I just picked one up for $3900 from a dealer, so $3250 sounds like a good price. Is it a private sale? The ‘59 ES-330 reissues from that period are very well thought of. Lots of positive comments from people who have played or own the real deal.
From what I’ve read, when they were first produced (2012, possibly a few in 2011?) they had a one-piece laminate front and back, and the two-piece layered fretboard. I’ve never seen pics that show this (I believe you’d have to remove the nut), but I’ve heard it was due to Gibson being raided in 2011 for allegedly having illegally obtained wood. In 2013, they apparently went to one-piece fretboards but went to two-piece laminate tops and backs (often with a bit of flame). Though not historically incorrect, this certainly can be visibly obvious. This is a blonde one with a very obvious two-piece top that’s been on Reverb for a while.
Mine is also a blonde, but with a far less obvious join at the centre. The wisdom seems to be that in late 2013 they went back to one-piece laminate tops and backs. They seem to have stopped producing the model in 2014 or maybe 2015, though there have been some later Wildwood spec ‘59 reissues made which are typically very flamed, and I believe they have different pickups.
I don’t think any of the variations in the number of pieces used in the fretboards or tops/backs makes a difference, though some folk might place higher value on a post-late 2013 example that doesn’t have any two-piece wood. They are fabulous guitars and mine is softening the blow that I missed out on a vintage 1959 ES-330 at a decent price. I was a few years too late to the party and people now ask north of $15k (and significantly more for a blonde). Here’s my 2013 reissue. You can just make out the join in the centre through the trapeze tailpiece.
