Hype Posted October 20, 2014 Posted October 20, 2014 So I walk into a local guitar store and I see an ES-355 hanging on the back wall. Immediately I get drawn as I thought Gibson discontinued the ES-355 in 2012 (after the raid which left them without the ebony fretboard materials). So naturally I thought it was a brand new Custom Shop 2011 Antique Cherry with Bigsby. To my surprise, it had a 2014 Serial Number and was stamped on the back of the headstock as 2014. I checked out Gibson's website but can't find any Gibson ES-355's listed anywhere.... Anyways, I did a search on eBay turns out there are 2014 ES-355's....I think the difference being that the fretboard is Richlite as opposed to ebony and instead of the standard black 'Gibson Custom Shop' case the new ones ship with a brown case.... http://www.ebay.ca/itm/2014-Gibson-ES-355-w-BIGSBY-Antique-Cherry-w-COA-tags-MINT-UNPLAYED-es335-/191377321638?pt=Guitar&hash=item2c8efa2ea6 This would look great next to my 2011 Ebony one....
SteveFord Posted October 20, 2014 Posted October 20, 2014 Yeah, I saw that a while back. The ebony is one of the things which makes it a 355 in my book. Others may feel differently but no thank you, if I'm buying a premium guitar I want the real thing.
Pin Posted October 22, 2014 Posted October 22, 2014 Yeah, I saw that a while back. The ebony is one of the things which makes it a 355 in my book. Others may feel differently but no thank you, if I'm buying a premium guitar I want the real thing. Ditto. A richlite fingerboard (I don't care how "good" they might be) would put the stop on me even considering buying one.
SteveFord Posted October 22, 2014 Posted October 22, 2014 I'd imagine that we'll see ebony on the Gibsons sooner or later. Maybe this year? More on topic, there's a whole slew of 2014 ES-355s on eBay at the moment.
Pin Posted October 23, 2014 Posted October 23, 2014 I'd imagine that we'll see ebony on the Gibsons sooner or later. Maybe this year? More on topic, there's a whole slew of 2014 ES-355s on eBay at the moment. I notice that the 2014 versions don't have the Varitone (I don't care about the stereo) but no Varitone would also do it in for me. No thanks.
SteveFord Posted October 23, 2014 Posted October 23, 2014 I didn't see that part. So what's "Historic" about it? The Bigsby? I'd take the 345 any day.
Jayyj Posted October 23, 2014 Posted October 23, 2014 I think Gibson have a tombola in the office filled with tickets saying 'historic', 'classic', 'traditional' etc and simply dig their hand in whenever a new run of guitars needs a title. Personally, the black paint on the lettered section of the Bigsby is the killer for me, which on a sliding scale of ridiculous reasons to dislike a reissue must be pretty much top of the list, but there you go.
JazzGtr Posted October 23, 2014 Posted October 23, 2014 Not a fan of laminated tops either. Solid maple tops, ebony fretboards and 57 PUs or nothing! Jazz
Jayyj Posted October 24, 2014 Posted October 24, 2014 Not a fan of laminated tops either. Solid maple tops, ebony fretboards and 57 PUs or nothing! Jazz Ok, this might be a comment too far: the 335 family guitar have been made from inception with laminated, and it's part of the dna of that design. Not wanting a 335 with laminate top, back and sides is like saying you like Strats but the bolt on on the current models is a deal breaker: if you don't like 335s with laminate tops then you don't like 335s!
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