74/75 ES335 Refinish?

[ZacC]

So I picked up this Norlin ES-335 a few months back and have been debating wether it’s been refinished at some point in its life or not. The finish looks pretty original to me, but I am no expert. The only thing that’s making me think that it has had a refinish is the fact theres slight red overspray in the F holes. Reading another forum apparently this is one of the stick on signs it’s had a refinish at some stage, as 335 never should come with any paint in the body. I believe Cherry 335s also need sanding if they are to be refinished and the binding still has a ‘lip’ between the body and the binding, which suggests it hasn’t been sanded as it would be smooth and thus is the original finish. It is a Norlin so I wouldn’t be too surprised if this is factory overspray. Have attached some photos I’ve taken as-well as those on the listing when I bought it. 

https://imgur.com/a/262J8iw

 

Thanks!

 

 

[merciful-evans]

I see what you mean, though that does look like Gibson wine red & lacquer. The red on the f-hole side supports the refinish theory. It looks a good job though.

Its a tidy looking guitar nevertheless. 

Let me imbed those pics

[ZacC]

24 minutes ago, merciful-evans said:

I see what you mean, though that does look like Gibson wine red & lacquer. The red on the f-hole side supports the refinish theory. It looks a good job though.

Its a tidy looking guitar nevertheless. 

Let me imbed those pics

Definitely a cracking job if it has been refinished. I bought this from a reputable guitar shop/dealer in America and had it shipped over to me in the UK. It was advertised as original and as such I paid full price for it (one of the reasons I bought from a reputable shop and not a private seller).  It’s a dream guitar for me and not one I will ever probably look at selling. Just a bit worried if for whatever reason I needed to part with it, I would end up loosing a substantial amount as it’s not the original finish as was advertised when I bought it. Suppose that’s sometimes the risk you run without seeing it in the flesh first. 

Edited March 3, 2023 by ZacC

[merciful-evans]

Its true. I don't know if you ever watch Trogly, but he constantly finds errors in the listings after taking receipt of guitars. Most of the time its an honest mistake I'm sure. For my part, it would not bother me. If it did I might sand off the overspray. 

refin or not, hopefully this will be a lifelong keeper for you. Good luck & enjoy it. It looks terrific.

 

[jordans0012]

Does not look like a refin to me, this is exactly what my 1975 looks like. It's also an incredible guitar, one of the best 335s I've ever played, the neck isn't fat but it has plenty of body and a wide nut. Mine was converted to stop tail but no holes in the top, one of my favorites, I did replace the pups though as I'm not a huge fan of these mid 70s pickups.

I think it's way more likely that there was just some finish touched up on it at some point, or maybe an error from the factory. Have you tried blacklighting it? That might show you a touch up area but I would definitely think this is NOT a refinish based on the pickup cavities and the finish. It seems especially unlikely to have been refinished in Wine Red, more likely it would've been done as cherry.

Vintage guitars have anomalies sometimes, there was less QC, I think it's WAY more likely that this finish is original than that it was refinished. If the guitar glows evenly under a blacklight with no irregularities I would assume this is how it left the factory, except for the bigsby, I don't know if that's original, I've never seen one like that on a 70s 335

 

Edited March 14, 2023 by jordans0012

[ZacC]

4 hours ago, jordans0012 said:

Does not look like a refin to me, this is exactly what my 1975 looks like. It's also an incredible guitar, one of the best 335s I've ever played, the neck isn't fat but it has plenty of body and a wide nut. Mine was converted to stop tail but no holes in the top, one of my favorites, I did replace the pups though as I'm not a huge fan of these mid 70s pickups.

I think it's way more likely that there was just some finish touched up on it at some point, or maybe an error from the factory. Have you tried blacklighting it? That might show you a touch up area but I would definitely think this is NOT a refinish based on the pickup cavities and the finish. It seems especially unlikely to have been refinished in Wine Red, more likely it would've been done as cherry.

Vintage guitars have anomalies sometimes, there was less QC, I think it's WAY more likely that this finish is original than that it was refinished. If the guitar glows evenly under a blacklight with no irregularities I would assume this is how it left the factory, except for the bigsby, I don't know if that's original, I've never seen one like that on a 70s 335

 

Amazing player! Was thinking of replacing them in mine too for some Seymour Duncan’s. 
 

I got into contact with the company I bought it from and they said it was blacklighted upon inspection with no anomalies found. So certainly seems like it was all original when I purchased and this is just factory overspray. (bigsby was fitted during my ownership). 

[Twang Gang]

Well it's just photos, and not in person, but I would side on that being the original finish.  Cool guitar - enjoy it 👍