thejay Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Thinking of getting rid of a couple of guitars to fund a hollowbody/semi-hollowbody. What is the route to take? I'm a rocker if that matters....:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 You can never go wrong nor will ever be disappointed with an ES-335. When I got my first 335 my main Gibson was a Les Paul Standard and I was playing rock and jazz fusion. I found the 335 gave me a few more sonic possibilities, especially for the fusion, but every bit as good for the rock stuff. I think it is one of the most versatile Gibson electrics ever made. After playing the 335 for twenty years I completely wore it out and had to replace it. I decided to "upgrade" to a 345, but I would still recommend the 335 as the place to start. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre S Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 You can never go wrong nor will ever be disappointed with an ES-335. When I got my first 335 my main Gibson was a Les Paul Standard and I was playing rock and jazz fusion. I found the 335 gave me a few more sonic possibilities' date=' especially for the fusion, but every bit as good for the rock stuff. I think it is one of the most versatile Gibson electrics ever made. After playing the 335 for twenty years I completely wore it out and had to replace it. I decided to "upgrade" to a 345, but I would still recommend the 335 as the place to start.[/quote'] Which 335? Satin or Regular? or Higher up? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 While I agree the 335 is a great guitar and will own one someday, I found the large body a bit....... I don't know, large.... I went with the ES-339 and love it to death. Your milage may vary...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Which 335? Satin or Regular? or Higher up? As with all things, guitars, houses, cars, women... buy the best one you can AFFORD. Not everyone can afford a flametop dot neck historic, but a nice satin is essentially the same guitar "design" without the bling, and gets you an ES. While I agree the 335 is a great guitar and will own one someday, I found the large body a bit....... I don't know, large.... Moving from a solid body to an ES does make the ES body seem big, but you'll get used to it. The other thing is that it is all relative. My main guitar is an L-5, which makes my ES-345 seem so small. Same thing if your moving from an acoustic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eljay Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 fwiw, i purchased the satin and i've been delighted with it: a wonderful guitar! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 She's a beauty, eljay..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre S Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 As with all things' date=' guitars, houses, cars, women... buy the best one you can AFFORD. Not everyone can afford a flametop dot neck historic, but a nice satin is essentially the same guitar "design" without the bling, and gets you an ES.[/quote'] Yes, I know, but I meant which one did you have? On second thought did they have the satin available when you bought yours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre S Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 fwiw' date=' i purchased the satin and i've been delighted with it: [img']http://i618.photobucket.com/albums/tt262/eljayski/es335a.jpg[/img] a wonderful guitar! All es 335's especially red, and vintage sunbursts are beautiful to me. But the Es 355, whoa! those are...like super guitars! to me at least. I love the black es 355 with bigsby... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cdntac Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 The only thing I don't like about 335s is the position of the toggle switch. I think it would be so much better if they put it at the top ala a Les Paul or at the bottom like the Byrdland. They can scream though. Raise the pickups close to the strings, set the gain to max and hang on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Georgie_39 Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 I love the new Gibson Custom ES-330L with a P-90's pickups, good price, but doesn’t have solid center block inside like as the 335. For me is good, i play in clean tones, without booster or overdrives (no feedback problems). If you play with this types of pedals i recomend the ES-335. The 330 have tailpice, you can remove it and instal the Bigsby Vibrato without problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L5Larry Posted September 28, 2009 Share Posted September 28, 2009 Yes' date=' I know, but I meant which one did you have?[/quote'] Sorry, misunderstood your question. My first ES was a 1975 tobacco sunburst 335, I picked it up in '80 and retired (and sold) in 2000. My current model is a Historic Series ES-345 made at the Custom Shop in Nashville in 2000. I don't think they made the Historic 345 for very long or made that many. I've only ever seen one other in person and maybe a couple on the web. This is a very different guitar than the Memphis made production 345. As shown in the photo I have removed the pickguard and Varitone number ring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejay Posted September 29, 2009 Author Share Posted September 29, 2009 Yes, 330s and 335s I have been looking at :- I need to get to a store and play a few, thanks for the suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Notes_Norton Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 I'm a 330 fan myself. I think it is the most under-appreciated guitar in the Gibson line up. The Epiphone Casino (basically the same guitar) does much better because of it's association with The Beatles - so it will rock for sure. They do tend to feed back and high volume levels though, so if you play at ear damaging levels, you might want to try one out first. The 330/Casino looks a lot like the 335, but it is hollow (no center block) so it can be played as an acoustic. It's equipped with P90 pickups - which IMHO is the best sounding pickup made. Plus it's light weight - about 6 pounds. My 1970 ES-330 became a collectors item, so I got a Casino (before Gibson re-introduced the 330) and the previous owner put Duncan P90s in it -- sounds even better than the Gibson with stock pups. Notes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DAS44 Posted September 29, 2009 Share Posted September 29, 2009 While I agree the 335 is a great guitar and will own one someday' date=' I found the large body a bit....... I don't know, large.... I went with the ES-339 and love it to death. Your milage may vary...... [/quote'] I dont like the large body very much either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted September 30, 2009 Share Posted September 30, 2009 I dont like the large body very much either. I like em', I just didn't want one at the time. A 335 is on my short list. The only thing in front of it is a '61 RI SG, if I can find one I REALLY like, when I get back from the Europe trip next year. But it's gonna have to have big fat bevels and tapers and be RED. :-/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejay Posted October 1, 2009 Author Share Posted October 1, 2009 Made it down to my local GC and they had a Satin 335 and a used 137 in stock so tuned them up and played them through a Fender Blues Junior NOS 1x12 figuring I could get some nice clean tones out of it. 335 I wasn't really that impressed with although I know that the guitar has been in the shop for about a year hanging on the wall, needs new strings, etc... the used 137 sounded really nice although it was beat to crap and they still wanted 1399 for it, insane. I also plugged in a LP Studio Silverburst (with coil taps), the LP Studio Blackout model (just to see). Neither were nice at all sound wise. The LP Blackout model was very heavy and had a great satin finish on it. Overall - kinda disappointing. I also saw a used V on the wall so I plugged that in; horrible distortion from the guitar itself...something in the wiring was way wrong and they wanted 699 for it... GC; right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Made it down to my local GC and they had a Satin 335 and a used 137 in stock so tuned them up and played them through a Fender Blues Junior NOS 1x12 figuring I could get some nice clean tones out of it. 335 I wasn't really that impressed with although I know that the guitar has been in the shop for about a year hanging on the wall' date=' needs new strings, etc... the used 137 sounded really nice although it was beat to crap and they still wanted 1399 for it, insane. I also plugged in a LP Studio Silverburst (with coil taps), the LP Studio Blackout model (just to see). Neither were nice at all sound wise. The LP Blackout model was very heavy and had a great satin finish on it. Overall - kinda disappointing. I also saw a used V on the wall so I plugged that in; horrible distortion from the guitar itself...something in the wiring was way wrong and they wanted 699 for it... GC; right.[/quote'] Your problem was that Mexican Fender amp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpdeluxe Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 You might look at used. A blonde, lightly figured 335 goes for $3550; I got a 2000 model off craigslist for $1750. And I play mine through a Mexican Blues Jr NOS, thank you very much (you're not going to believe this, but nobody has EVER come up after a gig and said, "Why are you playing that beautiful guitar through a Mexican amp?" No, they say, "That was awesome!"). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 ES-335 is a great guitar! Hard to beat it, really. Does "Blues, Rock, Jazz, Country....all, really well! If you want more "Bling"...ES-345 or ES-355. "Lucille" is an excellent variety, too...a ES-355 without 'f" holes, so it's somewhat less prone to feedback, but limited to "Black and Red" finishes. I have a Black one, and the only problem with it is...It's almost too "purty," to play! ;>) I added the Grover "Imperial" buttons. CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lpdeluxe Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Dammit, CB, I wasn't gonna post my 335 again -- I can't stand it! Here it is with my '63 Silvertone 1484. Whew. Now I feel better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
charlie brown Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Dammit' date=' CB, I wasn't gonna post my 335 again -- I can't stand it! Here it is with my '63 Silvertone 1484. [img']http://i345.photobucket.com/albums/p362/lpdeluxe1/GibsonES-335.jpg?t=1254532947[/img] Whew. Now I feel better. LOL...Oh, go ahead!! We LOVE "Guitar Porn" here! ;>) CB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamester Posted October 2, 2009 Share Posted October 2, 2009 Love that blonde 335 lpdeluxe! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejay Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 I played the same guitar (literally); satin 335 via a Vox AC30 last year and it sounded better than and felt better. It's been knocked around in that store for a while so who knows what has actually happened to it. For whatever reason the amp choices were pretty thin... I usually play through Vox amps because I like them and I can get around the same feel as my Mesa on a couple of channels to test guitars through. My GC doesn't carry Mesa so I'm flying in the dark sometimes... Other than that I have played through a few other Fenders. I just wanted to try that one since I heard so much about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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