Aerial Man

Well exactly. Thats the point. As the player and the musician you make the music and play what you have available. And when it comes to craftmanship, I think youll find that Gibsons are Gibsons. Well built guitars at the price point despite the many stories of annoying finishing issues and as frustrating as that is. Any 335, 345, 355 or any other gibson for that matter is gonna feel like a really nice well built and solid guitar in your hands. It's just a matter of finding the one that really speaks to you.

And most semi hollow players prefer a 335. hence the price difference. Thats all it boils down to..The fanbase for that guitar. Look at the 330 with trapeze tail piece what a beautiful and great guitar. TBH in one sense if you want to get a better value for your money your better off looking at modern contemporary like a 339 or 137. But still if you you buy a 335 it's always gonna be worth it.

By all means though! Storm your way into the music business with a 345! Become a huge success and put more value on the 345 market lol

Essentially the 335's, 355's and 345's are the same chassis. There may be some variances between certain special models but overall it's the same guitar with different features. I would reccomend trying a 345 vs a 335 to see for yourself what the difference is. If that was not an option then maybe id steer towards a 335 VOS reissue or something. There are so many effects units on the market you dont need something built into the guitar, it just kind of takes away from the natural beauty of just having 4 knobs.

I personally prefer the way of using the volume and tone controls to get tones. Anything else can be done with pedals and effects units to infinity and beyond. I also feel that I would rather just play or write something first using a basic uncluttered guitar. By having the Varitone on the guitar it's distracting before you even start, and you can end up going round in circles trying to find a tone rather than just getting on and playing. And I just feel that less is more when it comes to looks also. By all means I think that mods to guitars tone are a cool thing to do. But to me any mods like that are generally done for a specific sound you are trying to get for songs you actually like playing or might be writing. Varitone for me is something that would just go unused, but even in the off position it's still affecting the tone due to being wired in so I would rather just not have it. Really the question is whether or not you like what the Varitone switch has to offer. If you prefer the tones you can get with a 345 then fair play, and nobody elses opinion should matter. It's funny how people follow fashion when it comes to music and guitars. Most of those people will never be recognised for being creative and doing something new.