The Gibson ES-335

Ahh, the mysterious factory order number. The thing that seems terribly important when you have a 1960 serial number guitar with a 59 FON that you really want to sell as a 59. Except when it goes the other way and you have a 58 FON that you want to call a 59 because the serial number is 59. Hint (it’s the serial number that counts) This is T 5972 24. Find out below what that means.

Here’s a short lesson in Gibson’s manufacturing practices in the 1950’s until 1961: When construction of a guitar was started, a number was stamped into the piece of wood that was to be the back of the guitar. That number is generally visible through the treble side f-hole. It’s called a factory order number (FON). It is composed of a letter and three or four numbers followed by a space and then the number 1 through 35. The number identifies a “rack” of guitars to be built at the same time. A rack is usually composed of 35 guitars usually the same model (but not always). They are put on a rolling rack (hence the term) and wheeled through the various stations that do specific jobs. In general, the wood would have come from the same shipment and the workers were the same (usually) throughout the process of building that particular rack. The letter that precedes the number designates the year. The letters work backwards…T was 1958. S was 1959. R was 1960 and Q was 1961. Then they stopped using FON’s. So, if your guitar has a “T” FON, the process of building that guitar was started in 1958. It doesn’t mean it was completed in 1958 or shipped in 1958. The lag between FON and ship date can be literally years, although it was usually months. The FON is sequential until it reaches 9999 and then it starts again at some three digit number. I don’t know why but it seem to start at 600. That’s the lowest FON number I’ve seen. The final number is called the rank-it is the number that designates each guitar in the rack 1 through 35 (usually). So, my guitar has the FON of T5972-7. That means its the 7th guitar in rack number 5972 from 1958. Simple, right?

Well it isn’t so simple because that particular rack being late 1958 had most of its guitars shipped in 1959 but they are dispersed over more than 18 months. Serial number A29063 is the earliest one I’ve had from that rack, shipped in January 59. A33765 is the latest which, surprisingly, is July 1960, a year and a half later than A29063. I date guitars by the serial number for a number of reasons. Even when a guitar has a 58 FON, it may not have been assembled until much later. I make a distinction between building and assembling. The body and neck may have been built and finished in 1958 but if the guitar wasn’t shipped until 1960, it is likely to have parts from 1960. There weren’t a lot of changes between January 1959 and July 1960 but there were a few. The ones from 1960 have a number of 58 features…big neck, thin top, shallow neck angle. But they have a 60 harness and 60 tuners (small oil hole) and possibly other features (different truss rod cover for example-no roll marks).

So, why am I singling out this particular rack? It’s certainly unusual in that the guitars from this rack were spread out over such a long time and I have a theory about that. It’s speculation but it makes sense. The other reason is that of the twenty best 3×5’s I’ve ever owned (over 600), four, possibly five came from this rack. That can’t be random. Here’s the theory…In 1959, all 3×5’s had thin three ply tops. Gibson started getting complaints about cracks, especially around stress points like the jack. Their solution was to build the guitars with four ply wood instead of three ply and the problem went away. I think there were probably a number of guitars that were started in late 58 that coincided with the decision to make the four ply top. Gibson didn’t want more complaints so perhaps they put the guitars from this rack aside using them only sparingly perhaps when they were getting behind on orders. There are guitars that I’ve owned from this rack in the early A290xx range, the A301xx to A302xx range, the A312xx range and, surprisingly three from 1960-A32612, A33108 and A33765. I guess they thought spreading them out would keep the complaints at a minimum.

Finally, there is something else. First, I think the thin top 335’s are the best sounding 335’s ever made. While nearly every 59 335 is a very good guitar, at least four of them from rack T5972 are extraordinary. A30248 is number 30 in the rack and it is the best 335 I’ve ever played. One of the 1960 serial ones is up there as is A29063 and A29069. I’ve only had nine of the 35 guitars in this rack but if you see one, there is a very good chance that it is an amazing player. After all, it’s the wood and the builder that make a great guitar. They all had the same electronics and the same parts. I currently own A29069-a near mint 335 that had a Bigsby that was removed decades ago and the holes filled. An extraordinary play and a good looker. It won’t be listed right away because I want to play it for a while.

This is A 29069 with the factory order number of T5972 24 making it the 24th guitar from this rack. Number 30 from this rack is the best 335 I’ve ever played and three others from T5972 have been in my top twenty. That’s why I call it the “magic rack”.