawn Adirondack bracing), plus improvements to Core models (titanium saddles, redesigned ES-335 neck profiles).

What's more, the guitar in the centre of the image above looks to be what Gibson has called "an entirely new jazz guitar"… but the company has yet to release a name or specs, so more on that as we have it.

Click through the gallery for a closer look at Gibson Memphis's new guitars.

Gibson 2016 ES-339 Studio

Body: Classic semi-hollow construction more compact dimensions
Fingerboard: With black binding and simple dot inlays
Neck: One-piece maple neck
Nut: Black Corian nut
Pickups: 57 Classic and Super 57 humbuckers
Controls: Traditional control section
Finish: High-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer

Gibson 2016 ES-335 Studio

Body: Classic semi-hollow construction with solid center block
Fingerboard: Black binding with simple dot inlays
Neck: One-piece maple neck
Nut: Black Corian nut
Pickups: 57 Classic and Super 57 humbuckers
Controls: Traditional control section
Finish: High-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer

Gibson 2016 ES-339 Satin

Body: Classic ES-335 shape to smaller dimensions
Fingerboard: Rosewood with small block inlays
Neck: Redesigned dimensions for improved strength and comfortable feel
Truss rod: Historic truss rod
Pickups: Burstbucker 1 & 2
Bridge: ABR-1 bridge with titanium saddles
Tailpiece: Locking stopbar
Finish: Satin lacquer finish

Gibson 2016 ES-Les Paul Studio

Body: Les Paul styling meets semi-acoustic ES-335 construction
Fingerboard: Rosewood with trapezoidal Les Paul inlays
Fingerboard binding: Rolled black binding for superb playing comfort
Truss rod: Historic truss rod
Pickups: 57 Classic & Super 57 humbuckers
Nut: Black Corian
Finish: High-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer in two new colours (Wine Red and Ginger Burst)

Gibson 2016 ES-335 Satin

Body: Classic semi-hollow construction with solid center block
Fingerboard: Rosewood with small block inlays
Neck: Redesigned dimensions for improved strength
Truss rod: Historic truss rod
Pickups: Burstbucker 1 & 2
Bridge: TOM-1 with titanium saddles
Tailpiece: Locking stopbar
Finish: Soft satin finish

Gibson 2016 ES-339

Body: Classic ES-335 shape redrawn to smaller dimensions
Fingerboard: Rosewood with small block inlays
Neck: Redesigned dimensions for improved strength and playabilty
Truss rod: Historic truss rod
Pickups: Burstbucker 1 & 2
Bridge: ABR-1 with titanium saddles
Tailpiece: Locking stopbar
Finish: High-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer

Gibson 2016 ES-Les Paul

Body: New Adirondack spruce top bracing
Fingerboard: Rosewood with trapezoidal Les Paul inlays
Fingerboard binding: Rolled for superb playing comfort
Truss rod: Historic truss rod
Pickups: MHS humbuckers
Bridge: ABR-1 with titanium saddles
Finish: High-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer in two new colours (Ebony and Faded Lightburst)

Gibson 2016 ES-335

Body: Classic semi-hollow construction with solid center block
Fingerboard: Rosewood with small block inlays
Neck: Redesigned dimensions for improved strength and feel
Truss rod: Historic truss rod
Pickups: Burstbucker 1 & 2
Bridge: ABR-1 with titanium saddles
Tailpiece: Locking stopbar
Finish: High-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer in more accurate vintage colors

Gibson 2016 ES-335 Figured

Body woods: Beautifully figured maple back and sides
Fingerboard: Rosewood with small block inlays
Neck: Redesigned for improved strength and playabilty
Truss rod: Historic truss rod
Pickups: Burstbucker 1 & 2
Bridge: ABR-1 with titanium saddles
Tailpiece: Locking stopbar
Finish: High-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer

Gibson 2016 1963 ES-335TD

Body: Correct '63 shape with narrower cutaway horns
Fingerboard: Bound rosewood with block inlays
Potentiometers: Matched 550k potentiometers
Hot hide glue: Historic body and neck construction
Truss rod: Tubeless Historic truss rod
Pickups: MHS humbuckers
Frets: Period-correct .100" x .045" fret wire
Finish: VOS nitrocellulose lacquer

Gibson 2016 1958 ES-335 VOS

Body: Correct '58 shape with "Mickey Mouse ears"
Fingerboard: Unbound rosewood with dot inlays
Potentiometers: Matched 550k potentiometers
Construction: Historic body and neck construction
Truss rod: Tubeless Historic truss rod
Pickups: MHS humbuckers
Frets: Period-correct .100" x .045" fret wire
Finish: VOS for a gently aged look

Gibson 2016 ES-175 Figured

Body: The classic fully-hollow single-cutaway design
Fingerboard: Rosewood with split-parallelogram inlays
Figured woods: Figured maple top and back
Fingerboard binding: Rolled for superb playing comfort
Truss rod: Historic truss rod
Pickups: Two 57 Classic humbuckers
Bridge: ABR-1 with titanium saddles
Finish: High-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer

Gibson 2016 1959 ES-175D

Body: The classic fully-hollow single-cutaway design
Fingerboard inlays: Rosewood with split-parallelogram inlays
Construction: Neck joint and top braces attached with hot hide glue
Fingerboard binding: Rolled for superb playing comfort
Truss rod: Historic truss rod
Pickups: Two MHS humbuckers
Finish: VOS treated nitrocellulose lacquer

Gibson 2016 1959 ES-335TD

Body: Correct '59 shape with "Mickey Mouse ears"
Fingerboard: Bound rosewood with dot inlays
Potentiometers: Matched 550k potentiometers
Construction: Historic body and neck construction
Truss rod: Tubeless Historic truss rod
Pickups: MHS humbuckers
Frets: Period-correct .100" x .045" fret wire
Finish: VOS for a gently aged look

Gibson 2016 B.B. King Lucille

No f-holes: Classic ES-355 style body but without f-holes
Finish: Elegant high-gloss Ebony
Hardware: Gold-plated throughout
Binding: Multi-ply body binding
Inlays: Mother-of-pearl block inlays
Tone switch: Six-position Varitone tone network
Tailpiece: TP-6 fine-tuning tailpiece
Pickups: 490R and 490T humbuckers

Gibson 2016 ES-LP Bass

Body: ES-LP semi-solid hybrid design
Finish: High-gloss nitrocellulose lacquer
Hardware: A bass stopbar tailpiece and Tune-o-matic bridge
Tuners: Hipshot Ultralite tuners
Fingerboard: Rosewood with pearloid trapezoid inlays
Nut: Genuine bone
Neck: Short-scale neck with rolled binding
Pickups: Special design MHS Bass Humbuckers