NGD: ES-339...9? And it's a Custom Shop? I'm confused.

[Ed-Shed]

Soooo I got this lovely semihollow, which is labeled as an ES-3399 and has a # of CS82268. However, that number doesn't seem to follow the protocol for this series.

Also, I've had some people say the extra '9' in ES-3399 is due to the '59'-style neck (and others who said it's a typo). Does anyone have any insight on what this is and if it's legitimate? Appreciate any perspectives. Thank you!

 

   

[PrairieDog]

Model numbers are a code, and can be a bit of a game to decipher.  my take it’s saying ES 339, the second 9 is tricky (could it be a g?), but the L is probably for laminate,  C could either be the neck shape, it has a C neck, or CB for the burst color, then it looks like NH=Nickel hardware, and 1 for 1st quality.  I’m not familiar with all the burst names,  but think something like cinnamon burst, or coffee burst, etc.  Gibson should be able to tell you if you call them.  

It’s a sweet one!

[Wmachine]

3 hours ago, PrairieDog said:

Model numbers are a code, and can be a bit of a game to decipher.  my take it’s saying ES 339, the second 9 is tricky (could it be a g?), but the L is probably for laminate,  C could either be the neck shape, it has a C neck, or CB for the burst color, then it looks like NH=Nickel hardware, and 1 for 1st quality.  I’m not familiar with all the burst names,  but think something like cinnamon burst, or coffee burst, etc.  Gibson should be able to tell you if you call them.  

It’s a sweet one!

NH is not Nickel Hardware, N is nickel hardware.  H is for hardtail.  1 is not 1st quality.  1 is made for domestic market. 

Do contact Gibson, they can verify.  Except they won't tell you what that last digit is,  Does the orange label say Memphis or Nashville?

Edited April 17 by Wmachine

[PrairieDog]

6 minutes ago, Wmachine said:

NH is not Nickel Hardware, N is nickel hardware.  H is for hardtail.  1 is not 1st quality.  1 is made for domestic market. 

Do contact Gibson, they can verify.  Except they won't tell you what that last digit is,  Does the orange label say Memphis or Nashville?

Huh.  it doesn’t help that Gibson switches things up.  I’d be really interested if you have a good modern source.  I’ve been using the old model ID post threads here and some rather dated online guides.  As always, Just calling/writing Gibson is the most reliable.  

[EdShed]

Awesome, thanks everybody

[Wmachine]

21 hours ago, PrairieDog said:

Huh.  it doesn’t help that Gibson switches things up.  I’d be really interested if you have a good modern source.  I’ve been using the old model ID post threads here and some rather dated online guides.  As always, Just calling/writing Gibson is the most reliable.  

Sorry, but the good modern source is me.  Look up the model number on Gibsons that have a Maestro or a Bigsby or Floyd Rose and you will see a different letter for each one of those after the hardware type.  Gibsons rarely have them, and the H coincidentally  could be hardware, but think about it.  There is no need to put anything after the hardware color code.  An H would be redundant,  Something not done with codes.  The last digit being the market built for is something Gibson does not specifically address.  But the majority is made for the US market and logically 1.  I've studied a lot of model numbers.  I have a Flying V that was made for the Japanese market with the number 2.  Along with every other 2015 V that had the model number available.  Enough research pays off. No guesswork needed.

[EdShed]

22 hours ago, Wmachine said:

NH is not Nickel Hardware, N is nickel hardware.  H is for hardtail.  1 is not 1st quality.  1 is made for domestic market. 

Do contact Gibson, they can verify.  Except they won't tell you what that last digit is,  Does the orange label say Memphis or Nashville?

Just checked the inside and it says Memphis.

I really appreciate your insight. Are you saying this guitar is suspect? Regardless, I love it, it feels good and sounds good, I love just looking at it and taking out my paint brush (sneaky awesome way to brush out dust in those nooks & crannies) and rag to clean it, and I've actively and blissfully played it for 15+ hours since I got it last weekend and it's just what I wanted and I'm keeping it so the hard truth is fine. 

[PrairieDog]

21 hours ago, EdShed said:

Just checked the inside and it says Memphis.

I really appreciate your insight. Are you saying this guitar is suspect? Regardless, I love it, it feels good and sounds good, I love just looking at it and taking out my paint brush (sneaky awesome way to brush out dust in those nooks & crannies) and rag to clean it, and I've actively and blissfully played it for 15+ hours since I got it last weekend and it's just what I wanted and I'm keeping it so the hard truth is fine. 

Nah, no reason to think there is anything wrong… Gibson will be the best source to decipher what the code is and give the intel they have on the guitar.  They are really cool if you dial 1-800-4GIBSON.  I’ve done it several times with things I want/need to be sure of.  They are always friendly about helping you out.

 Happy for you! Enjoy!

[Wmachine]

On 4/17/2024 at 8:34 PM, EdShed said:

Just checked the inside and it says Memphis.

I really appreciate your insight. Are you saying this guitar is suspect? Regardless, I love it, it feels good and sounds good, I love just looking at it and taking out my paint brush (sneaky awesome way to brush out dust in those nooks & crannies) and rag to clean it, and I've actively and blissfully played it for 15+ hours since I got it last weekend and it's just what I wanted and I'm keeping it so the hard truth is fine. 

You're fine.  But I will tell you something you should know.  The guitar is legit and really a great ES.  But it is not a Custom Shop guitar.  Gibson was intentionally being misleading at the time and we are still having to deal with their marketing  shenanigans to this day and will probably forever. 

First to explain, there was never a Custom Shop in Memphis. So any guitar made in Memphis, including yours is not a Custom Shop guitar.  Yes, despite that some have Custom Shop COAs, Custom Shop cases and even say Custom Shop right on the guitar.  How can that be?  During a few year stretch back when your guitar was made, Gibson marketing decided to market certain Memphis models as "Custom Shop Series" models.  This info was obscure in their marketing info and remains obscure to this day.  They eventually abandoned this totally misleading marketing deception.  But the damage was already done.  Note that all Memphis models came with COAs. but there are a few different versions of Memphis COAs.

That all said, there was really no reason for Gibson to try to oversell any ES models.  They were great guitars in their own right.  A big step up from Gibson USA levels.  Their top models did rival Nashville Custom Shop quality. 

[EdShed]

Awesome, thanks again for the great info. It genuinely doesn't bother me one way or the other on the CS element. It's novel that the headstock and case are stamped with Gibson Custom Shop, but this could either be a guitar hand-built by Orville himself or one of 200,000 glue-and-screw guitars that rolled off the line in Zheng'an, I'd still love it. Sounds killer, feels great, the neck is bigger than I normally prefer but I've adapted.