The Gibson ES-335 is the original semi-hollow, warm and resonant with less feedback risk than a fully hollow archtop, equally at home in jazz, blues or rock.
15 mods reviewed: 8 drop-in, 5 need verification, 2 need modification.
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The Gibson ES-335 is the original semi-hollow, warm and resonant with less feedback risk than a fully hollow archtop, equally at home in jazz, blues or rock. It uses an ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge with an aluminum stop bar tailpiece, the narrower vintage-correct post spacing, not the wider Nashville-spec bridge found on some other modern Gibsons and most current Epiphones. Tuners vary by production year between Vintage Deluxe, Grover and Kluson, on roughly 10mm posts. Standard humbucker routing means most aftermarket humbuckers fit without extra work.
Tailpiece
Aluminum Stop Bar
String spacing
52mm (2.05")
LikelyScale length
24.75" (629mm)
Tuner hole size
10mm (25/64")
LikelyNut width
43.05mm (1.695")
Not published by Gibson: bridge mounting spacing. Measure this before buying a bridge.
Matches your guitar's ABR-1 bridge exactly. Drops into the existing saddle slots, no need to replace the whole bridge.
Saddle-only swap matched to this guitar's confirmed ABR-1 Tune-o-Matic bridge, per Graph Tech's own bridge-stamp fitment guide (PQ-8400-00). Not a universal TOM saddle, this SKU is specific to true ABR-1 spec bridges.
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Matches this guitar's genuine ABR-1 bridge spec directly.
This bridge's own spec sheet confirms ABR-1 vintage mounting at 74.0mm post spacing, matching this guitar's genuine ABR-1 bridge.
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View at AmazonThis bridge uses metric threads, not the inch threads on genuine vintage Gibson hardware. Sources disagree on whether it drops straight in or needs different posts. Worth checking your bridge's thread type before ordering.
Gotoh's GE104B uses M4 metric threaded posts, not the 6-32 inch threads genuine vintage Gibson ABR-1 hardware uses. Retailer listings for this exact bridge genuinely disagree on whether it's a direct fit for post-2017 Gibson ABR-1 guitars: some describe it as a straight drop-in replacement for Gibson or Epiphone ABR-1-style bridges, others explicitly state it is not a direct replacement for Gibson ABR-1 bridges. This guitar's bushing thread type has not been independently confirmed against either claim.
Help confirm this fit
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Fits the standard humbucker route. A vintage-voiced, aged alternative to the stock pickups. Needs soldering.
Standard humbucker route and mounting, consistent with this guitar's factory humbucker cavity. A vintage-voiced alternative to the stock pickups, aged and lower output rather than a modern hot-output design.
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View at ReverbThe exact pickups found on the USA Gibson Les Paul, direct fit here too. Still needs soldering.
This is literally what Gibson ships in the USA Les Paul; a genuine drop-in for the standard humbucker route this guitar also uses.
Fits the standard humbucker route. A higher-output alternative to the stock pickups for pushing an amp into natural overdrive. Needs soldering.
Standard humbucker route and mounting, consistent with this guitar's factory humbucker cavity. A long-established high-output ceramic-magnet alternative to the stock pickups, aimed at players who want more push into natural amp overdrive.
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Fits the standard humbucker route this guitar's stock pickups already sit in. You will need to solder it in.
Fits the standard humbucker route this guitar's stock T-Type humbuckers already sit in.
Matches this guitar's confirmed 10mm tuner holes, a locking upgrade over the stock tuners.
Grover's locking line ships at the same 10mm hole size as this guitar's confirmed tuner holes.
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View at AmazonHole size should be close, but tuners on this model have varied by year. Confirm your actual tuner post diameter before ordering.
Tuners vary by production year between Vintage Deluxe, Grover, and Kluson on roughly 10mm posts.
Help confirm this fit
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Hole size should be close, but tuners on this model have varied by year. Confirm your actual tuner post diameter before ordering.
Tuners vary by production year between Vintage Deluxe, Grover, and Kluson on roughly 10mm posts.
Help confirm this fit
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The 10mm tuner holes match, but this model has shipped with different stock tuners over the years, and their mounting screws sit in different places. Check where your current tuner screws are before ordering, or be ready to drill small new pilot holes.
This guitar's tuner hole size is confirmed at 10mm, matching this tuner directly. Stock tuners have varied by production year (Vintage Deluxe, Grover, or Kluson), and those styles do not share a single screw position, so whether the mounting screw lines up with the existing hole depends on which tuners a given guitar shipped with.
Help confirm this fit
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View at AndertonsHole size should be close, but tuners on this model have varied by year. Confirm your actual tuner post diameter before ordering.
Tuners on the Gibson ES-335 have varied by production year between Vintage Deluxe, Grover, and Kluson units on roughly 10mm posts, rather than one settled spec. Kluson's Revolution threads into a 10mm peghole, so the general size is close, but bushing fit can differ depending on which year's tuners are actually fitted.
Help confirm this fit
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This tuner is sized for vintage tuner holes, not the modern holes on this guitar. You'll need Gotoh's conversion bushings, sold separately, to fit it.
This tuner is vintage-hole spec (8.73 to 8.8mm), not the modern 10mm hole this guitar actually has. Gotoh sells conversion bushings separately for exactly this situation. Not a direct swap, but not a drilling job either, it is a bushing change.
Help confirm this fit
A Bigsby vibrato mounted with an adapter built specifically for this guitar shape, no drilling and fully reversible.
Vibramate sells this kit specifically for Gibson ES-335 style archtops, using the existing tailpiece bushings and strap-pin hole, no new holes required per Vibramate's own spec.
A real modification, not a drop-in. New holes go in the guitar, best left to someone experienced or a tech.
This guitar ships with a fixed stop bar, not a vibrato. Direct-mounting a Bigsby means new holes in the top.
Help confirm this fit
See also
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View at AmazonIf you have fitted any of these to this Gibson ES-335, tell us what you found and we'll update the data.
