The Gibson ES 335 was the first in a series of semi-hollow, thin-line acoustic electric guitars. The original electric guitars were hollow bodied and great for the 1940′s and early ’50′s. But when amplification increased these guitars had a tendency to feedback. Fender’s slab guitar and Les Paul’s early version models solved this problem and added great sustain. However, the warm acoustic tones were sacrificed. The ES-335 model came about to find a balance between the warm tone and sustain without feedback.