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Let's Play "Would You Rather" ... ES-335 '15 or '14?


ponderwilu

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Hello Board! I'm finally ready to cross over to "The Dark Side" and add a semi to the arsenal. Only brand that first popped into my little brain was Gibson 335. Can't ignore almost sixty years of perfection. Plus at my age I've learned if you have a craving for a really great slice of pizza you're better off driving down to your favorite pizza parlor than calling up Domino's. ](*,)

Now for my dilemma, that I hope you fine gentlemen here will help me with. I see Gibson has made some pretty substantial modifications to the ol' lady.

I'm ready to pull the trigger on either an ES-335 2015 or 2014. Sweetwater has the 2014 right now for $500.00 less than a comparable 2015. Do you guys think the changes made in the 2015 line-up are worth the five bills (which I'll happily pay if you here largely approve of the changes/"improvements" in the 2015's) Be eager to here your opinions on this matter and please don't forget to vote. Happy Easter! Mike

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2015-Memphis/ES-335.aspx

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ESDP14VSNH

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Hello Board! I'm finally ready to cross over to "The Dark Side" and add a semi to the arsenal. Only brand that first popped into my little brain was Gibson 335. Can't ignore almost sixty years of perfection. Plus at my age I've learned if you have a craving for a really great slice of pizza you're better off driving down to your favorite pizza parlor than calling up Domino's. ](*,)

Now for my dilemma, that I hope you fine gentlemen here will help me with. I see Gibson has made some pretty substantial modifications to the ol' lady.

I'm ready to pull the trigger on either an ES-335 2015 or 2014. Sweetwater has the 2014 right now for $500.00 less than a comparable 2015. Do you guys think the changes made in the 2015 line-up are worth the five bills (which I'll happily pay if you here largely approve of the changes/"improvements" in the 2015's) Be eager to here your opinions on this matter and please don't forget to vote. Happy Easter! Mike

http://www2.gibson.com/Products/Electric-Guitars/2015-Memphis/ES-335.aspx

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ESDP14VSNH

I have a 14 and I love the specs of the 2015 better IMO.The neck dimentions should make it more stable and everyone loves the BB 1 and 2. Blocks are very nice too. I would love to try the wine red with the 390 neck myself.

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I have a 14 and I love the specs of the 2015 better IMO.The neck dimentions should make it more stable and everyone loves the BB 1 and 2. Blocks are very nice too. I would love to try the wine red with the 390 neck myself.

 

Thank you for your input. Wish our local stores had some new ones to play. 14's but no 15's.

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Go for a 2013 and get the nibs like a proper 335 should have.

 

Ahhh ... the "nibs". (second post #4) http://www.acousticguitarforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=208890

I think I can live without them.(the newest versions as I'm sure your aware even have "rolled" fret board binding ... nice!) Seriously though, I know a player shouldn't be overly concerned with minor cosmetic flaws if the mojo is there. However ... I really dig the ol' vintage "burst" Gibson has employed forever but this new paint scheme Gibson's "powers that be" have OK'd (with the overly bright yellow tops on the Sunset Burst) IMHO seem, well ... garish.

I'm certainly no expert on these Gibby's (like you here) but the new upgrades on the 2015 335's seem pretty sweet. I just cannot get past that blinding yellow paint on the tops of the new 335's in "Sunset Burst". Which would have been my color of choice. I'm sure some will like it ... I don't. Seems to me my only other options now (while keeping the initial price point south of $3200.00) would be a 2015 in Cherry or a '14 in Vintage Burst. Decisions ... decisions.

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/ESDP15SBNH

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Actually the new 335s still have nibs.

That's what I thought.

 

With all the negative about Gibson "going away from tradition" in the USA models, what people fail to realize is the "other" shop (Memphis), Gibson is moving CLOSER to traditional.

 

Much of the changes I have read about, involve making the guitars CLOSER to the "original" specs, in particular, the 335 models.

 

Having said that, personally I find there is so much variable between one 335 and another, I would put my eggs in the basket of finding the better one by playing and feeling them....NOT from a spec page or online dealer.

 

Having said that, if I had to guess blind, I would guess the 2015's seem to have a better chance of sounding and playing better.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

There you have it. Go and grab FZFan's BBKing off him. ;)

 

 

When I first looked at this I was sure I would vote 2015.

 

But I didnt, only because I would prefer Classic 57s over the BurstBuckers. In every other respect, I like the 2015.

 

Its curious to see the little differences such as neck with at nut. Only .012" difference & not a significant change. Strange.

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Regarding Henry's 2015 guitars, "She wants my money not honey, she's a funky six string wrecker screwing up our Gibson dreams!"

 

Dude! I bet even Tommy Chong would go with a 2014 ES335! Specially after some major bong rips!

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  • 3 weeks later...

I would pick the 2015 335 because they have Burstbucker, I was playing some es models when I was getting my ES345. I compared the 63 es335 (2014 with BB1 &2) with a 359 with the 57 classics. the 359 to me was more powerful and louder which wasn't to my taste with the 335 being more delicate.

 

Now the standard 335s have the Burstbuckers I would get that one.

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I bought a 2015 ES-335 about a month ago. I agree with other posters that the biggest decision you need to make is if you like the '57 Classics or the Burstbuckers better. It's a tough call to make unless you are able to sit down with both models and do a shoot out. I couldn't find a place to get both guitars in the same room though, but I did some comparisons on YouTube. I preferred the '57s over the BBs, but it's personal preference. Still, I decided to go with the 2015 in the end, mostly because of the other minor updates and cosmetic changes they did. I figure the BBs still sound really good and I could always swap them out if I really wanted to. I'm playing through an Ampeg GVT52-112 and it's hard to make a bad sound.

 

OH, another thing to check is the body material. As I recall, there was a difference between 2014 and 2015, but I'd need to go look it up to remember. So check the facts for the guitars you're looking at.

 

As an aside - I purchased through Sweetwater. The primary reason being that the only local brick-and-mortar store I could have ordered through was Guitar Center. There's plenty of Mom-and-Pops around where I live but they all said they don't qualify to be Gibson dealers. So I went Sweetwater because at least you can pick out the wood-grain you like in the Guitar Gallery.

 

Attached photo of a nib! They do exist!

post-72776-029490800 1435450781_thumb.jpg

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