Revelation

If it does not raise the value of the guitar that much I would keep it. I still want a 50's reissue as well. That thicker neck and less hot pickups are really nice.

What do you think I could get for this guitar if I sold it?

I went to a Guitar Center by my home and played a Gibson Les Paul Standard 60's Unburst and I wanted to share my observations. I will start off my saying I currently have a 1989 Les Paul Custom Cherry Burst that I love.The guitar looked beautiful hanging from the wall. I took the guitar and the first thing I noticed was the weight on the back and how it felt unbalanced. It reminded me of a old design that didn't think about trying to create a balanced guitar.The neck was similar to my Les Paul. It felt very comfortable and the action was low. A little too low for me just like my new 2021 335 which I raised slightly. I checked the guitar for defects. I looked at the binding, fret work, where the neck and body connect, the finish, overall construction including the tuning pegs, controls, and hardware. I am glad to say I did not find one issue. The frets were smooth when I bend the strings and intonation was good.I then played the guitar clean through a Fender Twin. It sounded excellent with all pickup selections. The classic Les Paul sound and feel. The top looked good but it was not a WOW look. You have to spend more money to get a better looking top. All and all decent guitar that will sound great with a lot of different styles of music.

There was a beautiful young woman named Sarah. She had beautiful long dark hair, mid size frame and stunning blue eyes. I named my Les Paul after her as it was so enjoyable just to look at her. I have a cherryburst LP.

I found the titanium saddles to help the guitar sound great. They are also better for rock where you want more treble response. When I want a warmer jazz tone I just reduce the treble on my amp down from 5 or 6 down to 4 and it's great. You can also turn the tone knob down to 8 if you want a darker sound.

I found the slightly brighter sound fantastic with distortion. It cuts through and is exciting. When going clean, just moving the treble knob on my amp down by one number reduces the brightness for clean. I really love the pickups now that I have had this guitar for over a month now. Its actually my favorite 335 guitar that I have ever played. I also love the neck on this thing. Its not as thick as the 1964 reissue but not as small as the later 60's 335. I play this guitar every day and my Strat and Tele have stayed in their cases the whole time. I don't see my Fenders seeing the light of day for at least another month. I can't recommend the new 335's enough.

Thanks for your reply. Yes the nylon saddles gave a duller sound which is why some say they can sound muddy. I personally like the brighter sound. You can always reduce the treble on your amp as well as the tone knob to control the top end. I am surprised how close the back pickup of my new 335 can sound like a Telecaster which is a good thing. Though I appreciate the vintage a lot, I like moving forward. By the way the 335 book by Tony Bacon was very insightful and it has great photos. I got to learn about the 70's through the 2,000's differences. Now to find out more about the T Top calibrated pickups and how different do they sound to other 335 pickups.

Wow no one with any insight. I just ordered the Gibson 335 book by Tony Bacon from Barnes and Noble. Hopefully it will provide some insight on the changes over the years.

I found it interesting that the 1960's 335 seem to be the most popular. The brand new ones with the titanium bridges are called Gibson 335 60's guitar. But then they have these calibrated pickups that are suppose to be more like the ones from the 1970's. They then have the 1964 reissue which has a little warmer not as bright clear sound. Just under $2,000 more for this guitar. Here is a comparison with a newer 335 and a reissue. COMPARISON: Gibson ES-335 Figured VS Historic '63 VOS - YouTube You can clearly hear the difference between the two. Both sound great to me and for more modern and rock music the newer 335 60's for me is my choice. What is it about the new 60's that makes it a 60's 335 when it has these brighter clearer pickups compared to the reissue? . How is it different from the 1970's - 1990's 335 guitars.

https://i.imgur.com/64GZvU5.jpg https://i.imgur.com/dLTVZLo.jpg

They are a little brighter, chimey pickups that are great for rock style. For jazz I reduced the treble on my amp down a little and then it sounded great. Nothing not to like. I would rather have brighter pickups that you can reduce on your amp settings than a muddy sound that you can't brighten too well.

I have a 1989 Gibson Les Paul Custom. I found it just as good as any great Les Paul I played in the past. Some are a little heavier than others bit the quality seems pretty good. The only issue is what ever they used to finish the guitar with at the time started to separate a little. My guitar tech told me they changed the lacquer as they found out about this problem a while back.

See their web page that states the pickup. Gibson | ES-335 Figured - Sixties Cherry Some say they are like the pickups they had in the 70's but I comment on that. I found the pickups to be a little bright for jazz. When I went to put the neck pickup tone control on 8 however it was perfect. It provides the sound you expect to hear from a Gibson 335. It has that warm tone and its beautiful. I found when adding a little distortion with a pedal, the little extra treble the pickups have provide a fantastic sound and bite. I love these new pickups. Some 335's have a muddier sound and lacks the clarity that this new pickups have. No complaints here.

I think people will agree the consistency between a new Les Paul and one made last week is a lot closer than their guitars made in the1960's. With CNC machines now being used not only with Gibson but company's like Martin, their new guitars are closer to each other than back in the old days. I think consistency is more important than saying well this was is extra special because the neck is slightly shaped different. So when you compare 2 or 3 LP guitars on the rack they should sound closer to each other. Pickups: I don't have any support for this but logically I believe the consistency with the pickups today are also better than the ones from the 1960's with computerized machines spinning them out. They also have over 50 years of experience to create what they believe are their best pickups. With that said, everyone has their personal preferences. I think the reproduction pickups they now make that copy early 60s ones with its warmer tone is probably better for jazz while the newer calibrated 335 pickups which are brighter are a better overall pickups for multiple styles especially for rock. I was told the new bridge on my 335 is titanium and it has benefits of being brighter and wears better. What is disappointing............ it seems Gibson is living in the past with old designs and not coming out new ones. Companies like PRS come out with a modern Les Paul called the McCarty 594 which has the classic look but with updated designs and materials. This helps the guitar to be modern and improved. I do know that Gibson tried in the past to come out with more modern versions of the Les Paul that was lighter but they didn't take off. I would like know the benefits of the materials used today vs 50 years ago. Have they done anything to improve the b string from staying in tune which had been a small issue with their older design. Fender I know went with some modern designs like tilt headstock for better angle for the strings.

First Impressions: I just received a late 2020 made Gibson 335 Figured cherry red guitar. First off it looks so beautiful and it brings a smile to your face when you look and play it. I found the craftmanship to be excellent and no flaws in construction or quality of parts an issue. It looks beautiful and smells nice. The action was a little too low so I moved the screws up on the saddle a little just to get it low but not that low. The pickups on this guitar are the calibrated pickups. They are much brighter and open than some of the older 335's I have played. To be honest even with reducing my treble knob on my Fender Twin to 5, the front pickup for what I was expecting was a little too bright with a clean setting. I turned down the tone control to 8 and its now perfect. Now I am getting the beautiful tone of the Gibson that I expect. On the back pickup I have the tone knob down to 7 1/2. It sounds closer to my LP on the back pickup in the treble response. The 335 can sound a little icy picky with the tone control at 10. I reduced my Fender Twin treble to 4 but then with the tone control at 10, it lacks the top end you want from the back pickup. So my work around works best. The sound though has the classic Gibson sound that you expect. To be honest for my taste I think I would prefer the 1961 335 Reissue pickups which are not as bright for just the clean setting but its so much more money. With that being said, I like the neck better on my 2020 335 which is not as big as the reissue. Right now I am just using my Fender Twin and have not used my Boogie or other amps yet. So granted with each amp you will get different results. I just went through my Boss Angry Driver and the extra top end is just great by the way. When adding distortion, the higher treble response on the new 335 is amazing, so forget when I said before. I compared it to my 1989 Gibson Les Paul Custom. The LP has a thicker tone with the front pickup and has a tighter sound. On the back pickup, the LP rocks more, while the 335 which also rocks but it has a little less punch. LP is clearly a better guitar for heavier rocking than the 335. The 335 has a pleasant open sound in comparison. There is clearly enough of a difference between my LP and 335 especially with the different pickups helps justifying owning both. The case is nice but it feels so large compared to my Fender and LP cases. They include the tools you need, a thin black strap, and the inspection card. Turning pegs have a material that is non slip and tuning feels very secure. They also look great. All in all I think the the 335's from Gibson are really great.

I looked again at the Guitar Center web site and they stated they have in stock the Gibson 335 in cherry red Figured. I called, talked to a nice person in sales named Kelsey and she placed my order. No interest 24 months and 40 days trial period. So happy. By the way they have two more in stock.

I was told not to expect a 335 until mid April. 😱

The problem is no store has many Gibsons in stock. I just went through the main guitar stores and on line stores and no one has the 335 that I want. Due to Covid, in 2021, no one has many in stock for you to try out. So the only option is to put one on reserve and wait your turn. 15 people are waiting at the one line store for the same guitar I want. It maybe until April until I see the guitar. Regarding quality control, my impression by many is ever since the reconstruction, the quality control has gotten a lot better. I'm sure that some small issues may get by as they are so far behind with orders. .

No I have not. . They would have to poly it and I'm not sure if I want to do it. No one touches the guitar besides me.

I wanted to share photos of my Les Paul that Les signed before he passed. I went to see him at the Iridium in New York City https://i.imgur.com/bvBYWzw.jpg https://i.imgur.com/IhjgCGp.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ddQ4GeL.jpg

With Gibson being down for several months last year, its very challenging to buy a 335 now. I decided on the Gibson 335 figured 60's cherry red guitar. I am one of 15 people who order the same exact guitar at a popular music web site. This is frustrating. The only thing I can see a tiny bit positive is with this cold freeze we are having in the US, my guitar won't be shipped until March. Now if I have to wait until April it will be a very l o n g 2 m o n t h wait. 😩 I hope Gibson has an excellent 2021. I'm pleased they are doing better since they restructured and I'm glad I can contribute to helping a great American company.

If you ever see the Gibson tour on YouTube the binding is a hand process that takes 2 months to learn and there is a certain wrap process that is done to get the best results. It's a skill and there is a lot of labor.The other way is just to cut the area where the binding will go ahead of time and just put a plastic binding in as explained in this video at 2:07. 7 Things That Do Not Make Guitars Expensive Anymore - YouTube

Besides having a tuner built in and some nice videos, they included videos taking care of your guitar which includes on how to adjust the pickup height to the Gibson factory setting, as well as maintaining the neck with lemon oil. I adjusted my Les Paul pickups and cleaned my neck as outlined with lemon oil which made the neck feel and look great. Very insightful information.

Here is BB King with his guitar with F holes around 1971 (based on Ringo's look). 320b0bae98d4fc5fd1b6235d01147822.jpg (1280×908) (pinimg.com)

Do 335 guitars have any different sound or less feedback issues if it lacks the F holes?