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The 2019 Models are here


fizzicist

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Well, boys and girls, the 2019 model line is here. There are only three 335s shown on Gibson.com as of this writing:

The 2018 Traditional, Metallic, Block Neck, VOS, Anchor Stud, Big Block, Limited Run, and Custom models are gone. If Gibson is planning more models, they're not up yet.

 

I'm glad I pounced on that 2018 Traditional Cherry when I did.

 

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UPDATE: Apparently Gibson has other 2019 ES-335 models in addition to the ones they're showing on their website:

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Well, boys and girls, the 2019 model line is here. There are only three 335s shown on Gibson.com as of this writing:

The 2018 Traditional, Metallic, Block Neck, VOS, Anchor Stud, Big Block, Limited Run, and Custom models are gone. If Gibson is planning more models, they're not up yet.

 

I'm glad I pounced on that 2018 Traditional Cherry when I did.

 

newjok12.png

 

UPDATE: Apparently Gibson has other 2019 ES-335 models in addition to the ones they're showing on their website:

 

As you've discovered, there are, and have been over the years, many models that never have been on the Gibson webpage. Most notably are the models "special" ordered by the big dealers like GC/MF, Sweetweater, etc.

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As you've discovered, there are, and have been over the years, many models that never have been on the Gibson webpage. Most notably are the models "special" ordered by the big dealers like GC/MF, Sweetweater, etc.

Actually, I'm not sure it would be fair for me to say that I've discovered Gibson's penchant for creating models not listed on its "current model year" web page. Truth be told, I'm very much a Gibson newbie, and I wouldn't have extrapolated Sweetwater's listing guitars that are not shown on Gibson.com to mean "Ah...Gibson routinely makes special-order stuff for the Big Vendors."

 

My first assumption was, "Hmmm...I guess it's still early in the 2019 model year, and Gibson's web site hasn't caught up with what they're actually producing yet." That's borne out in some videos I've seen since my OP, wherein Gibson showed the P-90 ES-335 at Summer NAMM as a regular part of its 2019 line; yet, the P-90 ES-335 is still not shown on Gibson.com.

 

Anyhow, I have no reason to doubt that what you're saying is true. In fact, there are now seven more variants of the 2019 ES-335s showing up on Sweetwater.com since my OP, but still not shown on Gibson.com. In trying to sort it all out, I wonder...

 

  • Are some of them one-off items...prototype versions/colors for the 2019 models that Gibson ultimately decided not to produce in greater quantity?
  • Are they "special order", limited run models available exclusively at Sweetwater? (...they're not listed at GC/MF)
  • Or are they items that will eventually be available everywhere as part of the regular 2019 product line, but Gibson just hasn't gotten around to listing them?

Beats me. The only thing I've discovered for certain at this point is that Gibson's Current Model Year web page is not a complete listing of all the guitars and finishes that are currently available, and apparently that's an ongoing condition, as your post reports.

 

I was working under the assumption (some might say delusion msp_wink.gif) that Gibson's web site would provide a complete, authoritative listing of all available models and finishes. Obviously, I'm still on a learning curve about all things Gibson.

 

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They forgot to special order the pick guard on the P-90 335.

See now, I don't get the no-pickguard thing. Are there really players who don't want a pickguard? I guess it's possible, but I use both flatpick and finger-picking styles. With a pick, I would mung up the finish without the pickguard. When I finger-pick, I use my pinky as an anchor point on the pickguard. It would be awkward not having a pickguard...but perhaps there are folks who don't need or want one.

 

Gibson's brand-name differentiation schtick is premium guitars at premium prices. Fair enough; I get that. Mr. Juszkiewicz is adamant on that point, and insists that Gibson guitars are priced to accurately reflect their production costs, and that the only way to sell them cheaper is to reduce their quality...something he doesn't want to do. The upshot is (I'm paraphrasing here), it'll be a cold day in hell before Gibson reduces their prices on any given model if everything else remains the same.

 

So, that means the only way to get a less expensive Gibson is to get one with fewer features, or less costly components, or both. Apparently the low-end 2019 models like the ES-335 Studio and the new ES-235 do both: no pickguard, no inlaid headstock logos, dot (not block inlay) markers, plated brass (not titanium) bridge, no MHS pickups, zinc stopbar tailpiece with no locking studs, no Grovers (235), and softshell case (235). Those factors knock the price down by $1K (335) to $1.2K (235), relative to the higher priced 335s.

 

As always, it's up to the buyer to decide whether the more pricey guitars are worth the extra cost. For my part, I don't gripe about the price of admission. It is what it is. My job is to decide what I want, and then find out which product provides it.

 

With the available 2019 models I can find as of this writing, the guitar that most appeals to me is the figured Blueberry Burst ES-335...but I still don't know anything about the MHS II pickups. How are they different from the MHS pickups on the 2017 and 2018 models? I haven't found any info from Gibson on that subject...yet.

 

newjok12.png

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I was working under the assumption (some might say delusion msp_wink.gif) that Gibson's web site would provide a complete, authoritative listing of all available models and finishes. Obviously, I'm still on a learning curve about all things Gibson.

 

Unfortunately not. Worse yet, it can be hard to find accurate, comprehensive specs on models that don't make it to the Gibson site. I've found incorrect descriptions and specs on dealer sites (of models not on the Gibson site). Dealer say they just publish what Gibson gives them. So......

You can, however get specs on any model by contacting Gibson. Unfortunately, the amount of info you get can vary.

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Lots of players take there PG off to show off the wood. A few years back LP STD's came with the pick guard in the case so you could decide if it was on or off.

 

Ah...that explains why I don't get it. Showing off the wood is not something that has ever even occurred to me, even on those guitars of mine that have figured tops. But yeah...now that you've pointed it out, I can see how that might be an important aesthetic consideration for some folks.

 

I guess it's just another aspect of Enjoying The Guitar Experience™ that makes it such a completely subjective phenomenon. 947978.gif

 

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Same is true on Gibson's acoustic side. Lots of models are shown by the dealers that do not appear on Gibson's website. Doesn't make much sense, does it?

 

Also, count me as another player who's got to have a pickguard for fingerpicking.

 

And Fwiw, I have a red 2011 ES-335 with P-90s (& an ebony fretboard). Nothing wrong with mounting P-90s in a 335!

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How much would the Pickguard cost for the Studio? That seems like a great deal for a 335.. With a little haggling it can probably be bought for about $1600.00.....

 

If I didn't already have a 335 & was in the market I'd have to seriously check one out....

 

I bought a new late 90's Heritage Cherry Burst Gibson Les Paul Std. Plus. It came with a Pickguard in the Case not attached. The wood is so beautiful I've never put it on. I probably should though..

 

Gibson's Website has never been very accurate as to what is available....

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>>SNIP<<

although it's not entirely clear to me how they can call it a 335 with P-90s

Why not? By using that restrictive a naming convention you really couldn't call a Les Paul, ES-175 or any other model that started out with single coils the same name no?

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Glad to have another Zappa fan around to Stuff Up The Cracks.

 

I'm a pickguard on guy. Some people the first thing they do when they get a guitar home is take off the PG and the Poker Chip too.

 

 

 

 

Later on they moan how everyone wants to beat them down on price because parts are missing.

 

My first (and their) Mothers album was Freak out, everyone I knew hated it ESPECIALLY my future wife (named Susan now ex wife) who loathed it because of the suzy creamcheese dialog. Go figure

 

 

 

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Suzy Creamcheese, Oh, mama, now

 

What's got into ya?

 

How about making some more FZ Roxy SG's. That would be about the only thing I would buy if Gibson made more of them. I did not have the cash when they came out a few years back.

 

 


Gibson Memphis

Customer Relations Department

145 Lt. George W. Lee Avenue

Memphis, TN 38103

Dear Mr. FZ Fan:

 

We are in receipt of your 2018-09-12 correspondence requesting a commemorative Frank Zappa Roxy Tribute guitar sorta thang...which would be, like, you know, all SG-like and everything. Thank you for writing, but weren't you, like, this guy from the CIA creeping around Laurel Canyon...or something?

 

Anyhow, like, wow, groovy...

 

...uh, wait...what were we talkin' about?

 

Oh yeah...a Roxy SG! That would be, like, so totally, b!tchin'ly awesome, dude. But just between you and me, we're kinda waiting for The Henry to, like, split the scene, if you know what I mean, before we come out with the really, really cool stuff. I mean, like, we're doing OK on the guitar side o' thangs, but the company is going through, like, this...whaddya call it — oh yeah, like, this consolidation thang, or whatever.

 

But yeah...it would be so totally, totally cool to have a Roxy kinda guitar. We can make it with about that much two-by-four stickin' outa the bottom, so the stage hands can pull it off camera as Peter Graves shoots the monster with his little revolver....BANG! BANG! BANG!...although we can't get Beverly Garland to fall down and twist her ankle on behalf of the li'l inverted ice cream cone with the scary teeth painted across the bottom any more, onna counta, like, she's dead, and all. Bummer.

 

Anyway, I'm kinda thinkin' that the Roxy SG model should have, like, a custom paint job...maybe something that shows a moonbeam through the prune, in June, revealing my chest, and maybe even my lovely beans. Would that be, like, totally awesome, or what?

 

Sincerely,

 

S. Creamcheese

Underassistant Director of Customer Outreach & Dairy Products


 

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I'll send Studebaker Hawke there right away to sort things out. I just hope he doesn't fuk with a mountain.

 

Oh jeez...we should've told you; we're leaving town. Indefinitely. Can't possibly say when we'll be back. We'd hate to see Mr. Hawke come all the way out here and find no one at home.

 

BTW, we're taking all our guitars with us.

 

Tell you what. Send him up to Hackramento. They need a good sorting out up there, and he's just the man to do it.

________

 

In other news, the 2019 models include a Heritage Cherry Sunburst...

 

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...and this Glacier Blue job...

 

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Sweet!

 

Is it wrong that I lust for these?

 

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