Gibson ES-330
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The Gibson ES-330 is a thinline hollowbody electric guitar model produced by the Gibson Guitar Corporation.
Though similar in appearance to the popular Gibson ES-335 semi-hollow guitar, the ES-330 was a fairly different guitar in construction and sound. While the 335 was a semi-hollow guitar (that is, the central part of the guitar body was a solid block while the wings of the guitar were hollow), the 330 was a fully hollow thinline guitar. Also, the 335 featured two humbucking pickups, while the 330 featured two single-coil P-90 pickups; these featured black plastic covers for the first few years of production and later switched to nickel covers. Together, the 330 body construction and the different pickups created a sound that was quite different from the 335. Also, the 330 neck joined the body at the 15th fret, whereas the 335 neck joined the body at the 19th fret; later, due to complaints of the lack of access to upper frets, the neck was elongated by joining it to the body at the 19th fret.
The guitar was produced both as a single-pickup instrument (ES-330T) and as a dual-pickup instrument (ES-330TD). It was available in sunburst, cherry, and natural finishes. Tailpieces used were usually trapeze or vibrato tailpieces. Due to its lack of popularity compared to the other Gibson thinline guitars (such as the ES-335, ES-345, and ES-355), the ES-330 was discontinued by Gibson in the early 1970s. Since then, it has been reissued a few times by the Gibson Custom Shop division.
Though it was not quite as popular as the ES-335, the ES-330 was played by a number of different players over the years. Jazz guitarist Grant Green frequently used an early sunburst dual-pickup 330, while blues player B.B. King used a 330 briefly during the late 1960s. Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones often used a sunburst dual-pickup ES-330 during the late 1960s and Keith Richards used a similar guitar during several studio sessions and live performances in 1968 and 1969. Singer/songwriter Elliott Smith used a Gibson ES-330 during the electric set of his concerts. As well Bernard Sumner of New Order uses a sunburst, mid 1960's Gibson 330TD.
[edit] Epiphone Casino
At around the same time that Gibson introduced the ES-330, its subsidiary company Epiphone introduced a similar guitar, the Casino. Like the 330, it featured one or two single-coil P-90 pickups and a fully-hollow body; the only difference (aside from the name on the headstock) was the presence of parallelogram inlays on the fingerboard (instead of dot inlays or small-block inlays). The guitar was available until the early 1970s, but has since been reissued many times by Epiphone.
Interestingly, despite being identical in sound and construction to the ES-330, the Epiphone Casino has been used somewhat more by popular guitarists than the Gibson version. Possibly the most famous users of the Casino were John Lennon, George Harrison, and Paul McCartney of The Beatles; Lennon and Harrison used their Casinos frequently in the studio and on tour in the mid-1960s, while McCartney continues to use his Casino to this day. Recently, Epiphone issued two John Lennon signature Casinos, based on the same model that Lennon used; one model is based on the original Casino that Lennon used in the mid 60s (sunburst finish, pickguard), while the other is a replica of the Casino after he removed the pickguard and applied a natural finish to the guitar.
Aside from the Beatles, the Casino was also used by Keith Richards and Brian Jones of The Rolling Stones in the early 1960s. Gem Archer of Oasis also uses a natural-finished Casino occasionally in concert.
