335 - Figured. Pre-purchase beginner advice please.

[rob 64]

Hi all,

I am still a beginner, having started playing around 2 years ago in my late 50s. I am not a good player but enjoy it so much that I am going to over-indulge myself for my forthcoming milestone birthday with a 335, after thinking about lots of alternatives.

Having watched many online videos of demos and reviews, it really is the sound and look that I like. I play mostly 60s to current day pop, rockabilly, 70s/80s punk/new wave. I attempt blues and would love to one day be able to play some basic jazz but am a long way off that. As you'll all know, the 335 has been iconic with all these genres. I love the warm mellow tone and choosing the 335 was a close run thing with the Standard 50s Les Paul but that neck was just too thick for me and I prefer the look of the 335.

I really like the Figured Ice Tea model. In the UK, this retails at £3,700 but over the last few weeks many retailers (who hardly ever discount Gibsons here) have dropped the price to £3,200 with some going as low as £2,800. These are all ADs and I am delighted at such savings but the cynical side of me was wondering if there is a negative reason for this? The standard model in Vintage Sunburst, which was £600 cheaper is now the same price/more expensive than the figured top. Does the Figured Ice Tea model have a problem which I'm not aware of? It's a really big purchase for me and I don't want to get it wrong.

Secondly, I've read the discussions on this forum and elsewhere about the calibrated T-type humbuckers being bright. I did notice this on the models I tried compared to what I had heard online but put a lot of this down to my crappy desktop speakers and the different amps I used in 2 different shops. If, after purchase, I still find the sound too bright , would changing the pick-ups to '57 Alnico 2s or similar significantly change the sound or does the sound mostly come from the wood of the specific guitar? I have heard that 335s can vary massively model to model but form my research it's very rare in the UK to find a shop stocking more than 1 identical Gibson model so it's very unlikely I'll be able to try 2 guitars back-to-back.

Thanks for any advice.

[merciful-evans]

Hi Rob,

You are right about PC speakers not being good enough to appreciate tone. Its ok to get an broad idea of the sound but its another reason to go out and try some guitars. Even if you cant play similar models back to back. Its important to hear and feel the guitars 1st hand.

There's a lot to consider here. All the more reason to take your time over it. Using a different amp every time means you will find it difficult to compare 'like for like'.

Pickups: I would not buy a guitar I didn't like the sound of. Maybe changing PUs would solve it, but maybe it still wouldn't suit you. Not worth the risk.

I generally turn volume up full and keep treble full on using guitar controls. Then adjust amp controls to find a tone I like better. After that I might adjust guitar controls again, and I think most players would. 

Finishes: Iced Tea Burst is a favourite finish of mine (I don't have one). There should be no problem whatever with different varieties of finish. Its just down to what you like. The only exception might be satin finishes. These are less labour intensive to produce and the resulting finish will eventually appear to become glossier with age (where your body makes contact with it). 

With acoustic chambered guitars the wood used does make a difference, Its a subtle difference. PUs will have a more pronounced difference in tone. 

Bottom line: You really are the best judge of determining what guitar you like. It never hurts to take a more experienced friend along to check over things, but you are in charge. 

I realise you impending birthday may make it feel like you have money burning in your pocket, but I still advise taking your time and enjoying the search. Also, never be ashamed of your skill level, and never ever be intimidated by a salesperson. They are usually all very good, respectful and want you to leave happy (they want your continued custom). Its just a shame that they like to show of their skills so much. 

Good luck. I would love a 335 / 345 also.  

 

[Pinch]

I think they're lowering prices on certain models that don't fly out the door, I'd dismiss it's anything to do with quality.

T-type pickups are AlNiCo V, so they're kind of inherently bright. They use stronger magnets than e.g. the 50s Standard, which has AlNiCo II pickups. Unless 335s are known to be inherently bright-sounding - I'm no expert on them, but someone else could maybe chime in, I've never heard that about them though - I don't see how new pickups wouldn't change the tone.

[moosesyr]

I just upgraded to a new ES-335 to go with  my 2010 ES-339.   The T-types in the 335 are definitely brighter than the 57's in the 339, at least to my ears.  I'm still in the honeymoon phase with the 335 so it's too soon to say better or worse.  Two things I find curious about them,  1. I didn't realize the size difference was so dramatic and   2. They both have 2 piece nuts.

I think I find  the bigger body more comfortable and balanced to hold, at least sitting down.   I guess I never thought about the synthetic nuts, they both work and sound fine, it just seems odd.  I just recently noticed the 2 piece nut on my 339 and I've owned it since 2011.  

 

[moosesyr]

My pics.

[E-minor7]

Santa sent 2 new Satin Vintage ES-335 around X-mas for me to try and choose from. They were pretty different (could have been sold and adjusted before).

A was strong, straight and potent - had the nicest burst-fade, but some slightly messed headstock edges.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          B was weaker thus mysterious and perhaps more soulful. Action much lower.

Was very tempted by B, but went with A. Logic was that it would be easier to weaken A than to add A-strength to B. Have not regretted that at all.

The calibrated T-type are surely brighter than fx the original old PAFs or previous humbucker variations that have seen light of day the recent 20 years. It is however a warm creamy pickup and like the strength, you can roll down the brightness if needed. To lower the pups in the treb-side is also a possiblílity - I actually experimented A LOT with the pickup-height after B was returned. And though not bein' an expert at all ended up very happy. 
Still - the new batch is NOT like the vintage ancestors (remember they have been around since 1958). The oldies could be quite muddy, which went well with jazz and some types of old school rock. This T-type incarnation clears that haze and steer free of the mud. They offer lots of possibilities, yet perhaps not the classic dampened lounge 335-voice.                                 

                                                                                                                                                          Never the less they are hereby recommended.

P.S. - both guitars had downright lousy binding-work both on the body and neck. Had to sand it down, which made the fine looker appear like something out of the Murphy Lab.                                               It's actually horrendous for a Gibson and may scratch their reputation again. Can't understand they allow it, but maybe it's part of the lower tag, , ,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    like the satin, which by the way is pretty easy to buff up. .  

 

 

                                                                                                                                                     Let's hear more about what everyone experiences. 

Edited April 9 by E-minor7

[E-minor7]

7 hours ago, moosesyr said:

 They both have 2 piece nuts.

                            Pardon !? , , , , never seen anything like it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Mine is as normal as it can be.  

[SteveFord]

Yeah, that's a new one.

[rob 64]

Lovely pic Moosesyr. That's just the model I am looking at.

As I speak to more people supposedly in-the-know, it sounds like we may be in a time of big transition in the Gibson empire. To summarise, there is a school of thought saying that going forward, the Gibson brand will only be used on what is now Custom shop models and above. Epiphone will be the branding on current high-end Epiphone models up to and including the current level branded as Gibson USA/Standard and a new budget brand will appear on the space occupied by lower-end Epiphones.

Before someone accuses me of being a troll, I have absolutely no idea if this is true but heard it from some one who seemed to have the ear of all the staff at the London Gibson Garage amongst much nodding. Looking at a recent review on You Tube of the new Epiphone IBG 1959 Standard LP on the Andertons channel, I detected similar thinking. Who knows.

I am just nervous as I want to treat myself to a Gibson, albeit that I know Epiphone is of a quality more than enough for a humble player like me. A friend of a friend also looking for a 335 will be buying the Epiphone 335 and upgrading components and pick ups. I'm sure that's economically sensible but it kind of defeats the object for me, although I am more and more reaching the conclusion that the sound I really want is only to be had from a vintage  50s/60s model which would be way out of my budget...

 

 

[John Shiflet]

On 4/1/2024 at 10:11 AM, rob 64 said:

Hi all,

I am still a beginner, having started playing around 2 years ago in my late 50s. I am not a good player but enjoy it so much that I am going to over-indulge myself for my forthcoming milestone birthday with a 335, after thinking about lots of alternatives.

Having watched many online videos of demos and reviews, it really is the sound and look that I like. I play mostly 60s to current day pop, rockabilly, 70s/80s punk/new wave. I attempt blues and would love to one day be able to play some basic jazz but am a long way off that. As you'll all know, the 335 has been iconic with all these genres. I love the warm mellow tone and choosing the 335 was a close run thing with the Standard 50s Les Paul but that neck was just too thick for me and I prefer the look of the 335.

I really like the Figured Ice Tea model. In the UK, this retails at £3,700 but over the last few weeks many retailers (who hardly ever discount Gibsons here) have dropped the price to £3,200 with some going as low as £2,800. These are all ADs and I am delighted at such savings but the cynical side of me was wondering if there is a negative reason for this? The standard model in Vintage Sunburst, which was £600 cheaper is now the same price/more expensive than the figured top. Does the Figured Ice Tea model have a problem which I'm not aware of? It's a really big purchase for me and I don't want to get it wrong.

Secondly, I've read the discussions on this forum and elsewhere about the calibrated T-type humbuckers being bright. I did notice this on the models I tried compared to what I had heard online but put a lot of this down to my crappy desktop speakers and the different amps I used in 2 different shops. If, after purchase, I still find the sound too bright , would changing the pick-ups to '57 Alnico 2s or similar significantly change the sound or does the sound mostly come from the wood of the specific guitar? I have heard that 335s can vary massively model to model but form my research it's very rare in the UK to find a shop stocking more than 1 identical Gibson model so it's very unlikely I'll be able to try 2 guitars back-to-back.

Thanks for any advice.

Good to meet you online Rob,where distances between continents are not so obvious.  Although my beloved SG was with me from age 24 to now, (well, until 2 weeks ago to be precise) almost 50 years later, I'm currently in the awkward state of being Gibson-less so there's not much I can authoritatively speak of about the various  ES models' technical aspects. I can relate well to the picking up the guitar to get immersed in playing at a later stage in life, as really, despite sporadic playing on tender-soled fingertips over the years, I only plunged into my guitar playing in a big way after my spouse of many years passed away.  In those first grief filled months afterwards, I felt almost inconsolable but guitar playing took me away and out of the depths of grief. I finally had plenty of time to carefully examine where I was and where I wanted to be in my new reality. First, I threw away my arbitrary don't go beyond the fifth fret training wheels I had self imposed for years, and decided to go out and explore the entire fretboard. Finding those notes on the higher fret range that sounded good  was my goal but also-and this was very helpful-playing those dissonant notes loudly and clearly and then trying to remember where they were. Dissonant or non-harmonious notes still have a legitimate place in melodies but like strong spices in foods, they should be used/played sparingly. After I freed myself from my fifth fret limitations, I started hunting for good notes and chords on the upper frets. As you have surely found, once you get past the 12th fret you find that making chords can become difficult due to finger space limitations but there are still tricks where you can produce those higher note chords by changing fingering positions. My new cut-away profile acoustic that I traded my SG for, offers 19 frets unlike my other brand electric guitar that offers 22 frets. Even though finger room on the acoustic's upper fret range is at a premium, I've found a way to fret one of my favorite high range chords on the acoustic with an unconventional finger placement-I lay my fingers flat on the strings rather than raised. I think many of us are prone to getting hung up on doing things by the instruction book or video  but the real journeymen (and women) working guitarists have all of these less easy to master approaches long worked out, so again, you're your own teacher here so play according to what works best for you.

I can't over-emphasize one discovery that did more to help me become a better player especially since I have no one here to jam with in my one stoplight size eastern Ohio town. After buying some rather useless (to me) software in a vain attempt to record some of the noise I was making, a simple basic built into my PC recorder came alive on Dec. 21st, last. I had purchased a decent condenser Microphone ( A Pro-formance P755USB originally designed by engineers in Ohio, BTW) and had watched music store videos showing guitars mic'ed at a distance in their  promo ads and videos so I sat mine up at what I thought was an optimal distance and clicked on the very basic Windows record program. It has about a one inch by three inch screen window as well as a waveform graphic display as it's recording.   82 tracks later, I'm still recording and I can tell almost immediately, the difference between those early tracks in December and those from the past week. Had I not had the ability to replay my recorded tracks, I wouldn't know what the weak spots were so doing so has arguably made me a better player.

As for what kind of music to practice and play, there's always the old hit parade standbys House of the Rising Son, Smoke on the Water, Sunshine of my love, and even more simple three chord progressions. I'll offer another add-on...if you do embark on a journey of musical discovery, sooner or latter you're going to come up with notes, riffs, or chords that aren't recognizable as coming from any songs that you remember. My advice would be to take these random notes and chords and save them for a future time to work with them and see if you can craft them into a pleasing melody. Add some more chords, more notes, change the tempo from slow to fast or the opposite. One huge benefit that comes from playing your own stuff is that only you know when you've made a mistake and if you're ever going to get out there and play in front of other's, they'll spot a playing error almost immediate if its from a well known cover song but not if it's something you've composed yourself so I recommend you giving it a try. You may find over time that some of the simpler homemade tunes become boring so develop new ones or change things around adding or subtracting as you're going along.. I have probably an album full of these musical doodles I've come up with over the years and it keeps changing and evolving.

My goal of finding some sympathetic players to jam with have gone nowhere. I even took out a local newspaper ad and ran it for two weeks, earlier this month. Not a single received call was the disappointing result. Another aggravating factor was that Windows, being the proprietary focused beast that MSN is,  is incompatible with Apple based sound software like MP3's so I therefore have hours of WMA (Windows Media Audio) files. I tried to download them and run them through Cakewalk by Bandlabs (now Singapore based) but never could get it to work. I tried a free third party WMA to Mp3 converter program but the sound quality seemed to degrade during the conversion. I guess I need to get a Mac or maybe just a Mac-Pad and hook the microphone to the USB port there. But I continue to look for better solutions. I keep looking for those who might like to share their compositions and with whom I could share some of mine allowing me to practice while listening to someone else's recordings. (Sort of a stripped down "We Are The World" thing but far less grandiose.) Not like jamming with a few of your best musical chums in person but maybe still worthwhile so you can see what others are playing and if asked, you could provide unbiased but non-judgemental constructive feedback on the other player's melodies being played. I think there should be a gentleman's type of agreement that neither party will take anything the other party created and incorporate it into their next multi-platinum album and if so, do the right thing, provide liner notes with credits and if appropriate provide to the creator a share of the sales and royalties in whatever success you've had using their tune(s).

Good luck on finding that perfect ES model you're seeking. I have a lot to say about that, (because I'm looking too and, also quite wordy)  but I'll withhold that for another time. Play hard and play often.

Edited April 24 by John Shiflet
Typos greater clarity

[rob 64]

Thanks John for taking the time to write such an interesting response!

So much resonates with me - especially stopping at the 5th fret. I think it was Chet Atkins who said something like: I never made a dime playing past 5. I've taken his words as my motto but something tells me that what he could do over those first 5 frets is remarkably different to the level I'm at!

Still searching for my guitar, also looking at older models now but there's so much info out there ("these years were good, but don't touch these years" etc) that makes it a real minefield. Still, it's  great fun looking.

[John Shiflet]

26 minutes ago, rob 64 said:

Thanks John for taking the time to write such an interesting response!

So much resonates with me - especially stopping at the 5th fret. I think it was Chet Atkins who said something like: I never made a dime playing past 5. I've taken his words as my motto but something tells me that what he could do over those first 5 frets is remarkably different to the level I'm at!

Still searching for my guitar, also looking at older models now but there's so much info out there ("these years were good, but don't touch these years" etc) that makes it a real minefield. Still, it's  great fun looking.

That's great to hear, Rob.  No one could ever fault Chet Akins' virtuoso guitar playing. Maybe he did feel more comfortable picking his notes from a lower fret level. Soaring past the 12th fret seems akin to an acquired taste for certain foods-some really enjoy these sonic embellishments that come from the upper register frets but, as mentioned, unlike a piano where all keys (notes) are equally accessible and evenly spaced,  finger space  room can become problematic as you get nearer to the last frets.  Some players like to dazzle listeners with these high range notes and their close spacing between frets appears to make lightning fast "shredding" easier. (or, at least, I would think so)  For myself, this upper range offers new and heretofore untapped sounds, so presently, I'm still in the discovery or exploration phase. Over time, I expect a more balanced playing approach will involve using all the frets that the piece being played requires. 

As for finding and selecting that elusive ES 335, (I'm looking for mine too, BTW) to me, that's almost like looking for a wife or soulmate.  The search is not for just a man-made object made to produce sounds,  but for a device to be used to best express yourself musically. To do so ideally,  it must accurately transfer the musical thoughts in your mind, or taken visually from a written musical score, then through your hands and fingers to direct the guitar to make the exact sounds you want.  The perfect ESS guitar will be one that you pick up and it just naturally feels right.  The action or strings level should seem ideal, sliding up or down the fretboard is smooth and easy, while everything is visible that needs to be visible.

I'm sure you've noticed that sitting down and playing the guitar is different than standing up and not seeing the fretboard clearly, thus making it more likely to make mistakes due to visibility limitations. Makers like Gibson long ago understood this issue and placed dots or marks on the upper side of neck still visible whenever you're holding the guitar upright. It's takes time, but eventually, you'll know where on the fretboard you're playing just by glancing at the dots or marks. Keep in mind there are several well known blind guitarists who've done quite well in their playing and they just memorized the spacing and note positions on the fretboard as a mental map rather than being able to see them. Seasoned performers seldom look at the fret position dots because over time  with enough practice, you'll have a mental map of the fretboard and playing just one note will inform you exactly where you are position-wise. I'm not there yet, but I'm working on it.

Quality Gibson guitars at very affordable prices must have been fairly common in the U.K. in the late 1950's and 1960's as I've read a number of well known U.K. players tell about causally finding their signature guitar in some little shop or by word of mouth from a friend of a friend. Justin Hayward,  founding member and guitarist extraordinaire of the Moody Blues. told such a story about finding his ES 335 casually (without a formal search) back in those days and it sounded entirely plausible.  My only suggestion is to be patient and follow all leads. It's akin to dating...you may go out on many dates but you'll instinctively know when you've met your one true love. That special ES-335 guitar is waiting for you out there somewhere. Let us know when you find it. Good Luck!

[rob 64]

I read somewhere that one of the Moody Blues lent George Harrison an ES-345 that was used in promo videos for (I think) Ticket to Ride, Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out. Maybe it was Justin Hayward. But as for them being cheap and available over here, I'd never heard that before. I'd always been told that relatively few were exported to the UK and that prices were significantly more than in the US.

In the 90s, I remember hearing stories of how UK Customs Officers had serial numbers for Gibsons, Rickenbackers and Fenders which showed whether they had been imported into the UK direct from the manufacturer to UK distributors or not. Apparently so many UK guys were buying guitars incredibly cheaper in the US and coming back swearing blind that they'd bought them over here to avoid customs duties.

The price difference point rings true. First time I went to America in 1991, I was given a list of things to buy for friends including 2 car radios when digital displays were the new thing, only to find out that you guys had FM/VHF tuning on the even decimal places only meaning we couldn't get the signals for all stations clearly here where we used both even and odd frequencies. I think more research would have been needed if we were to compete with the Cosa Nostra for international smuggling!

 

[Dub-T-123]

You guys trip out over the weirdest, dumbest things. That’s not a two piece nut, that’s the line where it was masked off during finish 

[John Shiflet]

18 hours ago, rob 64 said:

I read somewhere that one of the Moody Blues lent George Harrison an ES-345 that was used in promo videos for (I think) Ticket to Ride, Day Tripper and We Can Work It Out. Maybe it was Justin Hayward. But as for them being cheap and available over here, I'd never heard that before. I'd always been told that relatively few were exported to the UK and that prices were significantly more than in the US.

In the 90s, I remember hearing stories of how UK Customs Officers had serial numbers for Gibsons, Rickenbackers and Fenders which showed whether they had been imported into the UK direct from the manufacturer to UK distributors or not. Apparently so many UK guys were buying guitars incredibly cheaper in the US and coming back swearing blind that they'd bought them over here to avoid customs duties.

The price difference point rings true. First time I went to America in 1991, I was given a list of things to buy for friends including 2 car radios when digital displays were the new thing, only to find out that you guys had FM/VHF tuning on the even decimal places only meaning we couldn't get the signals for all stations clearly here where we used both even and odd frequencies. I think more research would have been needed if we were to compete with the Cosa Nostra for international smuggling!

 

Justin Hayward is justly proud of his vintage 335. I did find the article where he describes his connection to his beloved Gibson:  https://justinhayward.com/blogs/news/from-justin-my-cherry-red-gibson-335,  As you accurately mentioned,  Mr. Hayward had so many other projects going on besides the Moody Blues. There was an extensive article a month or so ago about Hayward's career and commercial success which, in hindsight, I should have bookmarked.

As for the subtle and not so subtle differences between technology standards in the U.S. vs. the U.K., it's hard to know where to begin. Take household electrical supplies. ..in Europe and the U.K. household currents are 220-250 volts while in the U.S. they are 110-120 volts and the cycles measured in Hertz are different as well,. Metric standards were long ago adopted in U.K. and were implemented in Europe even before that, but the U.S. still stubbornly clings to the archaic British system of miles, yards, and feet. Road speeds are in Miles rather than Kilometers, Americans drive on the right side of the road while the British drive on the left. I would be terrified to get behind the wheel of an automobile in the U.K. and then have to make right and left turns.  At least U.S. made Gibson guitars speak a more universal language. Perhaps I got it wrong on the "cheaper priced" Gibsons in the U.K. back in the '60's and '70's but there were so many bands back then and apparently a lot of gear was swapped, bartered, and sold amongst the bands and artists as groups broke up, changed members, or some decided that music wasn't enough to support them so they put down or sold off their guitars and drums and sought other gainful employment. Smuggling seems to have been a known phenomenon for quite a while in the U.K.. (and in the U.S. as well) It's seems there was the dreaded VAT (value added tax) on imports although the tax burden is probably less now than in decades past. I noticed that Gibson recently opened up it's first retail store in the U.K. in London. I'm curious to know how that venture is working out.

Edited April 26 by John Shiflet
typo

[Sgt. Pepper]

On 4/8/2024 at 10:51 PM, E-minor7 said:

                            Pardon !? , , , , never seen anything like it.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         Mine is as normal as it can be.  

I have 2 nuts, but not on any of my guitars. 

Edited April 26 by Sgt. Pepper

[E-minor7]

11 hours ago, Dub-T-123 said:

You guys trip out over the weirdest, dumbest things. That’s not a two piece nut, that’s the line where it was masked off during finish 

"Masked off during finish" !? - can you elaborate a bit on this one. . 

[moosesyr]

On 4/26/2024 at 9:24 AM, Dub-T-123 said:

You guys trip out over the weirdest, dumbest things. That’s not a two piece nut, that’s the line where it was masked off during finish 

Yup.  Duh!  Boy do I feel dumb.  There is a ridge on the 335 nut that looked and felt like a seam/joint.    I assumed they put the nut on after finishing.

[John Shiflet]

Note to Rob 64: I now have a promising lead on my long sought after 335.  I should know by Monday if I need to keep looking or not.

[John Shiflet]

Change of plans...the Reverb seller of the red '63 Nashville block inlay re-issue suggested we take our communications to personal email which to me is a red flag. He also said he only accepts Zelle, but I don't do Zelle.  So I came groveling back to CME  humbly asking if we could go ahead and do the deal on their custom shop 335 reminding him that anything over $5K was going to be like poking me in the eyes with sharp sticks.  I've noticed when it comes to business, the asst. sales mgr. has little sense of humor.  I suppose that's what he gets paid for. The saga isn't over yet as the Chicago mega guitar store has such a huge turnover of merchandise,  My practical advice is if you see something there that you want or see in one of their online sale's circulars, get it then because there's probably going to be a half dozen people at the store looking it over on that same day.  How that store manages to do so well in such a horrible, parking-spaces poor location is a mystery but, I saw people getting off buses with guitars and walking in.  So, one ES-335 door has now closed and we'll see if the other one opens...

[Sgt. Pepper]

1 hour ago, John Shiflet said:

Change of plans...the Reverb seller of the red '63 Nashville block inlay re-issue suggested we take our communications to personal email which to me is a red flag. He also said he only accepts Zelle, but I don't do Zelle.  So I came groveling back to CME  humbly asking if we could go ahead and do the deal on their custom shop 335 reminding him that anything over $5K was going to be like poking me in the eyes with sharp sticks.  I've noticed when it comes to business, the asst. sales mgr. has little sense of humor.  I suppose that's what he gets paid for. The saga isn't over yet as the Chicago mega guitar store has such a huge turnover of merchandise,  My practical advice is if you see something there that you want or see in one of their online sale's circulars, get it then because there's probably going to be a half dozen people at the store looking it over on that same day.  How that store manages to do so well in such a horrible, parking-spaces poor location is a mystery but, I saw people getting off buses with guitars and walking in.  So, one ES-335 door has now closed and we'll see if the other one opens...

Personal email? Is he trying to sell a guitar or get a date?

[John Shiflet]

3 hours ago, Sgt. Pepper said:

Personal email? Is he trying to sell a guitar or get a date?

Reverb, like e-Bay,  prefers for all written communications between buyer and seller to be using their messaging system. He sends me his email address then puts "Zelle!" in  a separate email. As stated, I don't use Zelle even though my bank thinks I should. I asked the seller 3 times to give me an invoice total with sales tax (he appears to be a retailer) I got the impression there might be a language problem. With CME, its pay the king's ransom, get your cherished custom shop guitar,  shut up and be happy.  So far, that's still to be determined.

[John Shiflet]

Some "ES-capade " news to share today. The asst. sales manager at the Chicago store (Geoff Tinta, a really nice guy with a sense of fairness) took my fervent wish to purchase a 335 to heart and he thankfully came back to me with a quote noticeably under $5K . (even a dollar would have been acceptable)  So, now the waiting game... but that Red 335 and I did meet at the store in person a couple of weeks ago, and she's a really nice, classy lady with a charming voice.  I can hardly wait until we can make beautiful music together and I will soon have the privilege to experience what makes Gibsons so special. I feel like I just acquired a new family member and my only advice to others is to not give up on your dreams. They may not come true today or even tomorrow, but with patience and perseverance,  they will come true in their own good time.

[John Shiflet]

Guess what the UPS Santa delivered today? A red ES 335 brand new from the Chicago Music Exchange. A big shout out to the fine folks at this Chicago Guitar mega-store there especially Geoff Tinta, their asst. Sales Manager.  He more than met me halfway to make the deal happen. I don't want to talk about costs, but I already love it so much I'd ask for it to be buried with me like Egyptian funeral goods, but the practical side of me would want it passed down. Until then, I intend to play it like no other guitar I've ever owned. I literally kissed it when I took it out of the case for the first time. Overjoyed now to say  I'm no longer Gibson-less.  Only took a month of intense searching and negotiations but was well worth the wait and the effort.  My sincere Good Luck wishes to all those who are seeking their own version of this Gibson guitar legend.