Great Scott! Back to the Future's iconic Gibson ES-345 guitar gets re-release to celebrate movie's 40th anniversary

We know Back to the Future turning 40 is a big deal, but this much? We’ve had exclusive LEGO sets, a 40th anniversary Casio watch and now a Gibson guitar.

And some of you will probably be able to guess what kind of guitar it is.

That’s right, it’s a fresh edition of the Gibson ES-345 Marty McFly used to play Johnny B. Goode and that crowd-confusing solo from the first two Back to the Future movies.

It’s called the Gibson 1955 ES-345 Collector’s Edition, and is a snip at a mere £1,7449. Yep, no chance of us affording that, but there’s thankfully an Epiphone version too.

The Epiphone Back to the Future ES-345 retails for £949 and, just like the movie version and the legit Gibson one, comes in classic Cherry Red.

For the non guitar nuts out there, the ES-345 is a semi-hollow design that delivers great resonance and feel. And it means the guitars tend to weigh less than a Gibson Les Paul despite having a body with a larger footprint.

While these look just like a classic ES-345s from the front, the Epiphone Back to the Future and ES-345 Collector’s Edition have a Hill Valley Music decorative plate on the back. It sits between the tuners on the rear of the headstock.

Epiphone Back to the Future ES-345 - YouTube

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The guitars also come with a Marvin Berry and the Starlighters hard case. That’s the band whose set Marty gatecrashes during Back to the Future’s prom scene.

Fork out for the Gibson version and you’ll even find a Flux Capacitor light inside one of the case compartments.

As well as different hardware, pickups and the location of the factory (Gibsons are made in the US), the Gibson 1955 ES-345 Collector’s Edition is pre-aged, in Gibon’s The Murphy Lab.

If an Epiphone is still way beyond your budget, Gibson sells a tiny Axe Heaven version of the ES-345, just 10 inches long. In the Gibson shop you’ll also find Back to the Future T-shirts and pick tins, alongside a Back to the Future guitar strap.

Earlier this year, we wrote about the search for the real-life Gibson guitar that was actually used in the filming of Back to the Future. It has been missing for decades, and a documentary, Lost to the Future, is being made on its whereabouts. Release date? TBC.

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