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339 Pro or should I go for the Ultra?


atj13

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I had been planning on a Pro but they (my local store) messed me around and now there will be big delay,I asked them to order it in September and they did nothing about it so now it would be another god knows how long and another $100 as the price has gone up. The other store has now offered me an Ultra at a very good price, should I go for it? I know the difference in specs and had liked the idea of coil splitting but for the extra fruit for only another $100 I am really tempted. The only thing that gives me a reason to pause is the extra electronics such as push push switch and EQ on the back plus the nano mag, is this just more stuff to go wrong?

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As a ES-339 Pro user I love my guitar, I really do. But if your only argument in favor of PRO is tap coil (it is not split coil, remember ;-) )... well, I guess you should reconsider it. Why? First thing - I don't know your expectations but those coils in single mode sound good only at middle position (singly they sound a bit flat) and still their tone is a bit worse than for instance tone of Squier Affinity. Secondly - As far as I know you can always modify your humbuckers to tap coils with a little effort/price.

 

Sadly I don't know anything about electronics in ULTRA, but I heard that those nanomags are a bit troublesome - but I leave this area to those with a knowledge and experience.

 

P.S. your local store definitely doesn't know how to do business :<

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  • 2 weeks later...

My 339 Ultra is GREAT no issues with the Nanomag- the overall sound is wonderful through my Acoustic AG60 and a Fender Mustang III and my Peavey 2-12 Classic-- as far as the coil tap feature- My Genesis has the coil tap and I am totally un-impressed with the sound it produces in thesingle coil mode- it is great in the standard humbucker mode - you need to sit down and try both but I would spring for another ULTRA any day after trying both in my local G.C. store Eddy

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My 339 Ultra is GREAT no issues with the Nanomag- the overall sound is wonderful through my Acoustic AG60 and a Fender Mustang III and my Peavey 2-12 Classic-- as far as the coil tap feature- My Genesis has the coil tap and I am totally un-impressed with the sound it produces in thesingle coil mode- it is great in the standard humbucker mode - you need to sit down and try both but I would spring for another ULTRA any day after trying both in my local G.C. store Eddy

Thanks, I expect the guitar to arrive in my local store this week.I have to agree that the features of the Ultra far outweigh those of the Pro and the Alnico 2 pickups of the Ultra are another bonus in my opinion. Only being a learner the acoustic aspect is also a big bonus, it was only recently that I actually realised they only have one F hole due to the electronics on board. I have bought a case already as they are very hard to come by here. This was a good decision as there are now none available in the country and none in Australia either. So I just sit here strumming my guitar case, not really the same but no bum notes at least.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got the Ultra this week and its beautiful, wife doesn't really agree but it makes me smile every time I look at it. Sounds great and I could not be happier, glad I didnt settle for a sunburst Pro model as I would have regretted it. The Cherry is just it, cant explain it. This was the 2nd to last one in the country (the other chain store has one also) at the moment but I know that both stores are not planning on getting any more Ultra's in. By the way the other guitars etc mentioned below and the profile pic are all my son's guitars, I am trying to learn but this should be way easier now with this beautiful thing to play.

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Looks great I run mine in to a Acoustic AG 60 for the nano mag and a Fender Mustang III for the Humbuckers - I must admit I mainly use the AG60 nano mag in one channel and humbuckers in the other with the gain cranked up and it's is wonderful

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Looks great I run mine in to a Acoustic AG 60 for the nano mag and a Fender Mustang III for the Humbuckers - I must admit I mainly use the AG60 nano mag in one channel and humbuckers in the other with the gain cranked up and it's is wonderful

Thanks for the kind words, I dont have an acoustic amp at this stage so have been running it through a little Vox mini 3 or a an AC4, we also have an MG30 gathering dust but I am just a learner where as my son is much more experienced, He was playing it yesterday though the AC4 and a boss blues driver, the nano mag on its own sounded pretty filthy with the gain on the pedal maxed. Might have to invest in a small vox acoustic amp or an Ibanez troubadour perhaps.

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Wow!

 

That's a real beauty. Let us know how she plays and sounds.

 

 

Congrats!

Thank you, plays very nicely and some amazing tone possibilities, so glad I didn't get impatient and grab something else (there was a bit of a saga with this one) I considered a Pro in Sunburst as they had one in the store although the coil split demo's I have seen are quite impressive. I think perhaps the Pro would sound nicer un plugged having more airspace in the body. Pretty stoked with this though.

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When I got mine they had a Cherry red and a blonde - the Cherry red had been dropped by a customer with the finish cracked- the blonde was perfect and the clear coat on the neck was the SELLER looks great plays great - you have a great axe -- I love mine won't ever sell this baby

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I love that model too. Mine is a sunburst, but one of the best I've ever seen.

 

I also recently bought an Epi Les Paul, also a sunburst but one typical for that model.

A purist wouldn't like my color scheme, I changed the pickguard to black, the rhythm/treble surround and the Humbucker mounting rings to black as well as the mounting screws.

I did that to my 339 too, leaving only the height adjustment chrome.

 

In my opinion, the standard Les Pauls are way too gaudy, not my style at all. Oh yeah, those tuners with plastic keys are one of my pet peeves. I got a set from Guitar Fetish that are a drop-in replacement. I dis hafta drill out the mounting holes so the old screws would go thru. I used a 3/32 bit for that.

 

I'm gonna replace the tuners on my 339 with the same tuners from G.F.. The price is way better than StewMac's and they work smooth as silk. Right now I have some tuners with Imperial keys but the backs aren't authentic.

 

 

Ralph F.

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When I got mine they had a Cherry red and a blonde - the Cherry red had been dropped by a customer with the finish cracked- the blonde was perfect and the clear coat on the neck was the SELLER looks great plays great - you have a great axe -- I love mine won't ever sell this baby

thank you

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