Gibson has teamed up with Marcus King to create a new signature guitar, the Marcus King 1962 ES-345.
Based on the '62 ES-345 King's grandfather handed down to his father, who subsequently handed it down to him, the guitar features a three-ply maple/poplar/maple body with a solid maple center block, a rounded, early-’60s-profile mahogany neck, and an Indian rosewood fretboard boasting 22 medium jumbo frets with split parallelogram inlays and a 12” radius.
Sonically, it features two Custombuckers controlled by a three-way selector switch, a pair of pickup-specific volume and tone controls, and – as with most vintage 345s – a six-position mono Varitone switch.
Additional visual appointments on the guitar include a “Custom Made” plaque, a Nitrocellulose Lacquer Sixties Cherry finish, an engraved “Stereo” truss rod cover, and a gold Sideways Vibrola that matches the rest of the gold VOS hardware.
Though the guitar was designed to be painstakingly period-correct down to the last detail, the King '62 ES-345 does differ from most ES-345s of the era in one way: its tuners.
Like King's original, this ES-345 features Grover Milk Bottle Rotomatic tuners, of which King said, “my father, my grandfather, my uncle, everybody swore by Grovers… It’s a King household trademark.”
The Gibson Marcus King 1962 ES-345 is available now – with a Custom Shop ES case, certificate of authenticity, and Marcus King belt buckle included – for $6,999.
For more info on the guitar, stop by gibson.com.
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