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ES 345 question related to ES 137


Mikael B

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I have a ES 137  Classic bought in 2003.  Curious if anyone knows if the fretboard and neck of a 2020 -21  ES 335 or 345 is similar? For playability the 137 is the best i have had .

Any point in buing a 345 instead of a 335 apart from  the estethics?  Will for example the rosewood of the fretboard be of higher quality than on the regualar 335?

 

Edited by Mikael B
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I have close (137 Custom and 2017 335) and I believe the neck will be a bit slimmer on the 335.

My 345 is a 2006 which I bought for the VariTone and gold plated hardware, my guess is the current 345 uses the same rosewood as the 335 and is just the same guitar but with different binding.

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If you can find an earlier one with the VariTone I think you'll be pretty pleased with it.  A lot of people don't care for the ToneSuck Control but I think they kind of make the guitar.  I haven't played it in a while but I recall the neck being a little stouter than the 2017 335 which is a like a 60s LP profile.

Here's the old girl:

h7mLwK2.jpg

Edited by SteveFord
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5 hours ago, Mikael B said:

I have a ES 137  Classic bought in 2003.  Curious if anyone knows if the fretboard and neck of a 2020 -21  ES 335 or 345 is similar? For playability the 137 is the best i have had .

Any point in buing a 345 instead of a 335 apart from  the estethics?  Will for example the rosewood of the fretboard be of higher quality than on the regualar 335?

 

Yeah cause Bill Nelson and Freddie King played one, but the only difference may be the Split Parallelogram's on the fretboard, and maybe something else I'm unaware off.
 

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Looks very nice Steve. I was very tempted to go for a Yamaha SA 2200. They have more or less the same specs  as a 335, gold hardware and a headstock that isnt a disaster´for a copy and cost a lot less  but the polyurethane  coating ended that and i decided to go for another Gibson.

 

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Sgt.Pepper

Just seen they have quartersawn adirondack sprucing but i doubt that does a lot of difference but they have a special dignity with the parallellogram.
Dots are cool too but the inlays on the figured ones are less. Yeah. Both King a Nelsson are heroes!

 

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Nertz to the Yamaha, they make dirt bikes you can run into a tree and not care too much when you drop it.

I'm sure you won't go wrong with either model.  If you consider the ToneSuck Control to be what makes it a 345 look for an older one.

If the VariTone and world's cheapest gold plating doesn't matter to you, I'm sure the new ones are pretty good.

335s are pretty nice, too!

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I sure regret selling my 1959 Gibson ES345 Stereo with PAF’s.. I’ve never heard another Guitar that sounded as good or looked as beautiful.. I was young naive & had no idea what I had acquired for $100.00…. I bought it from a guy back in the 80’s & kept it a few years.. I thought it was an old Guitar & new ones would sound even better.. Why didn’t somebody slap me upside my head?

Gibson makes so many changes to their models some good, some not so good.. There are all kinds of Pickups claiming to be the real but aren’t. Some are pretty good. Build quality changed year to year.. Build quality is pretty good now.. They are beautiful Guitars with the right Pickups.. IMO the MHS come real close… But, it’s subjective at best..

I’m happy with the ES335 I bought in 2013… But, if I were looking I’d be going for a 355 with MHS Pickups & Bigsby..

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4 minutes ago, Mikael B said:

Done.
345 Cherry.
Changed my mind two times the last 10 minutes. Then they replied (after i had paid) they had none which was reverted to...oh but we heave.... Shaky businesse buying guitars....

Thank´s for the input !

Nice.

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