“I want to share with everyone else what he shared with me”: Marcus King’s vintage Gibson ES-345 has passed through 3 generations of his family. Now, his new signature model brings it to the masses

Blues and Southern rock firebrand Marcus King has been honored with his second Gibson signature guitar – another ES-345 that oozes vintage gorgeousness.

The South Carolina superstar has spent most of his life with a guitar slung over his shoulder – he jammed with Garry Rossington at 12 years old, released his first album at 18, and recently took Jeff Beck’s Les Paul to the stage. His latest Gibson is a testament to his dedication to music.

“Marcus King is a singer, songwriter, and guitarist with the soul of American roots music flowing through his DNA,” Gibson says while unveiling his signature electric guitar.

However, while it pays homage to King’s main six-string, a family heirloom 1962 ES-345 – his dad, Marvin King, and grandfather were heroes of their local scene – the guitar has also been streamlined in a bid to bring it to the masses.

Only the features he deems essential remain. That sees mono wiring, two Custombucker humbuckers, and a fixed Vibrola tailpiece headline the build. It’s a little sleeker than his beloved “Big Red”, but is just as stunning.

It pairs a three-ply maple/poplar/maple body and solid maple center block with a rounded mahogany neck and 22-fret Indian rosewood fingerboard. Crafted with a glued, set-in neck construction, it is built with a 12” fingerboard radius and capped with Acrylic Split Parallelogram inlays.

Omissions from his generation-crossing “Big Red” guitar is the lack of a whammy bar and the Varitone switch, but as King says, “It’s a guitar that gives you something to hold on to.”

Other standard ES-345 features are proudly present, including an ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge and Grover Rotomatic tuners with kidney buttons. At its core, the guitar stays true to its early ’60s roots.

It was originally released as a Custom Shop-only model in 2021, but its success has encouraged Gibson to take its collaboration with the Grammy-nominated player to the next level.

“The guitar for me as a kid was a release, an escape, a best friend, and a babysitter,” King tells Gibson. “I don’t really like talking about myself, but it being my grandfather’s guitar really helps me feel like I’m able to carry on his legacy. I want to share with everyone else what he shared with me.”

In all, he says the guitar is “a vessel” for “whatever emotion I walk on stage with,” and that’s how he wants players to receive this six-string.

The Gibson Marcus King ES-345 Sixties Cherry is available now for $3,999.

Head to Gibson for more.

During a candid interview late last year, King spoke about the state of the contemporary guitar scene and called for more feel from his fellow shredders.

A freelance writer with a penchant for music that gets weird, Phil is a regular contributor to Prog, Guitar World, and Total Guitar magazines and is especially keen on shining a light on unknown artists. Outside of the journalism realm, you can find him writing angular riffs in progressive metal band, Prognosis, in which he slings an 8-string Strandberg Boden Original, churning that low string through a variety of tunings. He’s also a published author and is currently penning his debut novel which chucks fantasy, mythology and humanity into a great big melting pot.