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New 2015 ES-335 Arrives


ponderwilu

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Decided to go with the new model. Too many upgrades this year not too. The Memphis plant put their stamp on this one and it shows. Zero defects, looks better than I hoped for and plays like butter. Here's some pictures. Enjoy boys!

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Can you also speak to the issue of the new upgrades that you mentioned? I'm not an expert on 335's and would love to know what has changed for this model year.

 

Thanks so much in advance!

 

John

 

PS. LOVE your guitar!

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Can you also speak to the issue of the new upgrades that you mentioned? I'm not an expert on 335's and would love to know what has changed for this model year.

 

Thanks so much in advance!

 

John

 

PS. LOVE your guitar!

Sure be glad to. There have been eleven improvements for the ES-335 in 2015. Only two are cosmetic. The rest are clearly Gibson's attempt to build a better guitar and I think they have.

No doubt musicians all over the world have been happily enjoying the fat full sound of Gibson's PU of choice in their ES line the '57 Classic Humbuckers. As I'm sure most of you already know their inherent virtures. Potted and evenly wound (or balanced) having an equal number of turns of wire on each spool.

In 2015 Gibson has decided to replace the '57's in the 335 for the un-balanced (not an equal amount of turns of wire per spool) Burstbucker's 1 and 2.

 

I chose to learn guitar on an acoustic. I didn't want to introduce the inherent variables of amplification into my learning process. The notes on a properly tuned acoustic ring out like the bells from heaven and you know in your ear and heart if you've got it right. What's that got to do with anything? From my perspective, that's the same degree of accuracy of note I hear produced from the Burstbuckers. Their is no hint of muddyness. Just pure crystalline like notes ringing out. More of a pure clean tone (to my ears) that I like although many players are use to the fat fuller sounding 57's and that's fine.

So I like Gibson's choice of pups in the 2015 ES-335. Remember just recently they only came in some of the pricier "historics". And for good reason I assume ... they more closely matched the heralded PAF's of old. OK ... enough pup stuff ... let's move on. Oooops before we do I might mention upgrade number two. Gibson decided to make a change in capacitor value giving the Burstbucker #1 in the neck position a .015 mfd cap to replace the tried and true .022 still found inBurstbucker #2. The change to me sounds subtle but the neck now sounds "to me" just a tad louded and more articulate which is a good thing.

Number three improvement is the reinforced area directly behing the neck leading into the headstock. Gibsons neck angle has caused more than a few breaks and snaps even when cased. This is a major improvement and frankly should have been done years ago. That move also led Gibson engineers to install the Historic Truss rods in all 2015 ES's. It was used in recent Historic models and now they all have the beefier truss rod. Kudos Gibson for improvement number four.

Number five gives us new 18:1 Grover Milk Bottle Rotomatic tuners. I have already put new Gibson Pure Nickle 10's on and yes the tuners are very sensitive to minor tweeks as I reset intonation. A nice touch.

Improvement number six brrings us rolled binding of the fingerboard. The neck melts in my hand as if I've been playing it for a decade! Speaking of feelings, improvement number seven has turned out to be a biggie for increasing my playability. Gibson has cleverly reduced the height of the frets in 2015 by 28%. At first I thought that would not be so good but I find it's terrific. I can now fret chords with much reduced finger tip pressure but more importantly I can ring each note out even if I'm fingering well behind the intended fret where before I would have to consciously press down alot harder away from the fret'back edge in the lonely wooded area of the fretboard.

Improvement number eight brings us a locking tailpiece using the same stopbar any Gibson ES has so no change in looks but easier string change and perhaps an improvement in sustain ... not sure. What I am sure about is this incarnation of the iconic 335 has plenty of sustain. On a good downward stroke of the strings I can count to twenty before all traces of sound completely disappear. That may also be part and parcel of improvement number nine ... namely the installation of a bone nut. Can's argue about that. They last forever.

Ten and eleven are cosmetic improvements. Block inlays and a bolder paint scheme namely Sunset Burst which I have on mine. In dim lighting conditions (see photo) the hue is very subdued almost like any other Vintage burst but when the bright light hits it (as "stage" lights for instance) oh boy does that yellow ever wake up. I guess Gibson just wanted to put an exclamation mark on the newly designed '15's and boy did they ever. Well how does it play? To me ... like buttar'. The notes ring out true and clean like tapestry bells from heaven. Perfect for my gerder of Blues and Classic Rock. I'm mostly enjoy playing at home alone thru an older Peavy Classic 20 tube amp which seems well suited for the task. The Gibby arrive well packaged from Sweetwater and there were zero fit and finish issues. I think Gibson plant workers paid extreme care putting together the new 2015's. They even added their own stamp this year with a special moniker on the truss rod access cover plate as if to say "here 'ya go fellas, we built this the old school way with love and attention to detail". Great work Gibson!

Here's all the improvements mentioned above at the 2015 NAMM convention ...

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Congratulations !!! [thumbup]

 

and thanks so much for your review. We were waiting for it.

 

it seems that Gibson has reached the ultimate improvements on the ES335.

 

you say:

 

Gibson has cleverly reduced the height of the frets in 2015 by 28%. At first I thought that would not be so good but I find it's terrific. I can now fret chords with much reduced finger tip pressure but more importantly I can ring each note out even if I'm fingering well behind the intended fret where before I would have to consciously press down alot harder away from the fret'back edge in the lonely wooded area of the fretboard.[/i]

 

I'm happy to learn that at last they have lessoned to customers, to me frets height is a big issue, i have never understood why the frets were so high which could have prevented me from buying a 335 or a Gibson at all ( my Epi Joe Pass frets were so comfy !),

 

I cant wait for trying these 2015 models, I'm afraid it will take time as I live in France .

 

Long life to 335s

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