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Moose2230

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2 hours ago, Moose2230 said:

Hey so I’m brand new here and I literally just acquired a vintage es 335 that I believe is from the 60s but I know nothing about it and would love y’all advice! Help me out please! 

I’ll give you 500 for it as is. Lol. No seriously start by dusting it off and getting the serial off the back of the headstock. Plug it in see whats working and what isn’t. Any cracks, splits or repairs besides the one volume knob? You could be looking at some serious cash. 

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11 hours ago, labomba said:

I’ll give you 500 for it as is. Lol. No seriously start by dusting it off and getting the serial off the back of the headstock. Plug it in see whats working and what isn’t. Any cracks, splits or repairs besides the one volume knob? You could be looking at some serious cash. 

Yep I'll go $501.

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That would be worth at least a few thousand dollars if it's in half way decent shape.  My advice is to take it to a good luthier - or guitar shop - and have them clean it up and give you an assessment of the value.  Be careful trying to clean it yourself unless you're familiar with Gibson's.  They have very fragile finishes.

You can tell us the serial number on the back of the headstock and we can tell you the date.  Or you can try using the serial number decoder here -  https://www.guitardaterproject.org/gibson.aspx

Edited by badbluesplayer
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8 minutes ago, badbluesplayer said:

That would be worth at least a few thousand dollars ... take it to a good luthier - or guitar shop - and have them clean it up and give you an assessment of the value ...

Yes, agreed to the above.  Also, stress on the "at least"  for the valuation.  That guitar, assuming nothing wrong with it is worth a lot of money.  The case, too, so take care of that also.  I would be careful who you take it too, as well -- you need someone who knows what they are doing, and not  a 17-year-old working at Guitar Center who is likely just fine with an Ibanez Artcore, but not this ... 

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The serial number is 853338 and it does NOT have made in the USA stamped on the back of it. The finish looks like it has some cracks in it but not in the wood and there are some defiantly some wear spots of just being played. If y’all would like I can post some more pictures in detail. 

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On 2/23/2020 at 6:16 PM, Moose2230 said:

Another update...only the neck pickup seems to be working, wouldn’t be surprised if the wiring is bad in this old thing.

That can be fixed. Almost anything can. Your story is one most of us dream of. I bought a house and there is a 60's Gibson in it. Life must be rough.

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25 minutes ago, Moose2230 said:

Haha so I got it evaluated today by some local shops and they both said the pickup problem is just the switch and that the guitar is worth about $5,000 in its current condition! 

Damn you scored. I would  keep it. Every bass player need a guitar just like every guitarist needs a bass. I play guitar but own one bass. You got a nice axe there.

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Hi Moose,

Great score!! I have a '69 that looks nearly the same except my sunburst is lighter and doesn't go to black. My S/N is 833616 so I'm guessing yours is from around the same time. The problem is that Gibson did some funky things with serial #'s back then. I have a publication at home that gives detailed dates of Gibsons based on serial #'s. Mine fell into a category that could either be '66 or '69. I had to get a date code off one of the pots which turned out to be from '68 so that ruled out '66. Sometime in '66 Gibson changed the nut width from 1 11/16" to 1 9/16". The narrower nut width was used into '69. If it is a '66 with 1 11/16" nut width it will be worth considerably more. A lot of people favor the wider nut width. If it's a '69 $5K might be a stretch. If it's a '66 with a wider nut, $5K will be on the low end of value.

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