Gibson ES-340 TD
Thin line semi-acoustic guitar, with in-phase/out-of-phase wiring

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PART 1 description and shipping figures | PART 2 1969 promotional sheet

Promo sheet for the Gibson ES-340TD from its launch in 1969

The ES-340TD was launched in 1969, and was available until 1974. It was identical to the ES-335TD with one exception, the wiring - which allowed an out-of-phase configuration for a "snarly type sound, in demand by todays players".

ES stood for Electric Spanish, and TD stood for Thinline Double pickup, though this was often omitted; it is often referred to as the ES340, or just 340

Whilst the 335 had a typical pickup selector switch; neck/bridge/both pickups, the 340 three way switch was wired to be off/both in phase/both out of phase. The blend of pickups could of course be adjusted as required with the seperate volume and tone controls. In 1973, ES-335s were fitted with a coil tap that could recreate the same out of phase wiring as standard, rendering the ES-340 obsolete. The ES340 was more expensive than the ES335, (see the table below for relative pricing) and comparitively few were shipped; just 1561 instruments compared to 17346 335s (not including 12 strings) in the same period

The following description is taken from the 1970 Gibson catalogue

The Gibson ES-340TD introduces a new dimension in electronic sound versatility. A thin archtop, semi-acoustic body with double venetian cutaway design. Selected birch body with white pearl binding.

FEATURES: Semi-acoustic body, with solid hard-rock maple center piece. Laminated maple neck. Beautiful brazilian rosewood fingerboard with miniature block pearloid inlays. Exclusive adjustable truss rod. Decorative, inlay mother-of-pearl peghead. Chrome-plated parts. Tune-O-Matic bridge. Twin chrome-plated Humbucking pickups. Master volume control. Master mixer control. Three-position toggle switch. 1: Normal position for standard guitar sounds, 2: on or out phase tonalities, 3: stand-by position. 16" wide, 19" long, 1 ž" thin: 24 ž" scale, 22 frets.

ES-340TDW - Walnut finish
ES-340TDN - Natural finish

519 - Faultless plush case
304 - Archcraft plush case
ZC-19 - Zipper cover for 519 case

Shipping figures and pricing

Shipping figures are split by colour for the ES-340TDN (Natural) and ES-340TDW (Walnut), and come from Larry Meiners book^[1]. Original zone 1 (USA) prices are displayed in the third row. Prices in brackets are the prices of the ES-335TD from the same price list

	1969	1970	1971	1972	1973	1974	total
ES-340TDN	240	100	154	115	65	4	678
ES-340TDW	261	184	165	83	145	5	883
Price	$525 ($455)^[2]	$545 ($475)^[3]	$565 ($495)^[4]	$585 ($515)^[5]	$605 ($540)^[6]	unlisted^[7]

1) Gibson Shipment Totals 1937-79 by Larry Meiners
2) Gibson price list 01/09/69
3) Gibson price list 01/09/70
4) Gibson price list 22/11/71
5) Gibson price list 15/10/72
6) Gibson price list 01/06/73
7) Gibson price list 01/02/74

PART 1 description and shipping figures | PART 2 1969 promotional sheet

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Gibson ES-340 TDThin line semi-acoustic guitar, with in-phase/out-of-phase wiring

Shipping figures and pricing

Gibson ES-340 TD
Thin line semi-acoustic guitar, with in-phase/out-of-phase wiring