Gibsom ES335

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ricrac47

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Hey Everybody,
Two questions 1. If you had a choice between a new ES335 or a vintage one for approx. the same price, which one would you buy? I guess my question really is: Is the reissue a quality guitar? 2. I think there was a ES336 ? (stereo pickups) Does anyone know if that is true? Thanks for your input. Also if you get a chance, check out my song "Sleepwalker" at:http://www.mp3.com/Winchester

ricrac47
 
Both the vintage ones and the reissues are good guitars,but both are overpriced IMO.I bought a new one in 1979 for $660 with case.There is a stereo guitar that has the same body as the 335,it's called the ES355,don't think it's still being made though.
 
hey. It depends on what year and condition the vintage guitar is in. Ususally Id say go vintage. im a BIG beleiver... but not early to mid seventies... they sucked pretty bad then. If its sixties, go for it. If its late 70s or 80s, and in decent shape, its a push. Your vintage git wont LOSE value, while your new one will.


xoxo

ps.. you are either getting ripped off or totally hooked if you pay the same price for a vintage git that you'd get a new one for, BTW.
 
Back in the seventies I had an ES 345, which was the 335 with stereo pickups. Had that Varitone knob I never used. In the sixties I had the Trini Lopez model. Anybody remember that one? Red with the headstock that looked like a fender? I had the slim body AND the full body archtop.

I would go with the vintage, because the newer Gibsons that I've tried don't seem to have the workmanship the old ones used to. I paid $400 for my ES345 in '72 (that was half a month's pay back then), and it seemed pretty good to me. If the one's in the sixties were even better they must have been exceptionally made. Wish I had one of them.

Happy New Year

Lee
http://leemuller.iuma.com
 
If you like 335's, you've got to check out the Heritige 535 model. (If you don't know) This is the old Gibson factory and some old employees who are making a better Gibson that Gibson can. I've played a couple of 535's (the equivliant of a Gibson ES335) and they're better than MY ES335 and than any vintage one I've played.
 
That Heritige sounds interesting....but I can't find them on the net. Where can I find one????
 
Heritage usaly has ads in Vintage Guitar Magazine and you can ALWAYS find their booth at guitar shows....
 
Thanks for the info everybody......Now throw this into the mix. How does the Gretch Chet Atkins compare to the Gibson.
I know that I need to try them both. But It would be nice to have some gereral ideas before I do thet. They seem to be fairly similar guitars. Any opinions on generak playability, pickups etc.etc?
 
What are you going to do with this guitar?
... Duh, yeah, but what type of music are you going to play with it?

What type of neck profile do you like?

How much money are you thinking of spending?

Does it have to be American-made?

I absolutely love the 335 style guitar - my main axe is that style. I can help!

foo
 
foo..I'm using it for home studio projects. Music is some country some rock. I like thin necks. I can spend around $3000 give or take a few dollars. I just always wanted a Gibson or a Gretch with that body style. I do have a Gibson Blueshawk that I like very much. Tough to play though. I'm used to pressing on the strings fairly firmly. When you do that with the Blueshawk the notes get sharp and it sounds out of tune. I have to keep reminding myself to play softly with my left hand. I have been told that the Fender Tele is THE country guitar...the only problem is it seems to have only that one sound. So I thought the Gibson or the Gretch would be more versitle.
 
I have owned two vintage 335's and just to let you know, the
tuning pegs suck on them and will need replacement if they
havent been replaced allready. If you do replace any, keep the origianals.
 
I think the Tele has many sounds. Look at all the rock bands. You'll mostly see Strats and Les Pauls, but you'll see Teles, also. I think Prince even plays one at least part of the time. You also see a lot of newer country guitarists playing Strats.
 
For versatility, I would recommend a 335 or a Strat.
A 335 will give you great rock, blues and a wonderful clean jazzy (but not really big-body) sound.
The Strat will do the other end of the spectrum - great rock, blues (but different than the 335) and a muy cool country sound (plus the 'We don't need no education' rhythm sound).

For $3,000 you can get a very nice 1966 - 1969 ES 335 which would have a thin neck. These are not the prime 'vintage' years for Gibson - generally anything 1965 and before is considered the 'golden age' - but the necks get wider and flatter the nearer you get to 1961, with the shape changing to more of a 'baseball bat' as you go into 1960 and the late 50's.

You might be able to find a beat-up 335 from the early-60's (post ~ 1962, no PAF pickups), but a better value from that period would be 345. Basically the same guitar (and actually higher end at the time) with gold plated parts and different inlays, plus the 'Varitone' which is basically a six-position tone control, which thins out/hollows out the sound from the pickups.

Another option is to try and find a '335 Dot'
Gibson have been making this re-issue guitar now since about 1981-2 - and have throughout the 80's and 90's continued to update it in various ways (Different colors, pickups, etc).
It started out as a re-issue of the original 'dot-neck' 335 which was made from 1958 through mid-1962 with PAF pickups. PAF stands for 'Patent Applied For' and are generally considered to be the Holy Grail of humbuckers.
The 335 Dots were very highly regarded as re-issues at the time - some of them were exceptional guitars and you may be able to find one with almost twenty years of playing mojo in it for considerably less than $3,000 (like maybe half that).

If you have any more questions, please feel free to post here, and good luck,

foo
 
For FOO

Hey Foo,
Thanks for all of the info! Should I look at Gretch also. They make great guitars....and the Chet Atkins look like a 335.. but is that where the similarity ends? Also if I just go out and by a new 335 reissue of the 335, what is your opinion of the quality of what they are making now. Would this be a guitar that would retain its value? Thanks a lot.
 
Gretsch - I used to own a 1964 Nashville, which was a great guitar, and the neck profile was very slim, but it wasn't as good as the Gibson's from the same period in terms of sound quality and overall 'vibe' (IMNSHO ;))
The quality control seemed to be less stringent at Gretsch during the same period.
Having said that, there are undoubtably great Gretsch's out there - it's just more difficult to find them.
(Usual disclaimer here - your experience may be different)

The new re-issues that I've played have generally been good instruments, but I would try and find a used one that has been played a lot.
It's been my experience that there's a reason some guitars get played a lot - and that's because they were owned by pros - and pros won't put up with a poor sounding/playing instrument - so a guitar which has been played a lot (but not abused) is probably going to be muy cool.

Don't be afraid to buy a used guitar from a reputable dealer - if you don't have the knowledge to buy used with confidence from your local 'Nifty Nickel' go to a reputable dealer and buy a high-quality instrument.
There's not too much that you can do to screw up a guitar that someone who knows what they're looking at won't spot, and the reason you spend a little more at a good dealer is to pay him for that knowledge.

Ask 'Has this guitar had any repairs or changed parts?' and if so what are they and who did them.
If they were done by a pro, and the parts that were changed were good (e.g. replacing tuners with Shallers or Gotohs, pickups with Seymour Duncans or Lindy Fralins, etc) those changes and repairs will be reflected in the asking price (and also in the selling price when you want ot sell it).
Normal wear is okay - a refret done by a pro is not a big deal (unless it's on an investment-type instrument) nor is the finish being off the back of the neck, etc.

Buying new is not something I recommend - you lose 30% (?) of the money you just spent as soon as you hit the sidewalk.

There are several dealers who advertise in Vintage Guitar magazine who are extremely reputable - I have done business with Gruhn's in Nashville (www.gruhn.com) Mandolin Brothers in Staten Island, NY (www.mandoweb.com) and Elderly in Michigan (www.elderly.com) plus have heard only good things about Matt Umanov in NY city.

They will give you an honest, realstic description on the phone and ship the guitar to your house, where you can play it on a 24 hour approval - if you don't like it (they won't question it if you want to return it) send it back - it costs you the shipping.

Hope this helps,

foo
 
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