1966 Gibson Trini Lopez Standard

Dating to 1966 this killer sounding player-grade Trini Lopez Standard comes from the second full year of production for this ever popular Gibson Artist guitar. Gibson was no stranger to releasing Artist Signature Instruments, a tradition that dated back to the late 1920s yet it was rare for Gibson to produce more than one model for each artist. Such was the popularity of Trini Lopez in the mid 60’s Gibson would release not only the Trini Lopez Standard but the more expensive but less successful Trini Lopez Deluxe Model.

Based on the ever popular ES-335TD, the Trini Lopez Standard featured the same ES-335TD body but with unique and distinctive bound Diamond F-Holes. At Trini Lopez’s request the 24 3/4” scale neck has the same asymmetrical headstock used on the Firebird with the same 6-a-side tuners. The fingerboard is adorned with slashed Diamond inlays mirroring the F-Holes. Unless factory ordered with a Bigsby the Trini Lopez Standard would come with a trapeze tailpiece with Trini Lopez' name on a wooden insert. Other specs mirror that of the model year ES-335TD.

The guitar is in good overall condition but has been played and modified over the years, mainly the conversion to a stop tail from the original Trini Tailpiece. The original Cherry finish has faded to a great looking washed Cherry, with no signs of overspray or touch up. The binding has heavily yellowed adding to the vibey, aged aesthetic. There are two small areas, by the input jack and on the rear of the guitar that have had minor repairs and one fingerboard inlay has been replaced. Aside from these minor issues the neck and body in good condition and are free from issues. The original six-on-a-plate double line Klusons have been resourcefully adapted to a 5-on-a-plate with additional single line Kluson for the high E-string. The nut appears original as do the dressed frets. When the guitar came to us the pickups were uncovered and missing both of the original covers, we decided to pair the guitar with a matched set of nickel VOS covers from Crazy Parts. The electronic loom has previously been broken with one Pot certainly changed. Both the Pat Number pickups both have stickers and non T-Top bobbins, the bridge pickup has the black and white lead wire expected for ’66 but the neck pickup has double black lead wires indicating this could either be an earlier Pat No. pickup or a very late example as the transition happened late ’65. The inside orange label is missing but all other hardware is correct, there is a strap button added to the upper bout.

The guitar plays well with a nice acoustic zing when strummed unplugged, the 1 9/16” nut width predominant of this era shares a similar back profile to the necks produced between ’63 and ’64. Plugged in the guitar sounds fantastic, the bridge pickup has bite and clarity and balances well but the neck pickup is simply superb! It sounds huge, with a modest amount of drive set, it is dynamic with a throaty grunt when pushed and harmonically rich with a sweet top end.

Gibson produced only 485 Trini Lopez Standards in 1966 so player grade examples seldom come to market, especially ones with the stoptail conversion (a real plus for many) and no additional headstock, heel or finish issues.

The guitar comes complete in its original Gibson Trini Lopez specific hard shell case.