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clayville

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    http://www.soundclick.com/bands/default.cfm?bandID=239050

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    Home recording, the Blues, all things related to Gibson CS-356s, watercoloring, Boston sports teams

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  1. My two cents... I'm of the view that you can get as much or more benefit from adjusting your existing pickups as you can from changing them. Assuming you've exhausted amp adjustments already, then simple "Screwdriver mods" are your friend if you're hoping for "more" or just incremental improvement from the guitar. At least try adjusting pickup and/or pole piece heights through a wide range to see if you can find a sound you like better than what you have now - being careful to accurately measure where you started or even counting screwdriver turns as you go so you can get back if need be. Ignore "factory specs" and do this by ear. Lower than spec often helps. If that fails, and you're starting with an R9, I'd consider a more boutique pickup than an SD before you start snipping wires and de-soldering. ANY change will devalue the guitar for resale in some minds, but a higher-end change *might* be considered an "upgrade" to others. Few pickup changes provide a magic bullet though, since there are so many other factors involved in the sound you're getting now: amp, pedals, the guitar's wood, nut, bridge, strings... and height adjustments.
  2. I don't want to sound presumptuous, but if you're coming to Gibson from the Fender world - and as others have hinted - the geometry of the headstock angles can lead to nut slot binding, which is almost always the source of tuning stability frustrations. Unlike the straighter travel of, say, a Fender or a PRS, Gibson strings have to travel both down and then out from the nut to get to the tuning pegs creating substantially more nut friction. Fairly easily cured. The shorter scale length may (or may not) feel different to you too, and change your string gauge preference. If you've been using flat wound 12's on a Fender scale guitar you might find they feel lighter on a Gibson scale guitar. Things like the height of the stop tail (and the break angle over the saddles) can make a feel difference too - and some believe they make a Sound difference too. Two different things, really: feel and sound - but there aren't any "rules". Play what works for you and for the guitar. When fiddling with screwdriver adjustments to pickups or the bridge, I've been known to write down measurements and (more often) count screws turns so I can get back where I started if I don't like the results of my experiments. 'Hope some of that blather helps.
  3. Congrats on your purchase after a long hunt. I'm the original owner of a 2003 CS-356 that has been my pride and joy for almost two decades. It's a hair over 14 inches at the lower bout. Oddly, Gibson doesn't list body dimensions on the current website https://www.gibson.com/en-US/Electric-Guitar/CUSYZD295/Vintage-Sunburst My (black) knobs don't sit high off the deck, and I'm not sure why yours do. Though pot shafts do vary a bit as do knobs, it seems unusual to me that yours wouldn't substantially cover the nut securing the pot in place. Top thickness may have something to do with how much shaft is above the deck, but as far as I know these tops are carved by CNC (with manual top sanding before finishing) and probably fairly consistent on thickness. Also possible that a nut on the inside could be raised to shorten the amount of shaft above - but personally I'd be willing to pay a tech plenty to avoid tackling that hassle myself! I've never had an issue with the Gibson Deluxe tuners that were the original spec regarding tuning stability once I tweaked the nut slots a little to account for string gauge and the angled travel downward and out from the nut to the tuners (Gibson has recently switched to metal Grovers on 356s). I don't know how experienced in such operations you might be, but I accomplished that tweak with nothing more than a folded over scrap of sandpaper drawn carefully through the slot a few times, avoiding the fretboard-side "take-off point" (to keep the intonation consistent) while trying to work the tuner-side slot exit and slot sides to reduce pinch-points. I agree that your nut looks like it could benefit from some work - it may be an optical illusion or part of the shop's in-house set up when they first took possession, but it looks to my eye as though someone has taken a file to the bass-side corner of the nut to knock down the corner substantially (not sure why since that wouldn't effect playability) and the A string slot looks a little rough on the bottom in your photo. In any event, stringing 12s on a nut cut for 10s without widening them a bit is asking for slots tighter than optimal. I always say this, but: in my view the 336/356 is really responsive to even the smallest of screwdriver adjustments regarding pickup and pole piece heights. Take your time getting used to its sound through your rig, but then don't be afraid to try (say) lowering your pickups and dialing in for balance between the two. The bridge pickup on this smaller-bodied design tends to be brighter than many Gibsons, and lowering the pickups can tame any such characteristic you might find undesirable. Enjoy! (this is an old photo from when I tried top-wrapping the strings over the tailpiece for a while - I've since gone back to "regular" stringing)
  4. One more thing: you say you've had good success with SD 59's in the past, but in what guitar? They won't sound the same in every guitar. The 339 and other smaller Gibson are great guitars, but they don't have as much mass as a most solidbodies or as much airy girth as, say, a 335... expecting a similar result in an inherently different guitar design might be unrealistic. I still say the screwdriver is your friend - but if (after re-reading) your perceived issue is with the bridge pickup you might have better luck with the opposite approach to the one I suggested above: dial in the bridge pickup first, then adjust the neck pickup to balance. I do still contend that these sound better with both pickups (substantially) lower than Gibson typically ships them with - and that there's a better sound in there than the one right out of the box.
  5. In my experience the small-bodied Gibsons are extraordinarily responsive to very small screwdriver mods when it comes to pickup and pole piece height. A little bit higher or lower goes a long way towards altering the tone and/or the overall output. At least my CS-356 is, and its Classic 57's will easily give off that sort of tone. I'd start by lowering your neck pickup, then matching your bridge output by lowering it too. Lots cheaper, easier, and quicker than fishing new pickups into or out of that small body - and you can always do that later if you're unable to unlock the beauty of the 57s with a few twists of a screwdriver.
  6. FWIW, I have a 1995 J-100 Extra with the mahogany back-n-sides and the mustache that I bought new. Somewhat different animal to be sure, but that thing is a canon and gets better and better with each passing year. They're big guitars for hanging out on the couch, and I'm definitely not getting any younger... but dang, I'd sure miss that sound if I ever gave it up.
  7. Get the one where you like the "looks, sound, and everything about it". It will make you deliriously happy. A year from now it will be worth 2000, and five years from now it will be worth 3500 - but it will become priceless to you, and that's the part that matters.
  8. There are lots of simple end-user ways to alter the tone character of an ES-335 - or any other humbuckered Gibson for that matter. Raising or lowering the pickups - on one side or on both; raising or lowering the pole pieces; raising or lowering the tailpiece to alter the angle of the strings coming off the bridge; changing the string gauge or the string brand; experimenting with string construction and composition (my advice: try pure nickel strings from Stringjoy for a noticeably warmer sound and a long-lasting string); and of course using your control knobs - both on the guitar and on the amp. For those easy screwdriver "mods" you shouldn't be afraid to experiment even if you've had your guitar settled in a particular place for a long time - just count and write down the screwdriver turns so you can get back to where you started if you want. And.... they're free!
  9. Folks here could perhaps be more helpful with more photos of the guitar - front, back, detail of the electronics, etc. Gibson will want that too in many cases to give you a firm answer. Construction and model details have wiggled around substantially since 1952 - there are likely more clues than just the serial number. And if you're looking to come up with fair current value, more than just the year matters.
  10. For what it's worth, I top-wrapped my CS-356 for a few years chasing the notion that a shallower/flatter angle over the bridge led to less tension in the strings and slinkier bending. Convinced myself that it made my strings feel about a half size smaller. Something like .10s feeling like .0095s, more or less. Years later I switched back - chasing the also common forum legend that a steeper angle over the bridge (but not steep enough to hit the back of the bridge on the way to the stop tailpiece) made for "stronger harmonic transference of string vibration to the body, and gets more of the whole guitar working to create your sound". That seemed to be in evidence when I switched back and the guitar sounded "woodier" and more resonant. So I kept it strung the conventional way. But it might just have been the fresh strings giving that impression! 😎
  11. Some of the CS-336's were spec'd with fat necks, but they're hard to find. You might also look into the Collings I-35 - every one of those I've picked up had outstanding build quality and felt more like an acoustic guitar neck than like my 60s slim taper CS-356 (which actually feels more like a 59-spec LP neck than a skinny/flat shred machine).
  12. Speaking of typos... that archived CS-336 spec in the link above has one at least in the way the archive presents it - the 336/356/339/359's are all 24.75" scale guitars in reality (standard Gibson scale). (see here https://www.dropbox.com/s/rmfpzz4d9db3qmh/2006 Gibsom Custom Catalog.pdf?dl=0) I forgot about the Pat Martino model too - generally a small-body semi, but a different single cutaway shape and with the straight-pull headstock.
  13. Kind of hard to tell what exactly that is from just a back photo. If that's a tummy-tuck along the top edge rather than a reflection, and with the pick guard mount along the bottom it's a left-handed model. I don't recall ever seeing something called an ES-366, but there was an ES-346 - the Paul Jackson, Jr. model. In addition to the access panel on back, they had a smaller straight-pull headstock more like a PRS than a standard Gibson headstock. Though a small-bodied guitar and sized generally like the later CS-336/356 and ES-339/359, the ES-346 horns were a bit more flared and more "Mickey Mouse" shaped than the 336/356/339/359 - it looks a bit wider in the waist in many photos, but that may because I'm used to the 356 shape. There WAS an earlier ES-336 before the CS-336 debuted in 2001 and replaced it, but I can't remember if it had an access panel on back. And, fwiw, though the weights vary a little from example to example, the contemporary (2001 to now) CS-336/356 and ES-339/359 models generally weigh from about 6.8 lbs to about 7.3 lbs despite their very different construction methods. And... they're all the same shape. The CS-336 and CS-356 are still available through the Made 2 Measure (i.e. special ordered and custom made) program as far as I know.
  14. Generally, if it's "too good to be true" it probably isn't true. A couple of other factors that might be in play: with the pandemic leading to more people shopping online instead of in person (where their own eyes or a trusted dealer/salesperson can increase confidence) buyers nervous about the size of the transaction are looking for another pair of eyes. I also sometimes think that counterfeiters will float something out on guitar forums to test their "If I can fool these folks, I can try and sell at closer to 'real' prices" notion.
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