Archer993

It's a shame to hear that more ES-339s are leaving Gibson poorly finished. I had hoped that mine was an exception. Maybe they should send the necks to Japan or Korea where the work ethic is toward high quality. I am sure there are workers at Gibson who take pride in what they do and love their work. They must hate that there are hackers in their organization who ruin it for the rest of them. I hope Gibson does not go the way of General Motors or Chrysler.

A friend of mine dropped in with his ES-339 today. EXACT same sloppy finish on the neck binding.

5 applications of Fret Doctor and the rosewood (if it is rosewood) is still soaking up the oil. I'm going to have a luthier FINISH this guitar the way it should have been FINISHED. I wish I could play this guitar BUT Gibson still hasn't set me the pickup ring that was promised 3 weeks ago.

Well Ignatius, my new Page Custom is flawless - of course, it's 3X+ the price of this ES-339. A lost art perhaps, but only in some parts for the Gibson organization. It just really sucks that this "still American owned" iconic company is doing crap work like this. The more I look at the finish on the neck of this new ES-339 the more disappointed I get. Is this what the Gibson Custom Shop wants to be known for?

Well, here's what the finish on the edge of the neck looks like. NOT GOOD.

I'll try to get a good close up of the fret board issue.

Good Demo!!!

I just received a new ES-339 in Antique Red with the 30/60 neck. Paid $1,620 for it at GC. $50 shipping for 2 day which took 3 days. $81.00 sales tax. I have always wanted a 335 but the size and price kept me away. I love Les Pauls - the ultimate guitar I believe. When Gibson launched the ES-339 I thought - that's for me. First Impressions: The case was banging around inside the box when UPS delivered it. I let it sit in the box for an hour before removing it, and another 1/2 hour with the lid of the case just cracked. It's cold outside and didn't want the finish to suffer thermal shock. There was something rattling around in the case - sounded like broken plastic - and it was. Some red and white pieces that were on the case lining and on the guitar - don't know where they came from. Upon removing the guitar my first impression was that it was light - almost any guitar is compared to a LP. I also thought the volume and tone knobs looked pretty cheap and the 3 way selector switch sounded a bit tinny. The neck had a bit of a grimy feel to it - like it had been handled by someone with dirty hands. I solved that problem by wiping it down and giving it a coat of Carnuba wax. My fingers were black after an hour of play - I think it's the fretboard. So at this point my impressions were starting to go south. But give it a chance, right. The finish on the guitar is beautiful - Gibson's finish people do great work! I tuned the guitar, stretching the strings and checking intonation - perfect. Two of the tuners felt a bit sloppy though. No buzz, nice. The action was good but not at levels of my LPs. The guitar had a nice sound and decent volume NOT plugged in. Time to plug in to my Mesa Express Amp. The guitar really came alive. The sound is very bright and it definitely has a different tone than any of my LPs. It reminds me a lot of John Mayall Bluesbreakers sound (even though Clapton used an LP - maybe it was the amps). On clean amp settings the ES-339 cam give you a great acoustic sound. Overdrive the amp and you are into blues territory. Hit the distortion and it can give you a T-REX tone. All in all I am glad that I bought this guitar. I wish there was a manual with it and that Gibson hadn't gone to cheap cases. More impressions to come. UPDATED REVIEW I still love the tone of this guitar. For anyone who loves Gibson guitars and especially wants a different tone beyond the LP this would be a great addition to a collection. The tone and volume controls are more responsive and predictable than the ones on my LP Standard or Custom Shop. On the negative side - I have a broken neck pickup ring that I am waiting for a part replacement on. The guitar has been apart for 2 weeks (waiting for pickup ring) and I have given the fret board 3 applications of Fret Doctor Oil. The rosewood keeps soaking it in and my fingers, that I am applying the oil with, keep getting black from the dye on the wood. The other negative comment about the neck is the irregular leveling of the white plastic binding that borders the frets and fret board. It looks unfinished or in some places like a student project. It is really BELOW the quality I have ever seen on a Gibson neck. I may have a luthier work on it once the guitar is back in order. This is disappointing. I would never have thought a guitar would come from the Custom Shop with this kind of workmanship. There was another poster somewhere on this forum who said in fact that the ES-339 was NOT made in the Custom Shop after all. Even if this were the case I am surprised that this neck could pass QC. I was also surprised to find that the nuts bolting down the 6 tuners posts were lose - the washers actually rattled when I moved the guitar. That would account for some tuning issues early on. I also had to lubricate the area of the nut where the G string passes through as this string went out of tune on a regular basis. So to sum things up, and in my experience with the instrument, the problems with this guitar have to do with human error. I think the design of the guitar is great and the sound of the guitar is great. If Gibson does some quality control (some manager needs to have a talk with a couple of the workers) this will be a classic addition to their product line and a very nice guitar for us -- Gibson customers.

I don't know what I'm talking about BUT if the saddle is maxed out in travel you might try reversing it and then retuning. Best of luck...