j45nick

It's a guitar for sale on ebay. I haven't yet figured out to reach through cyberspace to inspect inside the guitar with a mirror. But I'm trying.......

I don't have a postable file showing the label, but it is a conventional orange label with a standard serial number. On the "model" line, the label simply says "Early J-45". The general specifications would seem to roughly correspond to those of a late 40's/early 50's model, except for the 20-fret board and 1 3/4" nut. I also suspect it does not have a tapered headstock profile, but you know how casually Gibson seems to throw J-45 features together without regard to any specific historical accuracy. Don't know about the bracing configuration, as it is not specified.

Is it really a 1 3/4" nut?

I see a 1999 J-45 listed on ebay that says "early J-45" on the label. It has the early 50's block logo, teardrop pickguard, 20-fret board, 1 3/4" nut, and Kluson single-rings. Can someone tell me what this is? It's not a variant I'm familiar with.

Thank you, Danner. Glad to know it's not just me.......

That is a truly gorgeous guitar, but I have always struggled to get my head around the idea of a rosewood J-45. It's sort of like putting a Chevy V-8 in an Austin Healy, which a lot of kids did when I was in high school: it's really cool, fast, and different, but it ain't necessarily right.

What type of money are we talking here? A mid-90's 335 in excellent condition should go for $1600-1800 in the US.

I have no direct experience with 335's from the 90's--I have newer and older ones--but I have not heard anything bad about that period in general. What version is it, and which shop was it built in (it's on the label)? When I was looking, I was surprised to find that the 335 depreciated very quickly, then flattened out completely in price, so that a 1995 and a 2005 cost virtually the same thing. Much will depend on condition and play wear when it comes to determining value, as much as the year built. In my experience, each ES 335 needs to be taken on a case-by-case basis, particularly with Memphis instruments.

J/W, If you are an ES fan, I strongly recommend Charlie Gelber's blog, es-335.org. It has an amazing amount of historical information on it, and provides links to other ES-related websites. I don't recall a discussion on surface countours, but he has a number of articles on horn (mouse ear) development over the years.

This is nice info, but none of the links work.

That's an interesting question. I pulled out my '68 and my '09-built '59 Historic, and It's really hard to make a comparison, since the plan view of the horns has changed so much over the years. The '59 Historics (and presumably the current "standard" ES 335?) have the original fat mouse ear plan view from '58-'59. My '68 has pointy ears (part of the late 60's devolution of the original shape), and a much more pronounced surface contour on the ears. Did they change the top laminate press during the evolution of the body shape?

That's it in a nutshell, but for some people, the Nashville label still means something special. If you read the complaints here about QC on the Memphis-built guitars--and look at the photos that accompany them--that might tell you something about what the fuss is about. I know Gibson builds a lot of guitars, the overwhelming percentage of which are probably beautifully done. However, an unhappy customer with a justifiable complaint about quality control should be any manufacturer's worst nightmare. In the case of guitars, a reputation for consistent quality is worth its weight in gold.

Thanks for the clarification. As we all know, Gibson doesn't make this easy to figure out!

Used Nashville-built Historics show up periodically, priced at about $2800-3500, depending on condition. I took about three or four months to find mine, and paid about $3750 for it. It was six months old, and showed no evidence of having been played.

Stein, I think you've got this backwards. The "standard" ES 335 is built by the Memphis shop. The "upgraded" ES 335's are the Historic '59 and '63 versions, which were (and in the case of the '63, are) built by the Nashville shop. The Memphis shop builds its own version of both the '59 and '63, as well, but they don't carry the "Historic" designation, and vary somewhat in construction details and hardware from the Nashville Historics. The Gibson website doesn't tell you which ES 335's are built by which shop, but you can deduce it by the price. For example the "'63 ES 335 Block", with a list price of $6845, is almost certainly the only Nashville-built ES 335 currently listed on the Gibson website. The last time the '59 Historic was listed--definitely a Nashville product, as I have one--the list price was also $6845. The Gibson site shows a "'59 Dot Reissue", with a list price of $5649. While this is a much higher price than the other Memphis-built versions of the ES 335, it is well below the $6845 list of the Nashville guitars, including the '59 Historic. When you can find them from dealers--and there are a few Nashville '59s and '63s at high-end Gibson dealers--the "street" price is about $4750. By comparison, a standard, gloss-finish Memphis built ES 335 has a list price of about $3890, and a typical dealer selling price of just under $3K. It really is unfortunate that Gibson clouds the issue so much by not specifying on their website which ES 335 is built in which shop. The only way to know with absolute certainty is to look on the orange label inside. The labels from the two shops are identical, except that guitars from the Memphis shop say "Memphis, Tennessee, USA" at the bottom of the label, while the label in a Nashville-built instrument will say "Nashville, Tennessee, USA" on the bottom. As I said before, you pays your money, and you takes your choice. Both the Nashville and Memphis shops are "Gibson Custom" shops, so you can't tell by that designation

Some people (myself included) believe that the Nashville-built ES 335 is more consistent in build quality than the Memphis-built version of the same guitar. You pay a significant price premium for this, however. If you have the opportunity to play a bunch of Memphis-built ES 335's at a store, you may walk away with one that is as good as a Nashville-built guitar. If you have to buy sight unseen, without playing it, you have a better chance to get a great guitar by buying one from the Nashville shop. I believe that the only ES 335 built by the Nashville shop right now is the '63 Historic. I have a Nashville-built '59 Historic ES 335 (built in 2009), and it's a great instrument. You pays your money, and you takes your choice.

It's hard to beat the simplicity of the 335. If you like block inlays rather than dots, go with the '63 re-issue, which has bigger inlays plus a thinner neck profile on the same 1 11/16" nut width as the '59 and '60 re-issues. I have a Nashville '59 Historic ES 335, and I find the fairly big neck to be quite comfortable. With the '60 re-issue, which will be a Memphis guitar rather than a Nasville guitar these days, you get basically the same body, but probably with a slightly thinner neck. The Historic '63 re-issues are Nashville guitars. All the other 335's currently listed are Memphis guitars. There are leftover Nashville '59 Historics at many large dealers. There can be a significant difference between Memphis and Nashville guitars, for which some of us are willing to pay the additional premium of $2K+ in nominal retail price. Your experience may vary.

That FON suggests 1951, but detailed photos would help us date it more precisely.

Doug, That's a sweet-sounding guitar, and a great song. Is that the straight acoustic sound, just run through a board, or what?

Generally, the "special edition" Martins have paper labels with the series number, offset from the back centerline inside the soundhole. They also have the standard Martin model designation and serial number stamped on the neck block. My 000-28 EC, for example, has a stamped serial number of 1250948 on the neck block, and a series number 13648 on the label.

I have a 2007 000-28 EC, which came with bone nut and saddle, but plastic (presumably) pins. I added Colosi bone pins. The recommended 2A size sits even more proud than the OEM pins, so I spent some time taking them down individually by hand, as Colosi says you will need to do. It isn't that hard, and you can seat them at any height you want. I marked them individually for each string position as he recommends, but that isn't really necessary if you fit them carefully, and have a relatively new guitar whose pin holes haven't been damaged by years of abuse by "pinheads".

There's no real excuse for this, but on the plus side, it was a relatively simple fix. Count your blessings. I would have taken pcitures and sent them to Gibson, along with a quote from my tech for fixing it. In any case, it wasn't worth the risk and aggro to send it back.

Matthew, your performances are always incredible. Thanks.

That's an interesting ES 335, but the features don't quite add up to 1981. The coil tap, trap tail, witch hat knobs, and block neck all say pre 1981, probably 1979. It's hard to judge the nut width from the photo--could be either 1 9/16 or 1 11/16. In any case, get the serial number before deciding what year it is. Go to Charlie Gelber's excellent website, es-335.org, for some of the best info out there on vintage ES 335s. My own Gibsons include a 1948 J-45 (owned since 1966), a '68 ES 335-12, and an '09 Nashville '59 ES 335 Historic. Good luck.