The Marcus King ES-345 – Vintage Soul, Modern Reliability
This Marcus King ES-345 is the sound of Southern soul, blues, and classic rock wrapped up in one seriously dialed in semi-hollow. It takes the family-heirloom 1962 ES-345 that Marcus tours with and gives you that same vibe, feel, and authority without needing a vintage insurance policy.
Mono wiring, Custombucker pickups, and a fixed Vibrola mean you get all the tone and none of the fuss. It is built to sing, scream, and stay in tune for the whole set, whether you are bending vocal leads or pouring out wide-open chords through a cranked amp.
Inspired By Marcus King’s Family Heirloom
This guitar is based on the ES-345 that was literally handed down through Marcus’s family, then dragged onto stages around the world. You can feel that lineage in how it resonates and how it reacts to your touch.
The 3-ply maple and poplar ES-345 body with a solid maple center block gives you that classic semi-hollow bloom with plenty of focus. It has the airy, woody character you expect from an ES, but the center block keeps the low end tight and the feedback under control when the gain comes up.
Semi-Hollow That Sings And Stays Under Control
The combination of maple body, maple center block, and quarter-sawn Adirondack spruce bracing hits a killer sweet spot. Notes jump off the fretboard with clarity, then hang there with a slow, vocal sustain instead of collapsing into mush.
You get the chime and chewiness for clean gospel chords, the midrange punch for bluesy leads, and the authority to push big amps without the howl-fest that some hollow bodies bring. Real talk: this thing is built to live on loud stages.
Custombuckers, Mono Wiring, And No-Nonsense Controls
The pair of Custombucker humbuckers give you that classic Gibson warmth with extra clarity on top. The bridge has bite and cut for riffs, but it stays thick enough that big chords still sound huge. The neck pickup is all buttery sustain and smoky jazz and soul tones when you roll the tone back.
Hand-wired Orange Drop caps and simple mono wiring keep it straight ahead. No stereo circus, no confusing switching, just 3-way toggle, two volumes, and two tones that actually feel musical as you ride them. It records beautifully and reacts to pedals like a great vintage Gibson should.
Rounded Neck Feel And Easy-Bending Playability
The mahogany neck with the Rounded profile averages .875 at the first fret and .975 at the 12th, so it fills your hand without feeling like a baseball bat. It is that perfect medium-large carve that lets you dig in for vibrato but still move quickly up and down the neck.
The Indian rosewood fingerboard with a 12 inch radius and medium jumbo frets gives you glassy bends and low, comfortable action without fretting out. Acrylic split parallelogram inlays keep the vintage ES-345 look intact, but the feel is pure modern playability.
Fixed Vibrola, Gold Hardware, And Stage-Ready Details
The fixed Vibrola tailpiece is a smart move here. You get the classic look without the tuning headaches of a moving vibrato, so the guitar stays rock solid once you are tuned up. Paired with the ABR-1 Tune-O-Matic bridge and Graph Tech nut, tuning stability is simply not a worry.
Gold hardware, Grover Rotomatic tuners with kidney buttons, black pickguard, and the engraved Marcus King stud anchor cover pull the whole aesthetic together. It looks like a million bucks under stage lights, and it ships in a Gibson hardshell case with a full accessory kit so it is ready for the road on day one.
Dialed In At Moore Guitars
This exact guitar, serial number 212050078, is in our Evansville, Indiana shop right now, and the photos on the product page are of this specific instrument. Our techs have gone over it three times and given it a full Player-Perfect setup so it is ready the second you open the case.
Tell us your preferred string gauge and action and we will dial it in before it ships, free of charge. With free 2 to 3 day shipping and our 72-Hour Love-It Guarantee, you can put it straight into your rig and really find out what an ES in this league can do.
Questions about this guitar? Call (888) 794-8482 and talk to a real player on our team. No scripts, no hype, just honest guidance to help you figure out if this Marcus King ES-345 belongs in your lineup.
