Few guitar shapes carry this much rock history, and almost none of it happened by accident. Gibson built the ES-335 in 1958 because the era's loudest bands needed a hollow-body guitar that could survive on stage without howling back at them. Seven decades later, players are still proving that need is just as real now as it was back then.
On November 26, 1968, Eric Clapton walked onto the Royal Albert Hall stage with a cherry ES-335 for Cream's farewell concert — the last time the trio would play together before their 2005 reunion. He'd bought the guitar in 1964, and by the time Cream ended, road crews were already calling it the Cream Guitar. The name outlived the band, following Clapton through Blind Faith and decades beyond, until he sold it at the 2004 Crossroads auction for $847,500 to help fund the addiction treatment center he'd founded.
Nine months earlier — or later, depending on which direction you're counting from Albert Hall — on August 17, 1969, Alvin Lee closed Ten Years After's Woodstock set with a battered, sticker-covered cherry 335 nicknamed Big Red. "I'm Going Home" stretched past nine minutes, and Lee's playing became one of the most replayed passages in the festival film: proof of how far a hollow-bodied guitar could be pushed onstage.
Seven years after that, Larry Carlton brought his own ES-335 into the studio for Steely Dan's The Royal Scam. The solo on "Kid Charlemagne" took several takes to land, but the one that made the record is still one of the most quoted pieces of lead guitar on any Steely Dan album — four and a half minutes most working guitarists can sing back from memory.
Gibson's Custom Shop exists because of guitars like these. Spun off as its own Nashville division in 1993, it was built on one stubborn idea: stop guessing at vintage specs and start measuring them. Luthiers pulled apart dozens of original late-'50s and '60s Gibsons — neck angles, carves, dimensions — because the old factory drawings didn't match the guitars people actually wanted back. That same shop later built official replicas of instruments straight out of this story, including a dedicated Eric Clapton 335 modeled on his 1964 original.
This one carries that same lineage: a Historic Collection '61-spec ES-335, built during the Custom Shop's run of the model between 2002 and 2022, wearing the same cherry finish and fast, slim early-'60s neck that made the original a favorite among players who wanted speed as much as tone.
It's in excellent condition — minimal fret wear, a clean and unaged finish — with a matching interior label, the original Gibson Custom Shop booklet, and a Gibson hardshell case. The shop that measured Clapton's guitar built this one too.
Wherever it's headed next, it's already earned the room.
This is a USED Instrument in EXCELLENT condition.
If you have any questions, feel free to drop by, shoot us a message or give us a call!
As always, this guitar has been meticulously and professionally set up by our skilled luthiers at The Upper Bout.
Spec Block
Body / Construction
Body Type: Semi-hollow
Body Material: 3-ply maple/poplar/maple
Finish: Sixties Cherry
Binding: Single-ply body binding
Neck
Neck Material: Mahogany, set neck
Neck Profile: SlimTaper '61-spec (thin/fast carve)
Scale Length: 24.75"
Fingerboard Material: Indian rosewood
Fret Count: 22, medium jumbo
Inlays: Pearloid dot
Hardware
Bridge: ABR-1 style with lightweight aluminum stopbar tailpiece
Tuning Machines: Kluson single-line, double-ring
Hardware Finish: Nickel
Electronics
Neck Pickup: Likley Custombucker-style humbucker
Bridge Pickup: Likley Custombucker-style humbucker
Controls: 2 volume, 2 tone
Switching: 3-way toggle
Miscellaneous
Case: Original Gibson Custom Shop hardshell case included
