Chuck Berry, the father of rock n roll, receives a new tribute from the Gibson Custom Shop: his 1978 ES-355 returns in a limited edition by Murphy Lab.

Rock n roll was born on a Gibson, an ES-350T to be precise. Chuck Berry embraced it throughout the initial phase of his career, writing some of his greatest hits, which have now become true standards for the genre. As the years progress, the stages grow, with them the volumes and at the same time the notoriety of Chuck, universally recognized as the founding father of rock n roll.
His guitar has also changed, now the thin case of an ES-355 better supports the artist’s technical needs, the central block keeps feedback at bay and a Maestro Vibrola allows him to enrich the phrasing with those lever strokes that today they are an integral part of the musical language.

That Gibson ES-355 now becomes a limited edition by the Custom department, historically correct according to the canons of the 70s and with a Murphy Lab treatment for a genuine aesthetic faithful to the original.

The ES-355’s body echoes the smooth curves and signature double cutaway of Gibson’s thin-body ESs. The wood is laminated maple, with a spruce bracing inside and a lightweight maple center block to curb unwanted vibrations while maintaining a sonorous and detailed acoustic voice.
The neck is made of three pieces of maple combined with an ebony fingerboard. The classic 24.75-inch scale features 22 frets over a 12-inch radius. Everything promises traditional playability for the genre, with technical specifications and measurements carefully taken from the originals of the 70s.

On top, two 68 Custombuckers with Alnico 5 magnets are controlled via two volumes and two tones, with 500K CTS potentiometers, ceramic capacitors and six-position Varitone rotary switch.

The refined Wine Red finish is combined with rich gold hardware and large block fret markers. The entire guitar receives the Murphy Lab’s aging treatment to replicate the signs of aging present on the original and offer the player a feeling comparable to an instrument that has matured half a century.

Chuck Berry‘s sound has influenced entire generations of musicians. His style outlined what later became the true language of rock’n’roll. It is almost incredible to think that, until 2019, Gibson had never dedicated a signature to the father of rock’n’roll.

Now the time is ripe and the guitarist, who passed away in 2017, receives a faithful replica of the 1955 ES-350T that sculpted the canons of an entire musical genre.

Before the Saint Louis guitarist paired it with the slimmer ES-345, hits of the caliber of “Maybellene” and “Johnny B Goode” emerged from the voluminous ES-350T cabinet, songs considered true standards for the rock tradition ‘n’roll, as well as the sound with which they were first recorded over half a century ago.

The ES-350T is a hollow body made from three alternating layers of figured maple and poplar to act as the case. Everything is wrapped in a transparent VOS finish to expose and enhance the blonde marbling of the top, sides and back, ideal complements to the gold hardware.
The neck is composed of two side wings of maple with a walnut core in the center and is shaped in a “plentiful but not too much” C-Shape modeled on the curves of an original 1955 model.

The electrified voice of the model is offered by a pair of specially designed dog-ear style P90s, capable of a bright and deep timbre at the same time, with a non-excessive output and a vocal and articulate mid-range, ideal for enhancing clean sounds or slightly rippled, with a decisive attack and a strong sonic presence.

Only 55 copies of Chuck Berry‘s ES-350T will be released worldwide. Visible on the official website at this link, all will be accompanied by a shoulder strap like those used by Chuck and a Zuni “Sun God” tie like the one worn by the guitarist in the 1950s.