The single cutaway hollowbody electric archtops were something of a compromise between Gibson’s 3 3/8-inch-deep ES archtops and their slim solidbody electric guitarsĭuring this time, Gibson’s owners CMI continuously pushed Ted McCarty for new electric-guitar designs, and in July 1955, the first thinlines were unveiled at the NAMM show in Chicago.

In 1952, Gibson unveiled their first solidbody electric guitar, the Les Paul Model (Goldtop) and the range soon widened to include the Junior, TV and Custom in 1954, followed by the Special in 1955.Įvidently, the 1950s were a period of great innovation at Gibson as new musical styles and tastes emerged, and, for the first time in the company’s history, in 1954 the total number of electric guitars shipped exceeded that of acoustics. Such was the unprecedented success of the electric guitar generally that Gibson’s newly appointed president, Ted McCarty, expanded the idea to include not only a further two ES models in 1949 - the Florentine/pointed cutaway ES-175 and triple pickup ES-5 - but also electrified versions of their flagship Super 400 and L-5 archtops, the Super 400CES and L-5CES (released in 1951).

Gibson es 330 vs epiphone casino