Papa

So both of those links proved very helpful, thanks again.

Thanks very much for the reply, will check both out.

Hi all. Wondering where I might find the specifications for early ‘70’s 335’s. I have a ‘74 and it needs some work. I’m interested in a comprehensive rundown of the details including nut width and material, bridge width, bridge post size and thread, pickup type, pot types, caps used…you get the picture. The guitar is basically sound but has a few hardware issues and I’d like to mod it a little. I’m comfortable doing most of the fix up myself, with the trickier stuff being done by my local guitar tech. I’m ok to repair and mod this guitar a little re hardware, pickups, pots etc as this era of 335’s aren’t generally considered all that collectible (can anyone say Norlin), so it’s not like I’d be devaluing a vintage instrument, just making a really nice old guitar sound and play a little better.

Mine is a ‘74 335, nothing special in the context of this forum, but plays like dream. Have had it since ’78. I traded with a friend who I played in a cover band with. He got my Peavey T 60. Since then, this 335 has lived most of it’s life in it’s case in the closet. Since semi-retiring a couple of years ago, it’s out and played daily.

Thanks Retired for that nice welcome.

I just changed my strings, so I’m loath to remove them at this time, but I’ll be sure to pop the pups out at next string change and get some better pictures. This has really piqued my curiosity. Thanks everyone for your input.

Thanks all for your replies and thoughts. In my particular 335, the full thickness center block seems to extend from the end pin to just past the bridge posts, which, yes, means the bridge pup screws are only attached to the top. I know! Crazy! I have done my best to get a photo with my iPhone inserted into the upper F-hole and a flashlight. These are the best I could get. The end pin is to the right, neck to the left. You can make out the end of the bridge pup floating in the open cavity, and if you look close you can see a bit of light at the far side of the cavity coming in from the bottom F-hole. When I’ve had the pups out before, I did notice there was a lot of empty space around the bridge pup. The neck pup, though, is nestled into a routed cavity in a solid block of wood. Makes me think there is a second short block just at the neck. I.e., two blocks, with a space between them under the bridge pup. Finally, as you can see, there seems to be two plates, upper and lower, that the centre block is sandwiched between, and these plates appear to run the full length of the body cavity, endpin to neck.

Hi all, happy to have found this forum, lots of interesting reading and doesn’t seem to be too nasty from what I’ve seen so far. I’m a retired guy in my early 60’s, home recording hobbyist with a 1974 ES 335, a Peavey T-40 bass, a Yamaha student grade acoustic (FG700M, nuthin’ fancy), a little Akai midi keyboard controller, a Shure SM57, a new Mac mini M1 with Logic Pro, a pair of old Roland powered monitors, and a pair of AKG K240 Mk II headphones. With this little rig I crank out my own tunes, strictly for the fun of it. The 335 is my pride and joy. It’s no ‘58 or anything, but for a guy like me it’s pretty cool to have. Looking forward to reading about and seeing everyone else’s gear.

Btw, thanks Grog for your reply, that’s a fine looking guitar you have there.

After much squinting and neck contortions I was able to just barely see the Center block through the upper f-hole. It appears to extend from the heel of the body towards the neck, but ends just between the bridge posts and the bridge pup. There is a thin (approx 1/2”) extention of the block that continues along the back of the body to the neck. Shining a flashlight into the lower f-hole confirmed that the upper (neck side) body cavity is open from one side to the other. Given what I have read re Norlin-era Gibsons, I’m assuming this design was meant as a cost-saving measure, although a less cynical view might be that they were trying to make a lighter, more resonant instrument 😉 One would think that this design would move the guitar’s tone more towards a hollow body sound. I would think this would be a fairly subtle tone shift, and not something that would be obvious to my amateur ears. As I said above, I love this guitar’s tone and playability.

Hi all! Have done a search and can’t find any info re this. I have what I’m pretty sure is a ‘74 335. I’ve read that they made these with an incomplete center maple block, but can’t find any details on this design. Anyone know exactly what this short center block is all about? For example, does it begin at the neck join and extend to just below the pups? Or does it begin at the tail and extend to just above the neck pup? Or is it “floating” in the middle of the body cavity? I’ve had the pups out, but can’t tell what the architecture of the centre block is. Also, what effect does this have on the tone of these models? Just curious. I love this guitar and its tone, so it’s just curiosity that prompts my question. Thanks to all for any replies.