[IanSchets]

Two weeks ago, on august 5 2008, I have bought a Gibson ES 335 (serial number 00118718, vintage sunburst) at the Guitar Center in La Mesa (San Diego). Just before leaving the shop I checked the case (which had a label saying a Cirtificate Of Authenticity was in the case) for the COA but it was not the there . The person who sold me the guitar could not find the COA in the store but told me I could request a new one at the Gibson website. I checked the Gibson site but it's is only possible to get a new COA after sending the guitar to Gibson for inspection. This makes it impossible for me to get a new COA from Gibson as I have taken the guitar with me to Europe (Holland).

But the Gibsoncustom website now confuses me because the description of the ES-335 ( <http://www.gibsoncustom.com/flash/products/es/335/335.html> ) does not mention a COA where it does with the Historic models. So I have two questions:

1. Should there have been a COA in the case? (or maybe did they give me the wrong case?)
2. If the answer is Yes: Is there a way to get a new coa here in Holland?

thx,
ian

[NeoConMan]

Gosh, I've never heard of a mistake like THAT from Guitar Center...

I don't know that your guitar was supposed to have a COA.
I dunno.

I can't access the Gibson site you listed, at least not on this computer.

Good luck with it, I'll try to find out something for you.
Any of the smart guys here can help you.

[hallgroper]

And, I'll bet you got to pay for the case as well! I hope it was, at least, the right one, but I don't think so. Sorry about your misfortune and I hope you get things straightened out. WRITE CUSTOMER SERVICE, send info and pictures to see if a cert. came with it, be polite and cooperative, and ask just what model you actually were sold. It doesn't sound like you bought a historic. What is the neck like? What does the inside label say? Calls or emails won't fly on this one. Like NeoConMan, I do not dig Guitar Center and its tricks at all. Maybe you got a historic/custom case without the candy, but a Memphis straight model 335. I can't access the web site either. Never enter a G.C. without being completley informed as to your interest, wearing jump boots, dressed in camos with 101st Airborne Eagles as your shoulder patches and, well armed!

Steve

Post Script:

During my inquiries I would just pull my pants up, play, enjoy and learn to love my new ES-335 whatever the results. They are great guitars!

[bobv]

Sorry if it's too late to do this, but if you can talk to the store manager, suggest that they may have misplaced the COA and the accessory kit (cable, polish cloth, picks) when they unpacked the box. The COA is sometimes in a small folding black folder, but the older ones are simply in a blank white cardboard envelope outside the case but inside the cardboard box that the case came in. They'd have to open up the envelope to know that it was a COA for a particular guitar. Some stores do not keep track of which guitars came out of which cases (Guitar Center in Manhattan did that to me with a Str#t). Was there a hang tag on the handle of the case with a stock number or serial number matching it up to your guitar?

By the way, the COA is because the ES 335 comes out of the Memphis factory which technically is under the corporate umbrella of the Custom Shop; slightly different than the Historics coming out of the Nashville Custom Shop.

[IanSchets]

The guitar I bought was hanging in the store. I also tried a brand new one that came out of the card box. The case they gave me with the guitar was the same as the one that came with the new one (with Gibson Custom in gold on it and the extra sheet to cover the top of the guitar). On the handle of the case was a label saying the COA is inside the case. I did not check if the one that came out of the cardbox had a COA. The guitar has a slim neck with grover tuners, the label in the guitar says it's a ESDT335. color is Vintage Sunburst. So I think it's a reissue.

I have already send the store manager two messages but I haven't got a respons.

Ian.

[hallgroper]

Bob,
I hope your idea works for, Ian. It would sure take the stress out of things for him! I also hope you are not a G.C. franchise owner. I hate owing apologies! Either way, I sense involvement with G.C. or, perhaps, Gibson when you post. I should say you were very tactful, professional, knowledgeable and down right polite. And, just maybe I would do well to approach my posts in the future, via your example, with a little more finesse. I wish you had pointed out the confusion between Memphis and Nashville was quite an ongoing matter for sometime. The last 335 I purchased was a 2006 Memphis and it came with a COA from the Custom Shop in Nashville and in a white envelope all with matching #s.. It seems, for buyers, all has worked out at last in that area. Were you able to get on the site, Ian listed? I can not from my computer even still. I would like to see Ian's point on that matter.

Now back to the Walnut oil issue......!


Steve

[Hydra26]

If your Guitar Center is anything like the one by me, you're on your own to deal with the manufacturer. I've been told by the employees there that they discard everything that might or might not come in the carton with the possible exception of the inspection paperwork and truss rod tool.

Also, off topic, but my personal experiences there have been pretty poor over the past two years in the area of customer service which pushes me towards dealers with lesser selections or who are very far away. Very inconvenient, but I've been annoyed enough that I can't ethically support the business by purchasing there. If I drive two hours to the other dealership, I get treated like someone important.

[GuitarJunkie]

[quote name='IanSchets]Two weeks ago' date=' on august 5 2008, I have bought a Gibson ES 335 (serial number 00118718, vintage sunburst) at the Guitar Center in La Mesa (San Diego).[/quote']
Only Custom Shop guitars with serial numbers starting with "CS" come with a COA.

[86general]

By your description, you have the same guitar I bought, and it should have a COA. I wouldn't have accepted the guitar without it.

This might be overkill, but if it were me I would return the guitar to Guitar Center if they "can't find" the certificate.

The guitar is worth about $400 less on a resale without it. It's not like it's some trivial thing that gets misplaced; Guitar Center employees know exactly what it is worth and what it means. Someone may have taken it with the intention of trying to use it for some counterfeit guitar.

Anyway, I'd return it and demand a refund. The COA might just "show up" if you do. If not, I'll bet you they'll jump through hoops to find another ES-335 for you that has the COA--if they don't have another in stock, they can search the inventory of surrounding stores and find one.

Really, don't compromise on this. Insist on getting it, and the best and quickest way to do it is to go back and return the guitar.

[IanSchets]

Going back to GC is not an option. I am back in Holland (Europe) with the guitar. I bought it for $2100,= + tax and that's about half the price that I would have to pay here in Holland (they go for 2500,= Euro).

The thought that the COA is taken by a GC employee has ocured to me. I hoped the storemanager would investigate the missing COA but I have had no respons after sending two messages to the storemanager via the GC web site (GC customer services gave me a link)


Ian.

[NeoConMan]

I'm still not sure the guitar should have a COA.
Bad deal all around.
There's no limit to the shenanigans Guitar Center will pull to sell you a guitar.
They may wave around a COA to make you think it's supposed be with your guitar to tempt you.
Funny how it might not wind up in the case with the guitar it "belongs" to.
You paid them, they're done with you, case closed.

Fxck Guitar Center, do what you can to get Gibson to work with you.
Here's a nice song by Nice Peter that expresses my sentiments exactly;



I have a 2002 ES-335 Dot reissue in Heritage Cherry, made in Memphis.
It's simply that, nothing more.

Still an incredible guitar.

[hallgroper]

Ian,
You could rent a room in the loft above the G.C. guitar gallows wall from the manager himself, and you are not going to get anything from them. It's over. Not certain about a COA either. But, you will have to deal with Gibson direct. That is why I suggest a typed registered letter with photos of all numbers, case & guitar, etc.. Stay persistent , but polite. I'd send a copy of the letter itself to all Gibson sections and to local & central Guitar Center cells. Buzz all divisions of both places.

Now the sad news. Did they charge you for the case? Finally, it sounds, as NeoConMan fears, you got a regular 335 in a Custom Case. That is Guitar Center at its best. Your answer is with Gibson. Amen.

The Good news. My house is a 335 museum. Among them all, I have two newer Memphis reg. line 335s with absolutely no frills and they are great guitars. I'd do my letters and keep following them up til I struck a nerve and got an answer from Gibson I could live with, but as I said in the beginning, I'd just play and learn to love my 335 since it is your's to keep. Sorry for the problem. I hope you got a good 335. That will help!!

I stayed polite about G.C. all the way through. I can't believe it!

Steve

[bobv]

[quote name='hg]Bob... Either way' date=' I sense involvement with G.C. or, perhaps, Gibson when you post. I should say you were very tactful, professional, knowledgeable and down right polite...Steve[/quote']

Thanks for the compliment, but no, I have no connections with either one. Competence and knowledge are nothing more than an illusion that I try very hard to cultivate. I'm actually very grumpy.

Guitar Center in New York City unpacked a Strat that I bought in October, hung it on the wall, tossed the gig bag in a pile of other new gig bags, and put the case candy in a drawer with all the others. It took them forever to try to find the right trem arm, and Fender Customer Service was no help because they said it was with the guitar when it left the factory. Fender suggested this happens a lot with the big chain stores, but it may vary from store to store. The store manager at the Carle Place GC insists that they never do this, and they try to keep the cases identified with the guitars they came out of.

I got my 339 by mail order (from guitarsale) and for a day or so I thought the COA, cable, etc. were missing until I routed around in that cardboard box with the huge Gibson headstock logo on it. So I haven't had to deal with Gibson.

As for the case markings, my 339 says "Gibson Custom" on the case, so I'd suspect a production 335 out of the same Memphis factory might also have the same case markings. Dunno if they put the gold decal on the back of all the headstocks, mine has it.

Did the tag on the case have a stock number or serial number on it??

[IanSchets]

I think the tag on the case did not have any serial number information. I threw it away.
I checked ebay for 335's and it seems the ones from 2008 should have a coa. I found two that are offered with one.
The case seems alright to me (and I did not pay for it) and is the same as the one that came out of the card box. But I must say the new Epiphone Riviera I bought last came with a better case.

So I think the only alternative is to try to get a replacement coa from Gibson. The FAQ at the Gibson site says I should contact the distributor here in Holland.

Oh.. its a great guitar, surely going to keep it for years...

Ian.
l

[Hydra26]

I think there's a procedure for that, isn't there guys? I dunno what it is, but I would think Gibson can provide a COA to the original owner. They may ask for some kind of copy of bill of sale or soemthing to show that you are indeed the original owner. Maybe you might have better luck posting about this in the custom section of this forum or sending an email to the custom shop? (apologies if you've done this already. I've jsut gotten home from work and have not yet checked and I don't feel like typing all this again )

[Tim Plains]

My 07 didn't come with one. I emailed Gibson out of curiosity and got this response.

Thanks for the email and congrats on your new ES 335!! These do not come with a COA. Gibson Memphis began sending COA’s with the guitars in early 2008, so a 2007 model would not have this. Thanks again!

[hallgroper]

"And the torture never stops." I gave up trying to figure Gibson out on Nashville/Memphis in 06&07. Now, they seem to have it together..... better. I'm afraid Ian, will play hell trying to get a COA. Gibson can get down right guarded over the certs, for good reason.

Steve

[Tim Plains]

IanSchets, just my two cents...
Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. You're back in Holland, you have the guitar, play it and more importantly.........enjoy it!
It's just a sheet of paper, I mean really who cares? I have three COAs and they do absolutely nothing for me.
Sure, it's nice to have...but big deal, it's a sheet of paper with the guitar's serial number...whoop-di-do...
The only negative aspect I can think of is resale value...but if you bought the guitar in the US, that tells me that Gibson ES-335s are either overly expensive in Holland or hard to find...or both. To which, you should not have a problem if you choose to sell.

Again, if I were you, I'd just enjoy the guitar and not worry over small items, such as a missing COA.
Congrats!

[hallgroper]

Agreed!


Steve

[Murph]

And, I would think with todays printers, ect., those would be pretty simple to counterfeit, making them worthless. I wouldn't be impressed with one of I was buying a used guitar.

Murph.