Jimmy Egypt & Sons

1960s Gibson 330 L/H Conversion for Southpaw Rockstar

This is a lovely instrument. the guitar has been converted to left hand operation previously by another repairer. The job’s been carried out well with all the controls being fitted in the correct place…but the job was not finished, leaving unsightly unfilled holes in the top of the guitar. The guitar’s in for a refret as the (original) frets have worn so low that the strings are now wearing away the rosewood fingerboard! We’ve done our usual high quality job on the refret and I think a little cosmetic work is required to improve the lopsided looks of our hero! The pictures tell the story really. I have to say that this type of work is rewarding. To work on such a great instrument and to be able to restore it to a high standard, improving its playability, function and aesthetics is a satisfying job. The Gibson 330 is a close relative to Epiphone’s Casino and the quality of both instruments in the 1960s was so close as makes no difference. For the tones…check out all of The Beatles Rubber Soul and Revolver. John Lennon used a Casino fitted with the original P90 pickups…just like this guitar… practically his whole recording career. An extremely versatile guitar that will fit into any genre of music. Unlike the similarly shaped Epiphone Sheraton or Gibson 335,345 et al which are constructed with a solid block running the length of the guitar body, the 330 is completely hollow. The 330 and Casino also come fitted with single coil P90 pickups with dog-ear covers rather than the humbucking pickups of the afore mentioned guitars.