“Mint” means, uh, MINT and “One Owner” means….
Check out those ears! on a 66! Look at those tweeds. Too bad they aren't mine. I love Fender tweeds-my Deluxe is my favorite amp and my 59 Bandmaster was the best I've ever owned.
How many times have you seen an Ebay or Gear Page listing that says “guitar is in mint condition”? Or even better guitar is “mint for its age” or “mint for a 50 year old guitar?” I’m sure you’ve seen it a hundred times if you’ve seen it once. I bring this up because I bought an unusual ’66 ES-345 from an Ebay seller that was described as “mint”. I was going to wait until I received the guitar and use it as an example but I don’t like to call too much attention to my guitars in the interest of keeping this site from becoming too commercial. Here’s the peeve: The idea of anything being mint “for its age” is preposterous (and ridiculous). Mint means it is in the same condition it was in when it left the factory. No more, no less. It can be excellent for its age or very good for its age but it can’t be mint for its age unless its mint. There’s a perfectly good term for a guitar that’s in exceptional condition for its age but isn’t in factory condition. It’s very useful and I use it, albeit sparingly. It’s “near mint”-not “near mint for its age” but near mint. To me, that means it is very close to mint condition but shows perhaps a ding or minor scratch or 2 but no play wear or fret wear. A bop on the headstock will take a guitar from mint to something less and near mint (with the explanation that it would be mint but for the ding on the headstock) does the job. I don’t care if the guitar was put under the bed a week after it was bought, if there is damage of any kind, then the guitar is not mint. Period. Actually, I have to mention one other peeve and it’s also in reference to this particular ES-345. This is just dumb. In the heading, he calls the guitar a one owner guitar. To me that means he’s the original owner-that’s why they call it one owner. Here’s the quote from the listing: “I purchased this guitar from the original owner 5 years ago and it has been in my collection since.” So, he calls the guitar a one owner and it isn’t. he calls it mint and then states: “There is slight discoloration on the original Humbucker pickup covers.” OK, so not quite mint. I can overlook discolored brightwork. So, why did I buy it? Check out the ears. If those aren’t almost Mickey Mouse ears on a ’66, then I’m blind. I’ve seen this twice before. I had a red ’66 with the same body shape. Most 66’s have very pointy horns. Check the photos of the 345 and the 335 that I’ve also put up. To the sellers credit, he guarantees the guitar to be as described. It already isn’t since he called it a one owner guitar but I’ll reserve judgment until it shows up. You’ll see it in the “For Sale” section very soon. You can be pretty certain I won’t describe it as “one owner” and “mint”.
Here's another shot. If it wasn't for the trapeze, I would guess this was a 62 or 63.
These are the pointiest 66 I've ever seen. Very narrow, too. Compare them to the 345 above.
