Gibson had used the ‘Electric Spanish’ or ‘ES’ designation since the launch of its first electric guitar, the ES-150, in 1936, but it would later become synonymous with the thinline double-cutaway ‘semi-acoustic’ ES-335T, which first appeared on the back cover of Gibson’s spring catalogue in 1958 (along with the initially short-lived Flying V).
A quick word on ES nomenclature before we continue: T stands for thinline, so applies to all models; D is for double-pickup, redundant for all but the 330; N is for Natural, C for Cherry and W for Walnut); S for stereo; and V for Vari-tone. Some now call the later, longer variant a 330L, but that was never official.
