Gibson moved fast in the post WWII electric guitar market (the P-90 pickup, the ES-350, etc.) and their versatility in having a neck pickup and a bridge pickup quickly won over many guitarists, and the next step was obvious – if two pickups were good, three would be better.

In 1949, Gibson began building ES-350s with three P-90s. The two pickup ES-350 had individual volume controls for each pickup but only one master tone control, and that concept was extended on the experimental three-pickup models,which featured three volume controls and one master tone.

Gibson put together a dozen of these models, labeled “ES-350 Special”, in June and July of 1949 and then decided that a three-pickup guitar deserved a fancier look and more sophisticated controls.

Although the ES-5 that debuted later in 1949 would be a step up above the ES-350 Specials, Gibson nevertheless went back in serial number logbooks and ink stamped “ES-5” over the original ES-350 entries.