Gibson ES355 Owned By Freddie King On eBay!

Here's a 1967 Gibson ES355 that, according to the seller, was owned by the late legendary bluesman Freddie King!  (Item #: 180375852258)

The ES355 was intended to be a deluxe version of the ES335 and featured an ebony fingerboard, pearl block inlays, gold-plated hardware, six-position Varitone and multiple binding on the body, neck and fingerboard.  The headstock was also adorned with the Les Paul Custom-style 'split-block' pearl inlay.

The Gibson ES355 also came with a 'Stereo' feature with discrete outputs from each pickup that could be sent to two separate amplifiers.   Freddie kept his pickup selector switch in the middle position --both pickups 'on' -- and played through a Fender Quad Reverb amp. 


The ES355 was Freddie King's main axe of choice for most of his career, although he did on occasion also play ES335s, ES345s and Les Pauls.

This particular ES355, serial number 580445, dates from 1967.  According to the seller, Freddie had its Vibrola trem removed and replaced with a stop bar tailpiece.


With a Buy It Now price just shy of 50 grand, this guitar comes with a letter from a roadie who travelled with one of King's opening acts, as well as a road-worn, duct-tape reinforced hardcase stencilled with 'Freddie King, Texas Cannonball, Fragle (sic)'

Greg Koch Plays 'Cause We Ended As Lovers

Hailing from Milwaukee, Wisconsin (behind the Cheddar Curtain as he likes to describe it), Greg Koch's playing is a gristly stew of influences.

Take a dollop of Jimi Hendrix, a spoonful of Eric Clapton, a dash of Chet Atkins, a peppering of BB, Albert and Freddie King, and a heaping helping of Albert Lee, and you have a killer gumbo that doesn't even begin to describe Koch's indescribable style. Or wry sense of humor.

In this in-store guitar clinic vid -- Koch is a clinician for Fender Instruments and Hal Leonard -- he demonstrates his succulent volume swells starting at 2:59 in the style of Duane Allman and Roy Buchanan before launching into a Jeff Beck-style rendition of 'Cause We Ended As Lovers at 3:31.

Koch's sheer control of the instrument is indisputable. Check out his Beck-approved finger-style approach to the main melody at 4:00 before going back to pick-mode briefly at 4:25 to execute some pick pinch-harmonics. I especially dig his quirky flurry of triplets at 5:19.

Koch has several books and DVDs out on Hal Leonard -- guitar instruction at its finest. Check them out here.