Gibson ES-333

The Gibson ES-333 is a semi hollow body electric guitar made by Gibson Guitar Corporation.

The ES-333 varies from the ES-335 in the following ways:

* The finish is a thin satin finish, versus the ES-335's thicker full gloss finish.
* The headstock has a silkscreen Gibson logo, versus the ES-335's inlaid pearloid logo.
* The headstock has no further decorative inlay, versus the ES-335's "crown" headstock inlay.
* The pickups are Gibson type 490R and 498T, versus the ES-335's Gibson 57 Classic pickups.
* The back of the body has an access cover for the electronics, versus the solid rear of the ES-335.

Some players value the ES-333 because its back access cover, the same as used on the Gibson BB King "Lucille", allows easy access to the various electronic components, making them far easier to service, or more likely, in case of modification for fine tuning the overall tone of the instrument.

Despite the fact that this model made it possible for a Gibson semi-hollow body electric guitar accessible to a much bigger consumer market, the ES-333 was a short lived model on Gibson's "Made in Memphis" catalog.

A common complaint reflected in numerous user reviews was that this guitar (and numerous others in Gibson's "Made in Memphis" catalog) received a rather poor factory setup. This problem is easily corrected by a professional or dedicated hobbyist.

Tom Delonge of Angels and Airwaves a signature Gibson ES-333's of which color is brown with a cream racing stripe with one Gibson Dirty Fingers humbucking bridge pickup with a single volume knob on all.