Gibson Unveils New Marcus King 1962 ES-345
King's first-ever signature guitar is based on the '62 ES-345 that was handed down to him by his grandfather.
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.
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For more info on the guitar, stop by gibson.com.
Jackson is an Associate Editor at GuitarWorld.com and GuitarPlayer.com. He’s been writing and editing stories about new gear, technique and guitar-driven music both old and new since 2014, and has also written extensively on the same topics for Guitar Player. Elsewhere, his album reviews and essays have appeared in Louder and Unrecorded. Though open to music of all kinds, his greatest love has always been indie, and everything that falls under its massive umbrella. To that end, you can find him on Twitter crowing about whatever great new guitar band you need to drop everything to hear right now.