What's so Cool about the 58s?

Well, other than being the first year the 335 existed, there are a few elements that haven't been seen since.  The early ones have an unbound neck. It wasn't long before Gibson must have decided that neck binding looked a little classier than having the fret ends showing, so shortly after its introduction, the unbound neck 335 went away forever. I, for one, think they look very cool.  58's are unique in a few other ways. No one ever mentions this but a player who came to my home with a friend to pick up a 62 block neck from me brought along a 58. He made a point of showing me that the plywood top only had 2 plies instead of 3. I don't know whether this adds a bit of resonance or not but when I played this particular 58, it just sang. Great neck profile too. Not quite the baseball bat of an early 50s Les Paul but very big and comfortable. It is perhaps the nicest 335 I've ever played. Better than any I've owned anyway. It had a beautiful dark sunburst finish and was well cared for. He said it was $60K at the time but I think these have dropped a good bit since. I saw a nice one last week up in Vancouver for $32K. Owner was a nice guy too. Another interesting element is the body shape. While it has the well known "Mickey Mouse Ears", they seem ever so slightly narrower and pointier than those on the 59-63s. They came in Sunburst and Natural and had the well loved dot markers. No red ones yet. Shipping totals for the 58: 267 Sunburst and 50 Naturals. Here's one from my friend Tom Hollyers ES-335 website HERE . It is an unbound example with just a hint of flame in the top. Holy crap.