Tools of the Trade #16, Part 2

Using a Gibson ES-350 for rock rhythm guitar

- BY JOE BONAMASSA

THOUGH NOT OBVIOUSLY thought of in this way, the Gibson ES-350 is a great instrument to use for rock rhythm guitar playing. With its hollow body and two-pickup design, it's similar to the Gretsch 6120, which Pete Townshend used nearly exclusively for the guitar parts on the Who's seminal Who's Next album. Those gigantic rhythm guitars you hear on "Won't Get Fooled Again" and “Baba O'Riley” were, surprisingly, recorded by Pete on a 1959 Gretsch 6120.

I will often use the ES-350 in the same manner. The necks on these guitars are skinny and narrow, so the strings are actually a little closer together, as compared to other Gibsons, and it features “narrow-spaced” PAF pickups, wherein the screws are closer together.