Pete’s Gear: Gibson ES-345 Stereo guitars

Pete Townshend used Gibson ES-345 thinline semi-hollow archtop guitars during occasional shows in 1967 and 1968. These guitars featured:

• Thin, double cutaway, semi-hollow body with solid maple block down center and triple-bound top, single-bound back.
• Stereo electronics, two humbucking pickups, two volume and two tone controls, selector switch, Vari-tone rotary tone switch, trapeze tailpiece.
• Rosewood fingerboard, double parallelogram fingerboard inlays, neck joins body at 19th fret.
• Crown peghead inlay, gold-plated parts.

The models with which Pete has been pictured are 1965–1967 models. One of which cost Pete £200 and was later smashed (at the Marquee in 1968).

Pete in Melody Maker:

“I smashed up two guitars at the end of the show, because one I was using had recently been repaired and broke as I came on stage, so I played another one I use for recording. At the end, I though, ‘What the hell,’ and smashed them both. The Gibson Stereo cost £200 and the amps, which were borrowed, will cost about £20 each to repair. I can’t put it down to tax because when I say I use 70 guitars a year, they don’t believe me.”

Resources and Information

• Vintage Guitar Info: guitarhq.com/gibson4.html#es345