Im sure this has been covered before, but what guitar does Chuck use onstage lately? It looks like a Gibson ES-335, but Im not sure. Does he buy new instruments or does he prefer older ones? Any info would be appreciated. Im a lifelong diehard fan of Chuck Berry. I just purchased a Epiphone Les Paul, red with gold hardware,probably influenced on the colors somewhere...huh.

Gibson ES-355. He's been using it for years. Great tone coming out of that guitar. It's seen a great deal of battle and it's still doing the job very well. There's a way (in general) to tell the ES-3XX guitars apart.

1. Gibson ES-335
a. will never have a 5 position Varitone switch.
b. only have dot or block inlays on the fretboard.
c. will 99% of the time only come with nickel or chrome hardware.
d. single binding around the body.
e. crown inlay on the headstock.

2. Gibson ES-345
a. will only have double Parallelogram inlays on the fretboard.
b. will only have gold hardware.
c. have a stereo option (truss rod cover will have the word "stereo"). The stereo models will have a very special double shaft on the guitar jack that REQUIRES a special guitar cord. The cord can have two different types of ends on the other side. The first is a rattlesnake tongue end a jack on each tip OR a single jack that merges the two pickups in mono fashion. The split tongue configuration is really cool because it allows for the guitar to be hooked up to separate Amps! It provides for a left / right, top / bottom amp setup depending on the pickup switch position (lead or rhythm). Even cooler is when the pickup switch is in the middle position. Both AMP's a being driven at once. The newer guitars have two jacks on the side of the guitar and use two separate guitar cords to achieve the same affect. It makes for a much bulkier cord configuration. The Mono models use a normal cable and jack.
d. double binding around the body.
e. crown inlay on the headstock.

3. Gibson ES-355
a. will only have block inlays on the fretboard.
b. will only have gold hardware.
c. have a stereo option (truss rod cover will have the word "stereo"). see ES-345 "C"
d. triple binding around the body.
e. split diamond inlay on the headstock.

Gibson in their infinite wisdom, have variations on all three guitars so it can get rather confusing however, the above descriptions are the standard long term configurations. The Varitone switches on the 345 & 355 have been a source of love / hate for a few players over the years. Some complained they just got in the way and took away from the sound. In those cases, the owners had the Varitone switch bypassed leaving them with a Mono or Stereo 335 basically. The opposite camp find the Varitone switch ups the number of tones and voices considerably. All dad's 345 and 355's have had this left intact.

Be very careful with your gold hardware. There's a very thin coating of GOLD on the hardware and Gibson (Epiphone is a subsidiary of Gibson) do not do much to protect it. A clear coating would do wonders. The gold wearing off will not have any impact on the sound. It will just make the pickups and other hardware turn greenish from the skin oils and sweat accumulating over time. You might be able to extend the time before it starts to wear off with a VERY mild polish but expect it not to last. Gibson needs to take a few pointers from Fender and PRS in gold hardware preservation. I have a Telecaster with Gold hardware and it STILL looks just as good as the day I bought the guitar.

Thanks so much for taking the time to educate me on the ES guitars! Like you said, it can(and was to me) ,confusing. I thought I knew a little about guitars, but never heard of a guitar that could be played thru two amps. Thru the years every one of my guitars have been red,(except one black and white Strat) and know its because I've always thougtht the guitars your dad uses are so awesome looking.. Thanks for the tip on the gold hardware,Im going to try some polish,that gold sure gets smeared/dirty soo easy. I also like alot of the guitars I see you playing. The green Strat,the blonde Strat, the flying V...very cool. I would also like to say one of my favorite Youtube clips is one of you and your dad playing Nadine, I believe it was last year. Your dad played a short solo then turned it over to you. Very nice solos. Take care.

Hi rock n roller,
Great question and Thanks for the indepth answer CBII. As you all know, I love Nadine!! Here is the clip of Nadine you mentioned with Father and Son of Rock!! Chuck tunes the Famous Gibson the first minute of the clip....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqF17Dmd8u8

Doug

Started Walking Toward A Coffee Colored Cadillac!!

Rock n Roller, I have gave a "Bump to the top" to a couple great old posts about Chuck's Fabulous Gibson. Also CB Forum member "Tulane" has written a wonderful story on his blog about the "Ol Workhorse", Check it out here -

http://goheadon.blogspot.com/

Thanks Tulane!!

Doug

Move On Up Just A Trifle Furhter!!

Thanks for the link.