AlanC

Lol. I didnt notice that. Geez by now the owner might be interested in selling it.... to me

That's yummy. Congrats.

Hi Larry, Pics below. Sound wise they are close but I find the ES 330L maybe a little cleaner.

Hi Larry, It's probably too late to respond, but I own both guitars. I bought an ES 330L about 6 months ago thinking it was a '50's reissue. The retailer told me it was but after about two weeks I realized it was an ES 330L Custom Shop. After complaining that I'd been mislead, I liked it so much that I decided to keep it. However I still wanted an ES 330 '50's reissue and about 4 weeks ago I got one. I had quality control problems as there was significant buzzing but after 2 visits to the tech it was great. Both guitars are really good. As you know no two guitars are the same. They all sound different and as well there is the personal taste of the owner. Having said that I prefer the ES 330L because it sounds great and I prefer the neck. I play jazz standards and both are excellent but by a very small margin I prefer the ES 330L. I must say having read comments above about the size of the neck on the '50's reissue that I don't have any trouble with the neck on the '50's reissue. THe neck is really good. I can post pics if you want.

Sure looks sweet. Congrats. Love the Vintage sunburst.

At the very least look at the Benedetto's before you buy anything else. You will be surprised and pleased. They are really good. Good luck with the journey.

Hi Larry, How are you? Long time since we chatted. Hope all is good. I also have fitted Benedetto Seymour Duncans to a couple of my guitars. They are really good. After buying a Herb Ellis ES165 brand new, I had problems with the pickup when the volume was turned up to 9 or 10. It got a really harsh sound. I hated it. It was thin, brittle and slightly distorted. I put a black Seymour Duncan Benedetto floating pickup in it which I think is an S-6. Great pickup. I also have put Gold A-6's in my L4 CES and a B6 into my 2010 ES 175 SP. All very good pickups. However about a year ago I bought an acoustic D'Aquisto New Yorker and ordered a D'Aquisto New Yorker floating pickup at the same time. Reason was that I couldn't get an electric New Yorker and I thought that I should take a chance. It took about a year for the pickup to arrive but the sound is both unique and great. As good a jazz sound as I've got. Beautiful through my Polytone or my Heinriksen 110.

Hi Bobouz, you are correct. Gibson reissued a limited number of L10's but I'm not sure when. I bought it about 3 years ago from a guitar collector. It's in perfect condition and has hardly been played. I find the guitar a real go to guitar as it's got a great neck and plays like an electric guitar with a wonderful loud archtop sound. I absolutely love it. It's also really well made by Gibson.

I don't own a Country Gentlemen but I do own an L10 Chet Atkins.

Hi, There are really good Norlins and I still own a '74 Les Paul Custom which I bought brand new and it's a great guitar. Great neck and great sound albeit a bit on the heavy side. It has been refretted with slightly bigger frets and I replaced the machine heads as soon as I bought it with Schallers as the Gibson machine heads at the time were very variable in standard. I'll never sell it!!!

I sort of agree with L5Larry's comment but sometimes it's just not possible to have what you want personalized locally. In my case I wanted a single pickup ES 175. Gibson don't make these any more. I know they made them in the '50's and I have been looking to buy one second hand but after 18 months of looking I have more or less given up. Also vintage ES 175SP's seem to be very pricey for a good one. Further it's not easy dealing with stores that sell vintage guitars. They are always telling you about the guitar that they have just sold and you just missed. The other thing that seems to happen is that when you put your name down they always seem to forget to contact you when the guitar that you want arrives. Having said this when you place a Custom shop order you lose your ability to negotiate a good price. You seem to pay list price which currently is a bit more than you would normally pay for an 'off the shelf' guitar. Overall I am so pleased with the quality of my 'one-off' Custom shop order that my next guitar will also be one. My ES 175SP is a real beauty and you can see the evidence in the quality of the Custom Shop's workmanship. The neck, finish and sound quality of my guitar is extraordinary and worth the extra dollars. For my next medium term project I want another Custom shop order - a L5 Thin-line like Danny W owns!!! I can't wait.

I had the Custom shop make a single pick up ES 175. It took about 4 months from order placement with my local Gibson dealer to having it in my little hands. Outcome was great. Love the guitar. Plays great.

Lowdown said - "I hate Schaller's" I'll keep that in mind. Regards,

My standard -