In the late 1950s, Gibson designed a guitar meant to
have the look and feel of a traditional hollowbody archtop while
also offering the sonic advantages
of a solidbody. At the time, this
was a novel idea, and it resulted
in the now-classic ES-335.
Gibson was so confident in the
double-cutaway, semi-solid guitar
that by the summer of 1958 it
had expanded that part of its electric line. The first offshoot was
Tech Specs on the 5F8A Twin According to The Amp Guide ( ampwares.com), the
5F8A Twin was made between 1958 and 1960, and had the following distinguishing features:
TUBES & SPEAKERS
• Four 5881 power tubes
operating at 80–100 watts with
fixed, non adjustable bias
• Two 12AX7 and one 12AY7
preamp tubes
• One GZ34 rectifier
• Two Jensen P12N 12"
speakers operating at 4 ohms
TOP-PANEL FEATURES
• Two Normal In and two Bright In
1/4" inputs
• Normal Volume, Bright Volume,
Treble, Bass, Mid, and
Presence knobs
• Power indicator
• Standby, Power, and
Ground switches
• Fuse receptacle
COSMETICS
• Diagonal tweed or brown
Tolex covering
• Brown grill cloth
• Cabinet-mounted script logo plate
• Leather handle
