Introduced in 1949, the ES-5 was a fairly big leap of faith for Gibson, introducing a guitar with three pickups, at least five years before Fender would take their own venture into the world of three pickup guitars. A 17”, multi ply maple archtop, the ES-5 would soon take on a life of its own separate from the ES-175 and L5 that it developed from, thanks, in part to blue guitarist T Bone Walker.

First introduced with P90’s and only four knobs, the ES-5 soon got its “Switchmaster” moniker in 1955, and, in 1957, “Patent Applied For” humbucker pickups were added, along with a heap of more control knobs. This example, from 1958, features the highly sought after pickups, wired to give you “1, 2, 3, and all” pickups, as well as a volume and tone for each.

This particular guitar is all original sans its finish, which has been sanded down from the original sunburst to a natural finish, and the gold plating on the original PAFs has been steel wooled back to the nickel. The rest of the instrument is original, from wiring to hardware.

Condition is good (minus the finish), with minimal wear on the hardware and excellent playability.

Comes with a Gibson case, most likely original, with a case cover.